by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships

Happy Friday!  The snow continues for many of us, so stay warm out there.  Are you finding watching the Olympics as inspiring as I do?  Now it’s your turn.  Get out there and inspire.

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: If you know someone we should honor, drop me a line.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Private attorneys can keep pay rate for federal indigent defendants;
• Audit of LA Public Defender Board found poor monitoring of attorneys;
• Unclaimed judgements in OR may fund legal aid;
• Study finds DE indigent defense constitutionally deficient;
• Legal Aid Ontario pilots independent legal advice for mediation clients;
• BC government increases legal aid funding;
• Public defender system could change in ID;
• LA Public Defender’s Office turns 100 this year;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants: Marty Needelman;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

February 13, 2014 – A judicial committee has reversed a sequester-related pay cut for lawyers in private practice who represent indigent defendants in federal criminal cases. Starting March 1, those “panel attorneys” will generally make $126 an hour, while lawyers in capital cases will earn $180, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said in a statement issued Feb. 13. Last August, the executive committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States had chopped the standard fee from $125 to $110 an hour in response to the across-the-board budget cuts. As part of a final fiscal 2014 spending plan approved this week, the committee restored the higher hourly rate and an added one percent inflation-related increase to push it to $126. The decision follows the signing of a full-year appropriations bill that partially rolls back another round of budget cuts scheduled for this year. Under the bill, the judiciary will get about $6.5 billion, or roughly equal to its pre-sequester funding level for last year, the news release said.”  (Federal Times)

February 17, 2014 –   The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office released a report Monday finding the Louisiana Public Defender Board does a poor job of monitoring attorneys that defend clients accused of first-degree murder and facing the death penalty.  “The audit says the board hasn’t reviewed the work as required under its contracts and hasn’t established any performance standards for lawyers.  The board disagreed with some findings, saying it does more monitoring than the audit suggests. But it also said it would make improvements.”  (SFGate)

February 18, 2014 – “The Oregon House on Monday approved a controversial bill that would change what happens with the unclaimed money damages from class action judgments or settlements in state court.  Under House Bill 4143, those unclaimed funds would be used to bolster legal aid services for low-income Oregonians, rather than automatically being returned to the company that lost the lawsuit, as they are now.  Unclaimed funds are a common occurrence with class actions, either because people entitled to funds fail to claim them or can’t be found, or because the individual claims are so small that the cost to disburse them exceeds their value.”  The bill now heads to the State Senate.  (The Register-Guard)

February 18, 2014 – “An independent review of Delaware’s legal defense system for the indigent concludes it is “constitutionally deficient” and effectively denies many poor Delawareans their right to adequate representation.  The 200-page report by the nonprofit Sixth Amendment Center was commissioned by Delaware Public Defender Brendan O’Neill and paid for with a $120,000 federal grant.”  The study determined that while the state does a good job for indigent defendants facing felony charges, it fails to provide adequate representation for lesser, misdemeanor charges.  (delawareonline)

February 18, 2014 –  Under a new pilot aimed at reducing unrepresented family litigants and improving outcomes, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) will cover the cost of a family lawyer to support clients who choose mediation and to transform those agreements into legally-binding documents. “In looking at expanding access to justice for low-income Ontarians, mediation is a good alternative to having a judge or a third party step in to resolve family relationship issues,” says John McCamus, Chair of LAO. “This voluntary process empowers people to resolve their family legal issues for themselves – and with this pilot, they can be assured that the end result is legally binding.”  (Digital Journal)

February 18, 2014 – The government of British Columbia today increased the budget of the Legal Services Society (LSS) in 2014-15 by $2-million. The funding will be maintained for the next three years.  (Digital Journal)

February 20, 2014 – “Legislation has been proposed that would establish a permanent public defender in counties across Idaho. This would abolish the current system of contracting law firms to perform those duties.”   “If the bill passes both houses and is signed into law by Governor Otter, because of the emergency clause on the bill, it would become effective immediately, but would not be enforced against attorneys with contracts until July 1. Effective that date, lawyers would no longer be able to negotiate the terms of their contract, but they would be honored until expiration.”  (TetonValleyNews)

