The summer is the best time to begin searching for project-based fellowship opportunities. Project-based fellowships provide recent graduates with the chance to design a program to address an unmet legal need. Using funding from an external source, fellows partner with a host organization to implement their program. Because there is both a funding organization and a host organization, the process for securing a project-based fellowship requires separate applications to the host and funding organizations.

Skadden and Equal Justice Works are two of the largest national funding sources for project-based fellowships. And both are accepting project proposals!

Because both of these organizations have early fall deadlines, host organizations are seeking fellowship candidates now! This gives the host organizations time to find the right candidates and help you design a project proposal to submit for funding.

To look for organizations that are seeking to host and fund fellows for project-based fellowships, use this filtered search.

(NOTE: There are funding sources other than Equal Justice Works and Skadden, so be on the lookout for those as well!)

In the Resource Center, you can also use the Fellowship Calendar to browse project-based fellowship opportunities in a calendar view, sorted by either post date or application deadline. Click here for a filtered view of the calendar.

We’re back and advertising an upcoming opportunity with NALP! The PSJD Fellowship offers a recent law school grad the chance to gain familiarity with the legal job market and make connections with public interest practitioners, law school career advisors, and NALP staff and members.

The Organization

The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) is an association of over 2,500 legal career professionals who advise law students, lawyers, law offices, and law schools in North America and beyond. NALP believes in fairness, facts and the power of a diverse community. NALP staff work every day to be the best career services, recruitment, and professional development organization in the world because they want the lawyers and law students they serve to have an ethical recruiting system, employment data they can trust, and expert advisers to guide and support them in every stage of their careers.  

A NALP initiative, PSJD is a unique online clearinghouse for law students and lawyers to connect with public interest job listings and career-building resources. As a collaborative project among over 200 American and Canadian law schools, PSJD is a free resource for law students and alumni of our subscriber schools to search among thousands of public interest job opportunities and employer profiles. Public service employer organizations may also post job opportunities for free. In addition to its database, PSJD offers an online library of educational and career-building resources for those interested in pursuing a career in public service. These resources are publicly available to all website visitors.

The Position

The PSJD Fellowship is a one-year commitment to help promote and grow PSJD.org. The Fellow is responsible for engaging with jobseekers, law school subscribers, and employers; recruitment, training, and managing the PSJD data entry team; and supporting the Director of Public Service Initiatives, the PSJD Advisory Group, and the NALP Public Service Section. Because NALP takes professional development so seriously, the PSJD Fellow will have time (and be encouraged) to build relationships with public service employers through daily tasks, public appearances, and pro bono work.

The ideal candidate will graduate by August 2021 and have a demonstrated commitment to public interest work. The candidate will also be proficient in oral and written communication for a variety of audiences, be familiar with social media conventions, and be adept at independent and focused work that often involves juggling multiple tasks at once.

Read the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/job?oppid=90561&