The Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School supports undergraduates and graduate students working in the public interest. Broadly defined, public interest law includes helping those who lack the resources to retain attorneys, as well as engaging in advocacy work, and participating in shaping public policy.

The Liman Summer Fellowship offers students an opportunity to participate in public interest law projects. Summer Fellows have worked on issues such as immigrants’ rights, workers’ rights, prison conditions, educational adequacy, and juvenile justice. Placements can include organizations providing civil or criminal legal services to individuals or to groups, organizations focused on problems of legal and public policy, and law-related media. Summer Fellows have the opportunity to participate in the Liman Public Interest Law Colloquium, an annual event held at Yale Law School that brings together advocates, scholars, and students from across the country for a day-long discussion on public interest topics such as low-wage workers and workfare, criminal justice reform, and organizing both globally and locally.  Through their involvement with the Liman Program, Summer Fellows become part of a large network of public interest advocates.

Fellowships are offered to students at Barnard, Brown, Harvard, Princeton (undergraduate and graduate), Spelman, Stanford, and Yale.

Examples of Host Organizations

Many organizations across the United States have hosted Fellows. Listed below are a few examples.  A complete list of host organizations and former Summer Fellows can be found at:  https://www.law.yale.edu/centers-workshops/arthur-liman-public-interest-program.

# All Our Kin Based in New Haven, the program trains low-income single mothers as child care workers so that they may be gainfully employed while remaining with their children. # The Bronx Defenders Provides criminal defense services to indigent clients, and civil services to clients and their families. # Electronic Frontier Foundation Located in San Francisco, EFF advocates for the public’s interest in digital rights.  It has worked on issues such as pirate ware, the use of technology to impede individual privacy, and appropriate technology for electronic voting. # Human Rights First Working in the United States and abroad, the program seeks to enforce international human rights and focuses on issues such as asylum, international refugee policies, torture and detainees’ rights. # National Center for Youth Law Based in Oakland, NCYL works to ensure that low-income children have the resources, support, and opportunities they need for a healthy and productive future. # USPIRG A public interest watchdog in Washington, DC, the organization advocates in the areas of consumer rights, the environment, higher education, and democratic participation.