February 20, 2014 – “This year marks 100 years since the establishment of the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. The founding of the nation’s first such office occurred nearly half a century before Gideon v. Wainwright, the landmark 1963 US Supreme Court case that established the right to counsel for indigent defendants in all criminal cases.”  “Clara Shortridge Foltz, the first female attorney in California, became the principal advocate for the creation of a public defender.”  “In 1913, with a now greatly expanded voting franchise, Los Angeles voters approved a Foltz-sponsored amendment to the Los Angeles County Charter to establish a public defender’s office.  In January 1914, pursuant to this recently enacted charter, the nation’s first public defender’s office was formed. Walton J. Wood was appointed Public Defender, and his original staff consisted of four deputies and a secretary. (Today, the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office employs more than 700 attorneys.)  Congratulations on 100 years of great work.  (WSWS.org)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: As Chief Counsel of Brooklyn Legal Services, Marty Needelman aims to keep Williamsburg’s most vulnerable safe from the bullies who sabotage their homes. He advocates with the people, not for them.  While less dangerous than it used to be, the neighborhood’s very trendiness creates many of the problems Mr. Needelman fights against.  Just one example of the problem is rent control.  As warehouses shut down and luxury condos moved in, landlords attempted to capitalize by driving out the working class and immigrant populations in very underhanded ways.  Marty Needleman worked to stop them.  To those he fights with, he is a local hero – a celebrity.  Thank you Mr. Needleman for your tireless fight to give hardworking individuals a chance to grow and prosper.

During last week’s annual State of the Judiciary address, New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman announced the new voluntary Pro Bono Scholars Program. This new initiative would allow 3Ls to study and sit for the February bar exam and spend the rest of their final year of law school completing pro bono work with an academic component.

Steve Grumm, friend of NALP and director of the ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives, recently posted a few initial thoughts and reactions on the Program for the ABA’s Access to Justice blog:

• How are we defining “pro bono”? Clearly academic credit is not a barrier b/c it’s a part of the Program. How about paid/stipended placements? Since the Program is connected with the 50-hour Rule, maybe the Program will use the 50-hour Rule’s broad definition of pro bono. [EDIT: a law school administrator friend weighed in: “The definition will need to comply with the requirements of participating law schools’ clinical/externship/academic programs. So it is not clear that pro bono work for which law students are paid will be allowed because the law schools will not be allowed to grant academic credit for paid pro bono work (even though certain paid pro bono work can count towards the 50-hour bar admission rule).”]

• Can/will law schools reduce tuition on 3L spring semester?

• Could a student participate in the Program without sitting for the Feb. bar exam?

• To whom do 2Ls apply to participate in the Program? Their school, NY Board of Law examiners, NY courts? My guess based on the Chief’s announcement is that the schools will administer Program participation.

• When will the Program roll out? Presumably this depends on the pace of the Advisory Committee and Task Force work, and the time law schools will need to create administrative structures.

To read the full blog post, including Chief Judge Lippman’s full address, head over to the ABA Access to Justice blog.

by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships

Happy Friday and Happy Valentine’s Day!  Show some love this week and every week by volunteering.  We will love you for it!

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: If you know someone we should honor, drop me a line.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Number of Ohio lawyers reporting pro bono work increased;
• MO public defenders seek pay raise;
• Legal Hospice of TX receives King Foundation grant;
• Human Rights First opening new Houston office;
• NY law students have the option to do pro bono work for credit during their third year;
• Report details economic impact of NC legal services;
• NALP  Board adopts changes to Part V of the Principles & Standards;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants: This week a special thank you to those who help out in bad weather;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

February 7, 2014 – At the beginning of January, attorneys with an active Ohio registration received an email from the Supreme Court asking lawyers to voluntarily report their 2013 pro bono work and financial contributions to organizations providing civil legal services to those of limited means.  Nearly 1,800 lawyers responded.  This is an increase of approximately 300 lawyers over this time last year.  The data is provided anonymously, reported in the aggregate, and will be used to improve delivery of civil legal services to people and families who cannot afford an attorney and to identify gaps in services.  (The Akron Legal News)

February 7, 2014 – “The head of Missouri’s public defender system is seeking a pay raise for the attorneys who represent low-income criminal defendants.  Public Defender System Director Cat Kelly says entry-level attorneys in her office are paid a salary of about $38,500. She says that’s nearly $5,000 less than beginning lawyers in the state attorney general’s office. Kelly says both should be paid the same amount.”  “Gov. Jay Nixon has recommended a 3 percent pay raise for all state employees.  Senate Appropriations Chairman Kurt Schaefer says he would prefer to give targeted pay raises to certain professions instead of an across-the-board increase.”  (KOAM TV)

