Summer Public Interest Fellowship Opportunities for UM Law Students
Each year, the University of Miami School of Law provides two fellowship programs for students to work for public interest organizations during the summer:
The HOPE Public Interest Resource Center provides stipends to law students who work in otherwise uncompensated public interest jobs in exchange for a year-commitment to actively serving on the Public Interest Leadership Board. HOPE’s success and growth over the past 10 years is due largely in part to the energy, dedication, and leadership of former and current HOPE Fellows.
HOPE Fellows work with domestic and international public interest agencies & non-governmental organizations to provide much-needed legal advocacy to underserved and marginalized populations. All 1Ls and 2Ls are encouraged to apply.
To learn more about eligibility and program requirements, please view a copy of the fellowship application. You may obtain a copy of the application at the HOPE website or on the CDO Student Portal.
The University of Miami School of Law is pleased to announce the 2009 Public Interest Law Summer Fellowship Program. This program is open only to current first-year law students. All 1L students who will begin second-year classes at UM in the Fall of 2009 are eligible to apply.
The Public Interest Law Summer Fellowship Program is specifically designed for students who have a sincere, demonstrated interest in public service work and in providing free legal assistance to the poor. The program is an intensive and serious commitment, involving full-time work at a public interest law office, classroom sessions, and a legal research & writing project.
The program will run for approximately nine weeks. The students selected must be available for the entire program, from orientation through the closing session. The students selected will each receive approximately $3,000-$3,500 as a fellowship stipend, in addition to three (3) academic credits, tuition-free. Approximately 17 public interest student fellows will be selected for the program, contingent on the funding received from the Florida Bar Foundation Interest on Trust accounts grant program and other grant sources.
The topic for the summer program is Public Interest Advocacy for indigent clients. The student fellows will experience firsthand how lawyers can make a significant difference in the lives of indigent clients by representing them in domestic violence, mental health, education, disability, immigration and other proceedings.
Students selected for the program will work 40 hours per week in placements arranged by the Program Directors. All legal work handled by the students will be supervised by attorneys at their respective placements. This summer’s placements are expected (but not guaranteed) to include the University of Miami Children & Youth Law Clinic, University of Miami Community Health Clinic, the Public Defender’s Office, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Legal Services of Greater Miami, Legal Aid Services of Broward County, and the Legal Aid Society of the Dade County Bar Association. Student fellows will need to be distributed evenly among the placements. Students selected must agree to accept any placement that they are assigned
by the Program Directors.
To learn more, you should attend the information meeting on Thursday, February 19 at 12:30 p.m. in Room E265. You may obtain a copy of the application on the Center For Ethics and Public Service website or on the CDO Student Portal.