Fellowships Available for Public Interest Positions (Summer 2015)

Equal Justice America is pleased to offer fellowships of up to $4,000 to students at the law schools listed who work full-time during Summer 2015 for organizations providing direct civil legal assistance for the poor.  Click here to view Law Schools where EJA Fellowships are offered.

Students must secure a full-time (minimum 35-40 hours per week) placement for Summer 2015 working at least 10 weeks for a legal services organization.

Summer fellowships may take place anywhere in the United States (please click here for exceptions).  The hiring organization must be a non-profit organization providing direct civil legal services to the poor.  PLACEMENTS WITH PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICES AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES DO NOT QUALIFY.

EJA Fellowship recipients may receive additional grant money from other funding sources up to a maximum of $7,500 for the summer. If an EJA recipient receives additional funding from another source, EJA will reduce its grant accordingly.  However, so that as many students as possible can receive some funding, there may be situations where EJA will reduce its grant further so that a student’s total funding from all sources could fall below the $7,500 maximum. Under these circumstances, the EJA grant will remain large enough to ensure that the student receives a total of no less than $6,000 from all sources.

Students are encouraged to apply for Work-Study funding, if available at their school.  If a student with work-study funding receives an EJA Fellowship, Equal Justice America will pay the employer portion of the work-study grant.  This enables EJA to fund more fellowships.  Generally, students getting Work-Study receive a higher overall amount for the summer than EJA’s standard $4,000 grant.  If the Work-Study total is less than $4,000, Equal Justice America will make up the difference.  Students should note whether or not they are eligible for Work-Study in the cover letter of their application.

All applications must be postmarked no later than March 23, 2015.  Awards will be announced by email on or around April 24, 2015.  Please send your completed application to Equal Justice America at the address above.

For additional information, including how to apply and the FAQs, please visit the website.