February 7, 2014 – “Legal Hospice of Texas received a $10,000 grant from the Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation to continue providing legal services at no cost to clients in Dallas County.”  “LHT addresses health related, civil legal needs of low-income individuals diagnosed with a terminal illness or HIV. LHT provides legal counsel, representation, and advocacy at no cost to clients who are HIV positive or terminally ill and reside in one of the 16 North Central Texas counties it serves.”  (dallasvoice.com)

February 10, 2014 – “Human Rights First announced it will open a new office in Houston this April at South Texas College of Law, bringing its award-winning pro bono legal representation program to asylum seekers and attorneys in America’s fourth- largest city.”  “Houston is a diverse and dynamic city where there is an increasing need for our services,” said Human Rights First President and CEO Elisa Massimino. “Hundreds of asylum seekers in Houston go unrepresented in a system where having a lawyer can mean the difference between return to persecution and the chance to start a new life in safety and freedom. Our Houston team will help to bridge the gap between this pressing need and the services currently available, giving the city’s pro bono legal community the tools they need to help.”  (Human Rights First)

February 11, 2014 –  New York’s Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman is proposing an option where students spend their last semester doing free legal work for credit.   He says “this approach will also help fill the vast ‘justice gap’ for the poor, who often face civil issues like eviction, foreclosure, custody and denied benefits without legal help.  Calling it the Pro Bono Scholars Program, Lippman says Tuesday that the state Board of Law Examiners has already approved it and the initiative will be offered in all the state’s 15 law schools.  The advantage for students, in addition to practical experience, will be the opportunity to take the bar exam in February during their third year of school, instead of July after graduation.  (The Republic)

February 11, 2014 – Here is something we already know – legal services provide tangible impacts on their communities.  North Carolina sought to quantify the impacts.  “A recently released report finds the work of legal services providers across the state generated $48,775,276 in economic impact in 2012.  Written by the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, the report, ‘A 108% Return on Investment: The Economic Impact to the State of North Carolina of Civil Legal Services in 2012,’ details the direct economic benefit, indirect economic impact, and cost savings attributed to the work of three North Carolina legal services providers, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, and Pisgah Legal Services.”  (JDNews.com)

February 13, 2014 – At its recent meeting, NALP’s Board of Directors voted to adopt a series of provisional changes to Part V of NALP’s Principles and Standards. The updated guidelines 1) incorporate a 14-day reaffirmation provision within the 28-day offer response window for those candidates not previously employed and 2) change the offer response deadline for those candidates previously employed by an organization to 28 days following the date of the offer letter or October 1, whichever is later, rather than November 1. The updated guidelines are on the Principles and Standards page of the NALP website, and there is a memorandum more fully describing the changes along with the full-text of Part V. The Board also adopted a new Interpretation 22 on using the reaffirmation provisions.

Want to spend your spring break brushing up on your lit skills? The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia has got you covered:

The Black Law Students Association Alumni Committee of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia is pleased to present the 2014 Spring Break Criminal Defense Trial Practice Institute (Institute).  The Institute seeks to help students cultivate effective trial advocacy skills and explore indigent criminal defense work.  The program consists of a week of workshops on how to conduct opening statements, direct examinations, cross examinations, and closing arguments.  In addition, students will learn how to develop theories of defense, master the rules of evidence, and impeach witnesses at trial.  At the end of the program, students will participate in full-length mock trials presided over by Superior Court judges.

The Institute will be held March 10 – March 14, 2014.  The program is free of charge to students, although students are expected to provide their own transportation and lodging.

To apply, students must be a member of the school’s Black Law Students Association and commit to the entire program. Students should submit their applications electronically by clicking the link under the ‘events’ tab of the PDS website, www.pdsdc.org  The deadline to submit  applications is Friday, February 26, 2014.

If you have any questions, contact Jennifer Thomas, the Legal Recruiting Director, at JenThomas@pdsdc.org. Good luck!

The Initiative for Public Interest Law at Yale is providing start-up money for projects that protect the legal rights or interests of inadequately represented groups. If you have an innovative project that is having some difficulty getting funded because of the subject matter or approach, this one’s for you:

We fund cutting-edge projects whose successful execution might be a model for other organizations seeking new and better ways to represent clients. Please visit the Initiative website for more information about our grants: http://www.law.yale.edu/stuorgs/initiative.htm.

