Attorney Fellowship Sponsorship
The Public Interest Law Center (“PILC”) is a nationally renowned public interest law firm founded in 1969 whose mission is to use high-impact legal strategies to advance the civil, social, and economic rights of communities in the Philadelphia region facing discrimination, inequality, and poverty. We combine targeted litigation, legal advice, community education, advocacy, and organizing to secure people’s access to fundamental resources and services, including a high-quality education, health care, housing and community services, employment, a healthy neighborhood and the unencumbered right to vote. We accomplish our mission in partnership with a robust network of pro bono partners, community partners, volunteers and other essential stakeholders. PILC strongly values equity, inclusion, achieving racial and social justice, and empowering client communities through our high impact work.
We occasionally seek applications for candidates for post-graduate public interest fellowships to be sponsored by the Law Center. The Law Center is not currently accepting fellowship applications.
Fellowship Opportunities
Skadden Fellowships
The Skadden Foundation provides two-year fellowships for graduating law school students who wish to begin their career in public interest law and serve the needs of the poor, (including the working poor), the elderly, the homeless and the disabled, as well as those deprived of their civil or human rights. Fellows develop their own projects at public interest organizations. For more information, visit the Skadden Fellowship website.
Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellowship Program
The Independence Foundation supports fellowships in the direct legal representation of disadvantaged clients in the Philadelphia region. The Foundation is dedicated to, “support direct legal services for those who cannot otherwise obtain the professional assistance they need to navigate the complicated judicial and administrative systems that affect their lives on a daily basis.” For more information, visit the Independence Foundation’s website.
Equal Justice Works Fellowships
The Equal Justice Works Fellowships program supports passionate attorneys in creating innovative projects that creatively and successfully address the immediate legal needs of vulnerable communities. The unique projects supported by the EJW Fellowship program work toward solutions on a variety of legal issues including domestic violence, homelessness, community economic development, immigration, civil rights, juvenile justice, employment rights, health care, consumer fraud, and environmental justice. Fellowships last for two years. For more information, visit the Equal Justice Works website.
Open Society Foundation: Soros Justice Fellowship
The Law Center also seeks to partner with those that apply for a Soros Justice Fellowship. The Law Center will work with the applicant to develop a project that promotes the Fellowship’s mission, to “fund lawyers, advocates, grassroots organizers, researchers, and others with unique perspectives to undertake full-time criminal justice reform projects at the local, state, and national levels” in the context of the Law Center’s Practice Areas. Projects may range from litigation to public education to coalition-building to grassroots mobilization to policy-driven research.
Law School Sponsored Fellowships
Interested applicants are encouraged to apply for sponsorship of a fellowship opportunity offered directly through their law schools:
Area Law Schools
- University of Pennsylvania Law School
- Beasley School of Law, Temple University
- Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
- Rutgers Law School
- The Dickinson School of Law, Penn State University
- Villanova University School of Law
- Widener University School of Law
National Law Schools
