Most public-interest employers do not participate in any OCI-type process for post-graduate hiring. Rather, public-interest minded students usually apply to post-graduate fellowships. Fellowships are typically one or two-year commitments to do a particular project with a public interest law organization. These fellowships are often funded by third-party boards or charities, so prospective fellows have to win over both a host organization and the funder before being awarded a fellowship.
If you’re like me, having to wait until your 3L year to apply for your first attorney job is nerve-wracking enough, let alone having to go through multiple rounds of interviews where you know you are being compared to some of your most impressive and dedicated peers. Hopefully, the pieces of advice I give below will help to ease some of your anxiety as you maneuver the process.
1L and 2L year
During this time you should be trying to get as much experience at Philadelphia public interest law organizations as possible. Even if you had some experience working with a public interest organization before school, continuing to show commitment to social justice work is essential.
The substantive work you do in these experiences is important. Obviously, if you want to do housing work you should spend time at an organization that practices that area of law. However, make sure not to box yourself in. When I started law school, I was convinced I would practice family law after graduation. But through my practica and summer internships I learned that my legal interests were more diverse than I initially thought. While I did participate in Temple’s family law clinic, I also enjoyed my summers learning more about criminal and employment law and practica learning about housing and unemployment compensation. Having a broad range of experience can be incredibly useful since you may not be awarded the first fellowship you apply to and should be able to market yourself to a broad array of public-interest employers.
Be sure to provide a compelling and thoughtful explanation of what draws you to the work and why you are the candidate the funder should invest in.
2L summer
Before your 2L summer, you should start thinking about which organizations you would like to apply to. Of course, the main consideration should be whether you would like working at those organizations. A secondary consideration is whether those organizations would consider nominating you for more than one fellowship. Most organizations do not have their own fellowship funding, so you have to apply to sources outside of your organization to be paid during your fellowship year/s. A fellow’s chances of attaining a fellowship are, of course, increased the more funders a fellow can apply to.
Once you have decided which organizations you want to apply to, your next step will be to find out their processes for developing fellowship projects. To attain most fellowships, a prospective fellow must propose a project that she would complete during her fellowship term. Some host organizations develop their own project and find prospective fellows that are a good fit for the project they have in mind. Other host organizations expect fellows to apply with an idea for a fellowship project. If you are applying to an organization that expects you to develop your own project, 2L spring and early summer is a great time to start brainstorming with your public-interest mentors what kind of work you would be suited for.
The Application Process
In the fall of your 3L year, once you applied to host organizations and agreed to be sponsored by one of them, you will submit your written applications to the funder/s you are applying to. Then, if you are lucky enough to get through the written application stage, you will be invited to interview with the funder.
In the application process, be sure to provide a compelling and thoughtful explanation of what draws you to the work and why you are the candidate the funder should invest in. This was definitely the hardest part for me because, as a future public-interest attorney, I am much more accustomed to telling my clients’ story than my own. However, when you are competing with other law students who are all equally committed to social justice work, taking the time to think about what makes your narrative particularly compelling can give you a competitive edge. You will notice much more positive feedback in interviews where you disclose more about yourself and your personal motivations than in interviews where the conversation is entirely about a project or your professional skills.
After the Initial Application Process
The public interest fellowship process is incredibly competitive and even if you’re like me and completed the steps I outlined as best you can, you still might not get one of the first few fellowships you apply for.
This is where the public interest law network you developed through all of your practica, clinics, etc. is important. Fellowship opportunities pop up and having a network that knows to pass along listings as they arise is vital. I would not have heard about the fellowship I was eventually awarded if I did not have friends who knew I was looking for a public interest fellowship and passed along the information.
The above is just some advice for how to attain a fellowship in the Philadelphia area. I hope you use the resources in Career Services, our public-interest minded professors, and your classmates to get more guidance throughout the process. The path to getting a public-interest fellowship is long and can definitely be ego-bruising, but if you want a career in public-interest law I suggest that you follow the guidance of Beyonce: “Do what you were born to do. You just have to trust yourself.”
Lizzy Wingfield ’17, pictured above, has been awarded a Stoneleigh Emerging Leaders Fellowship. She will be working at the Education Law Center to promote policy and practice changes focused on decreasing exclusionary discipline, reducing discrimination, and removing educational barriers that disproportionately affect LGBT and gender non-conforming youth in Greater Philadelphia schools.