Qualifications

The most important selection criterion for projects is that they that protect the legal rights or interests of inadequately represented groups. The Initiative generally funds projects on which the applicant will work full time, after graduation from law school. Although a wide variety of projects are selected for funding, the Initiative gives priority to projects that:

• Might provide a model for similar projects around the country;
• Would be performed in coordination with a sponsoring organization;
• Could be completed in a single year, or that demonstrate potential to become self-supporting or to receive support from alternative sources within the year (we will also consider projects that can be completed in less than a year);
• Are submitted by graduates of Yale Law School;
• Would operate in the state of Connecticut.

Priority criteria are not requirements. For example, the Initiative has frequently funded proposals from non-Yale Law students, as well as projects that operate outside the state of Connecticut. Please see our list of Past Grant Recipients.

The Initiative welcomes applications for both domestic and international projects.

The salary is up to $35,000 and the application deadline is March 1st. See the website for more information!

by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships

Happy Friday and welcome to February.

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: If you know someone we should honor, drop me a line.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• New federal defender named for New Orleans;
• MA attorneys mobilize for legal aid;
• ME AG and Legal Services for the Elderly team up;
• NALP now accepting applications for the 2014-2016 StreetLaw Fellow – must be a law school graduate to apply;
• IN Legal Services to get additional funding;
• OR Innocence Project forms;
• Hackathon for access to justice planned;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants: Katy Sorenson;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

January 30, 2014 – Claude Kelly was appointed federal public defender for the Eastern District of Louisiana, which spans 13 parishes including Orleans and Jefferson.  “Kelly, 52, replaces Virginia Schlueter, the longtime federal public defender who resigned in October after the office was forced to make deep budget cuts.  When budget negotiations stalled last may, the judiciary took a $350 million hit that quickly began to trickle down. As a consequence, Schlueter last year reduced her staff from eight attorneys to five and fired both staff investigators.  That will present challenges for Kelly, who is set to start work later this year, following an FBI background check.”  “I think in all of law, there’s nothing more honorable than criminal public defense work,” Kelly said this week following his hiring, which is done by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Although the office has suffered tremendous budget cuts this year, the staff that remains is superb. And those eight years I spent as an assistant federal public defender, those were the best years of my life.”  He takes office just as the US Attorney’s Office is ramping up under new leadership.  (The Times-Picayune)

January 31, 2014 – “Hundreds of Massachusetts attorneys joined forces and visited the state capitol in Boston last week to lobby for increased state funding for civil legal aid programs. This funding has been hard hit in the last six years; according to the Equal Rights Coalition, it has dropped 85 percent since the 2008 fiscal year. Funding for legal aid is an issue about which all nonprofits should care deeply, since it provides civil justice that would be otherwise unavailable to low-income people on issues like housing, benefits, and domestic violence. As such, it complements and advances the work of many types of community groups.”  (Nonprofit Quarterly)

February 1, 2014 – “Maine Attorney General Janet Mills is teaming up with Legal Services for the Elderly to start a task force to combat financial exploitation and other crimes against elderly residents.  The task force will address barriers to prosecuting these crimes and examine issues like whether law enforcement and prosecutors may need more training to work with elderly witnesses or victims. Other questions include whether elderly victims are reluctant to come forward if the perpetrator is a family member and what the state can do to bolster law enforcement’s ability to pursue and prosecute these crimes.” “The task force will be chaired by Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin and include prosecutors, court personnel and members of the Department of Health and Human Services.”  (Daily Reporter)

February 3, 2014 – NALP is now accepting applications for the 2014-2016 StreetLaw Legal Diversity Pipeline Project Fellow postion.  For a complete description of the position and application details, check out PSJD.  This position is a postgraduate fellowship.

