SCHOOL OF LAW

Due to budgetary constraints of public interest organizations and government agencies, many public service summer and postgraduate positions are unpaid. However, students and graduates can receive funding from outside resources to work at public service organizations during the summer or for a prescribed amount of time after graduation. This funding is typically awarded as a fellowship.

The process of securing a fellowship is much like the job search process. First, a prospective fellow must research fellowships and find one for which he, and/or the type of work he is interested in, qualifies. Once the prospective fellow identifies the fellowships, he must apply to each. The application process can be as simple as filling out a form or as involved as putting together a detailed packet, complete with statement of interest, proposal for work and outside letters of recommendation.

Below are lists of some of the fellowships most popular with UT Law students. For a comprehensive list of available fellowships, please visit PSLawNet or review Chapter 10 of Harvard’s publication, Serving the Public: A Job Search Guide, which is available in the CSO Resource Library.

Summer and Term Time Fellowships

• Law Firms: Many law firms will pay for fellowships. Most offer split summers between a nonprofit and the firm while others will fund fellowships for the whole summer to do public interest work. Most of the deadlines are in the fall. For a comprehensive list of available fellowships, please review "Firms Sponsoring Split Public Interest Summers" (PDF), located on the PSLawNet Web site.
• Patton Boggs Summer Fellowship: Funds public policy or government sector work. The Patton Boggs Foundation is pleased to contribute a Fellowship worth $5,000 to support a UT Law student who has completed either his/her first or second year of law school and will be working on public policy and related matters for the government or a nonprofit institution. 
• Peggy Browning Fund: Funds work to advance the cause of worker’s rights.  Learn more about the Fund's Eleventh Annual National Law Students Workers' Rights Conference, which will be held October 16-17, 2009 in Silver Spring, MD. The University of Texas School of Law may nominate students to attend the conference. In addition, the Peggy Browning Fund may cover on-site meals and lodging expenses as well as reasonable airfare for one student from our school. 
• Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice Fellows: Provides stipends for summer internships with nongovernmental and intergovernmental human rights organizations in the United States and abroad that advocate for the economic and political enfranchisement of marginalized individuals and groups.
• Texas Law Fellowships: Sponsors public service fellowships for UT Law students.

Postgraduate Fellowships

• Georgetown University Law Center: Fellowships awarded for work with Georgetown's clinics and policy centers.
• Skadden Fellowship Program: Fellowships are awarded for one year, with the expectation of renewal for a second; provides salary and loan repayment assistance.
• Presidential Management Fellows Program: purpose of the Program is to attract to the federal service outstanding men and women from a variety of academic disciplines and career paths who have a clear interest in, and commitment to, excellence in the leadership and management of public policies and programs.
• University Co-op Public Interest Awards for Graduating Students, which is administered by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, honors students for extraordinary support of public interest activities during law school and following graduation.
• UT Law Faculty Post-Graduate Fellowship in Public Interest Law, which is administered by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, provides opportunities for public service employment to dedicated students who might not otherwise find such positions early in their career. The award is made for one year, for full-time legal work sponsored by an existing organization and supervised by a licensed attorney.

Fellowship Application Resources

• PSLawNet's Fellowship Resources: Contains several helpful fellowship application guides, including "Public Interest Fellowships," prepared by the Yale Law School Career Development Office. 
• Deadlines for Postgraduate Fellowships
• Serving the Public: A Job Search Guide (CSO Resource Library)