Fellowships 101: An Introduction to Postgraduate Public Interest Fellowships
Wednesday, July 9, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Georgetown University Law Center
McDonough Hall, Hart Auditorium
600 New Jersey Avenue NW (building entrance on 2nd Street NW)
Washington, DC 20001 Union Station or Judiciary Square Metro
Join the Washington Council of Lawyers, Equal Justice Works, NALP, the Partnership for Public Service, and Georgetown University Law Center, as they co-sponsor an interactive panel discussion of the ins and outs of project-based fellowship programs. Our expert panelists will offer tips and insights about how to craft the best fellowship proposals while in law school.
This panel discussion will be held at the Georgetown University Law Center, McDonough Hall, Hart Auditorium, 600 New Jersey Avenue NW, (entrance on 2nd Street NW), and will be followed by a networking reception offering light refreshments.
Our program features opening remarks by Christina Jackson, Director of Public Service Initiatives and Fellowships, NALP. Our panelists will be:
Ashley Fox, Program Associate, Partnership for Public Service
Evan Henley, Skadden Fellow, The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
Sterling Morriss, Manager, Fellowships & Advancement, Equal Justice Works
Vytas Vergeer, Legal Director, Bread for the City
Our moderator will be David Steib, Office of Public Interest, American University, Washington College of Law.
The cost to attend is $5 per person.
WCL members attend for free!
The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia invites you to discover the PATH to becoming a public defender on Saturday, August 2, 2014. If you are considering a career in criminal defense, this panel is for you. This comprehensive program will give you a roadmap for achieving your goals, with frank discussions and insider tips not found anywhere else. And the event is FREE. Visit www.pdsdc.org for more information and to register.
Hosted by The George Washington University Law School, 2000 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052.
The Washington Council of Lawyers (WCL) will be offering their Fellowships 101: An Introduction to Postgraduate Public Interest Fellowships on Wednesday, July 9, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm at Georgetown University Law Center.
This is an amazing and informative program. If you think you want to apply to a post-graduate fellowship in your 3L year and you’ll be in DC this summer, you need to check it out!!!
The West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest (WVFLIPI) is proud to announce its 2014 class of Public Interest Advocates Fellows. The following students have been awarded 10 week paid fellowships for the summer of 2014:
Patrick Holbrook, Legal Aid of West Virginia, Morgantown, W.V.
Martin McKeen, Legal Aid of West Virginia, Clarksburg, WV.
Stephanie Welsh, Legal Aid of West Virginia, Wheeling, WV.
Alex Meade, Legal Aid of West Virginia, Logan, WV.
Bethany Burdette, Legal Aid of West Virginia Beckley, WV.
Lia Deane, Legal Aid of West Virginia Charleston, WV.
Brown Holston and Laura Lee Partington, Senior Legal Aid, Morgantown, WV.
Phil Wachowiak, Child Law Services, Princeton, WV. P
Shane Snyder, West Virginia Advocates, Charleston, WV.
Allison Santer, Mountain State Justice, Charleston, WV.
Jordan Smith, Mountain State Justice, Clarksburg, WV.
Jenny Thoma, Appalachian Citizens Law Center, Whitesburg, KY.
Aaron Moss, WV Public Defender, Harrison County, Clarksburg, WV.
Taylor Graham, Federal Public Defender, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, Clarksburg, WV.
WVFLIPI is a non-profit organization that works to fund fellowships for WVU College of Law students to spend the summer working in public interest organizations throughout West Virginia. Founded in 1987, the fund seeks to help students gain a deeper understanding of the grave importance of public interest work. These students provide legal services to help West Virginians, including the elderly, the poor, children, and victims of domestic violence. The Fund is aided greatly by the fund-raising efforts of the Public Interest Advocates (PIA) at the West Virginia College of Law. PIA works closely with the Fund for the Public Interest to select candidates and supports the fund by raising funds throughout the year, including hosting online book sales and the annual Spring Auction.
The Fund awards PIA fellowships annually to West Virginia College of Law students through a competitive selection process. Since its inception, over 320 students have received fellowships at public interest organizations. These include Legal Aid of West Virginia, Senior Legal Aid of West Virginia, Mountain State Justice, the Public Defender’s Office, The Appalachian Center on the Economy and the Environment, West Virginia Advocates, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and ChildLaw Services, Inc. The Sprouse Public Defender Fellowship is particularly competitive and students apply in the Fall to be awarded this opportunity. The selected candidate then chooses the county in which he or she will work with the public defender.