February 3, 2014 – “After watching its federal appropriation sink to $4.7 million during the economic downturn, Indiana Legal Services is set to receive a boost in funding for the 2014 calendar year.  The extra money is part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2014 which was approved by Congress in mid-January.”  ILS is funding by Legal Services Corporation.  The funding will enable ILS to increase services to their clients.  (City-County Observer)

February 5, 2014 –  Lewis and Clark Law School and the Metropolitan Public Defender, a Portland-based nonprofit law firm, are getting together to create the Oregon Innocence Project.  The Project’s “mission is to exonerate the innocent, educate and train law students, and promote legal reforms aimed at preventing wrongful convictions.”  (OPB)

February 5, 2014 – “The ABA Journal and Suffolk University Law School are planning to host a “hackathon” in conjunction with the ABA Annual Meeting this Aug. 7-12 in Boston.  There’s been no formal theme selected. But there’s a general consensus that the project should further access-to-justice efforts in some way.  During the hackathon, lawyers and law students will work alongside developers and graphic designers in teams. Each team will work to plan and develop a Web application or mobile app over the course of the hackathon. At the end of the hackathon, the participants and our panel of experts will rate each of the teams’ work, and a winning team will be chosen.  At this stage, we’re soliciting ideas for problems that the teams can work to resolve with a tech solution as part of the hackathon.  If you have a problem you think we should tackle, or a data set that we can work with, please take this quick survey here and share your ideas.  (ABA Journal)

Photo by Catharine Skipp, Miami Law Everitas

The University of Miami School of Law recently launched an 8-part series exploring the legal and practical implications of the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act.

From Miami Law’s Everitas:

The post-DOMA legal landscape is complex and raises many new and puzzling questions and problems that lawyers will be asked to address and resolve. The discussions are intended to serve as a venue for faculty, practitioners, judges, and students to collaboratively explore the important and rapidly evolving set of social and legal issues.

…

Each session will be led by a host and co-taught by a panel comprised of academics and practitioners with subject matter expertise.

Participants for upcoming discussions include: Judges Judith Rubenstein, Marc K. Leban, and Scott Berstein from the 11^th Judicial Circuit of Florida; and attorneys Theodore H. Uno from Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP, and Richard C. Milstein, Akerman Senterfitt & Eidson.

In addition to the University of Miami School of Law and Miami Law’s OUTLaw, the discussions are sponsored by the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Association. The conversations have been made available to students for credit or audit and are open to practitioners.

Click here to read more!

by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships

Happy Friday everyone!  Can you believe it’s the end of January?  It’s spring public sector career fair time.  For a listing of ones in your area, check out PSJD.

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: If you know someone we should honor, drop me a line.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• West Toronto Community Legal Services to remain open;
• Justice Department Canada provides federal funding to assist women at risk of violence;
• Summer Public Interest Job Search Series webinars now available online;
• MA Governor Patrick proposes $1M more in legal aid funding;
• New Immigration Justice Corps seeking first members;
• PSJD launches a new Postgraduate Fellowships Application Deadline Calendar;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants: Modern day abolitionists;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

January 27, 2014 – “West Toronto Community Legal Services is off the chopping block after a year of working side-by-side with Legal Aid Ontario, who has reversed its 2012 decision to not fund the clinic.”  “I think it’s fantastic for the community,” said Elisabeth Bruckmann, acting executive director of the centre. “I think it means that the community will continue to have direct access to legal support, which is informed by an understanding of the pressures facing the community and provided by professionals who know the community and care about the challenges facing low-income people in the west-end.”  (thestar.com)

January 27, 2014 – “Minister of Justice Peter Mackay and Minister of Labour and Status of Women Dr. K. Kellie Leitch today announced the Government`s support for the Girls Action Foundation’s project Building Bridges for Female Youth: National partnership project to address intimate partner violence and increase access to justice among marginalized young women.  The project, funded under the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program, is a pan-Canadian initiative designed to improve access to justice for marginalized young women and girls who are victims of partner violence or at risk of becoming victims. The project will offer these women and girls educational workshops on the justice system and their legal rights, along with other tools to assist them when experiencing dating violence.”  (Digital Journal)

January 28, 2014 – Did you miss the free two-part webinar series, co-sponsored by NALP and Equal Justice Works, that provides both law students and CSO professionals with insight on the key elements of the summer public interest job application process?  Not to worry – you can view them now on the NALP website.

