Liman Summer Fellowships give students the opportunity to work for 8–10 weeks at public interest organizations related to law. Public interest law includes direct services, such as helping people who cannot afford attorneys. It can also include advocacy and policy work. (As a Liman Summer Fellow, your primary work cannot be clerical.)
All Summer Fellows must submit a final report, usually by early September.
As a Fellow, you will take part in the Liman Colloquium, held every spring at Yale Law School, where you will join students, scholars, and advocates from around the country. Even after your fellowship, you will be part of this nationwide network of leaders.
Eligibility
Undergraduates from these schools may apply:
- Barnard
- Brown
- Bryn Mawr
- Harvard
- Morehouse
- Princeton*
- Spelman
- Stanford
- Yale
*Graduate students at Princeton are also eligible.
Qualifying Host Organizations
Host organizations serve the public good in a variety of ways. Many provide lawyers for people who cannot afford them. Some advocate on behalf of underserved communities. Others shape public policy.
Organizations must be in the United States. International placements are not available. Placements are not limited to organizations in a particular field. Subject areas of host organizations have included immigration, housing, labor and workers’ rights, indigent criminal defense, death penalty representation, disability rights, children and family services, environmental policy, and mental health advocacy.
Organizations must be federally-designated nonprofits—those with 501(c)(3) status. For-profit institutions do not qualify.
Some organizations offer remote internships.
Applicants are encouraged to look for host organizations that have resource needs and serve communities with resource needs.
Designated Fellowships
The Liman Center annually designates one fellowship each for Legal Action Center (New York or Washington, D.C.) and All Our Kin (New Haven or New York).