For more information, contact the Director of the Center for Law and Public Service/Executive Director of the WV Fund for Law in the Public Interest:
If you still need supplemental funding for your unpaid or low-paying summer public interest work, PSJD wants to work with you! We have a few spots left for part-time project assistants, who help us keep the website up and running over the summer. This gig is perfect for law students who can spend a few hours a week helping the global legal community access the latest nonprofit, government and public interest jobs and resources.
We pay up to $13/hour, and you’re free to set your own schedule (as long as it’s during normal business hours).
Any questions? Email PSJD Fellow Ashley Matthews at amatthews@nalp.org. You can check out more summer funding opportunities in the Funding & Debt section of PSJD’s Resource Center!
Working in DC this summer on LGBT-related legal issues? The LGBT Bar Association of the District of Columbia wants to help fund your work!
This summer, they’ll be offering the 2014 Equality Fellowships, which will help support law students working at DC-area LGBT legal non-profit organizations. The Fellowship hopes to encourage law students taking their first steps toward careers in LGBT advocacy.
Selected Fellows will receive a $1000 stipend for at least 10 weeks of work. The deadline is May 15, 2014. Click here for more info.
Every two years, NALP (the National Association for Law Placement) conducts a salary survey of legal aid and government attorneys at prosecutor and public defender offices. The 2014 survey is currently making its rounds throughout the public interest law community, and is incredibly important in determining the fiscal climate for attorneys in the public sector.
Please spread the word within the public interest law community. The survey response deadline has been extended to March 28th.
You can complete the survey now online or download the PDF – please use either one method or the other. All information will remain confidential. All participants will receive a free electronic copy of the report.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Christina Jackson, NALP’s Director of Public Service Initiatives and Fellowships, at 202-296-0057 or cjackson@nalp.org, or Judith Collins, NALP’s Research Director, at 202-835-1001 or jcollins@nalp.org.
This summer, Equal Justice Work’s AmeriCorps JD program is accepting applications for funding from law students spending their summer providing legal services to disaster victims or veterans. If you’re looking for a way to finance your summer public interest work, check out this opportunity and more on the PSJD Summer Funding guide. Deadlines are approaching fast, so don’t wait!
BONUS : Watch Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Fellow Jennifer Aronson discuss how she helped a homeless veteran draft his will:
March 6th is officially “Flip Your Wig for Justice” Day in Canada! Members of the justice community and public are sparking dialogue about Canada’s access to justice funding crisis by wearing traditional judicial or wacky wigs and making donations to participating non-profit agencies. This is the awareness campaign’s first year, and most of the activity is taking place in Ontario.
Of the 12 million Canadians who will experience a legal dispute or injustice in a given three year period, 65% believe nothing can be done with respect to their legal problems.
Almost 40% of people with one or more legal problems reported having other social or health related issues that they directly attributed to a justiciable problem.
Statistics indicate that individuals who receive legal assistance are between 17% and 1,380% more likely to receive better results than those who do not.
Photo: Ontario justice leaders and community prepare for ‘Flip Your Wig for Justice’, an awareness campaign in support of access to justice on March 6, 2014. Left to right: Treasurer Thomas G. Conway, Law Society of Upper Canada; Executive Director Wendy Komiotis, Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children; and Dean Lorne Sossin, Osgoode Hall Law School (CNW Group/Flip Your Wig for Justice)
The Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law is launching a center for victims of domestic violence, financed by a $5 million donation from university alumni Ray and Nancy Ann Hunt.
The center will house a clinic through which law students will represent clients in matters including protection orders, divorce, child support and housing. It also will focus on victims of sex trafficking.
“As a result of this program, participating law students will enter the legal profession with a deeper understanding of the victims of exploitation, trafficking and abuse and what they need for their lives to be restored,” Nancy Ann Hunt said. “Their suffering may be hidden from sight and may be uncomfortable to acknowledge publicly. But through the availability of free legal services, we hope they will feel empowered to come forward and obtain help.”
Administrators plan to work with existing community organizations in the Dallas area, including the Genesis Women’s Shelter for domestic violence victims and New Friends New Life, which assists sex trafficking victims.
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