January 28, 2014 – “Lonnie Powers, executive director of Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, applauds Gov. Patrick’s proposal to increase legal aid funding by $1 million.  As part of his fiscal 2015 budget plan, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has recommended a $1 million increase for civil legal assistance, an increase that could potentially benefit the state’s low income residents who need legal representation.  The additional funding, part of Patrick’s proposed $36.37 billion spending plan for fiscal 2015, would bring the state’s allocation for civil legal aid to $14 million. The funding would go to the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp., which makes grants to 16 civil legal aid programs statewide.”  (Cambridge Community Television)

January 28, 2014 – On Tuesday the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a poverty-fighting philanthropy, approved more than $1.3 million in funding for the new Immigration Justice Corps.  “The group’s plan is to recruit 25 graduating law students or recent graduates, immerse them in immigration law and then farm them out to community-based organizations. The young lawyers would commit to at least two years of service and as many as three.”  “The corps intends to hire a cadre of 25 lawyers every year, each earning a salary of $47,000 plus benefits. They will be assisted by recent college graduates with multilingual skills who will handle less complex cases, such as naturalization applications. The team will be supervised by a group of staff lawyers and advised by veteran lawyers.”  The initiative will start in New York City before being expanded nationally.  The Corps is another initiative stemming from Judge Robert A. Katzmann, the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, who has tirelessly championed increased access to justice.  (The New York Times)

January 29, 2014 – PSJD launches an exciting new feature – the Postgraduate Fellowship Application Deadline Calendar.  Search for postgraduate fellowships by post date, deadline date, or fellowship type, and view them in a convenient calendar or grid.  Add a fellowship of interest to your favorites.  See the Blog post from earlier this week for How-To’s on using this new resource.

by Ashley Matthews, PSJD Fellow

Look no further – we’ve got your step-by-step instructions, including screenshots, right here!

First things first: Head over to PSJD.org’s Resource Center by clicking the link in the header of the site.

(Click the screenshot to enlarge.)

It’s a good idea to log-in now, because you’ll need access to all the fellowships later!

The new Fellowship Deadline Calendar will be the last link in the Postgraduate Fellowships section of PSJD’s Resource Center. If you really, really like our old list of deadlines and just hate calendars, you can always click the link above it to get to the previous version:

After you click the link, you will see PSJD’s new Fellowship Deadline Calendar! At first, it may look like this:

This is called a Grid View. You can change this by clicking Calendar View, right under the gray Search Fellowships bar and right above the Search Results.

Your Calendar View will look like this:

You can filter all the results you see in the grid or calendar by using the gray Search Fellowships bar:

This bar will be your command center while searching for postgraduate fellowships. You can filter results by date range, fellowship type, and deadline type. There’s also an option to limit your results by Favorites! Here’s a breakdown of what you see:

Date Range: You have two ways to filter the date range of PSJD’s postgrad fellowships – by deadline, and by the date it was posted on PSJD. This is really helpful if you’re only looking for fellowships you need to apply for right now, or if you’re only looking for fellowships that were recently posted so you can get a head start on the application.

Fellowship Type: Each fellowship is posted under a category. When filtering your results, hover over the question mark next to the name of the fellowship type to get more information on what types of opportunities are listed for each:

Deadline Type: Fellowships have different types of deadlines – some may be rolling until filled, and others may be in the spring, fall or summer. Job-seekers can also view fellowships archived on PSJD with past deadlines.

You may see an entry on your Calendar View that has a plus sign and a number next to it, like this:

Depending on how you filtered your search results, this +3 just means there are 3 other fellowships that were posted on that day, or have a deadline that falls on that day.

If you’re interested in any of the fellowships you see, just click the name for application info – it’s hyperlinked right to the PSJD posting.

Got more questions about the new PSJD Fellowship Deadline Calendar? Shoot me an email at AMatthews@nalp.org or give the PSJD office a call at (202) 296-0076. We’re happy to help you navigate this new feature!

by Ashley Matthews, PSJD Fellow

Equal Justice Works (EJW) has been working on an initiative to help law students bridge the justice gap while gaining practical skills and hands-on experience. They’re calling it Law Students for Pro Bono, and hundreds of law students, recent law grads and lawyers have already joined in on the campaign.

From the Law Students for Pro Bono site:

The ABA should amend Proposed Interpretation 303-2 to include an aspirational goal for all law schools to promote student participation in at least 50 hours of pro bono service during law school that can be fulfilled in a wide range of activities, including pro bono legal services, credit-bearing clinics, summer public interest internships, and externships that help under-served communities.

Earlier today, I sat down with EJW’s executive director David Stern to talk about the petition. David explained the inspiration for this initiative, why pro bono is important to everyone in law school including those who want to work for private firms, and what this could mean for the public interest job market.

Given the dearth of access to justice, this initiative is necessary to make sure we meet the legal needs of vulnerable populations who need help the most. The deadline to sign is this Friday, January 31, 2014.