Social Justice Initiatives | Columbia Law School

Summer Fellowships for Law School Students

In addition to placements through the Human Rights Internship and Guaranteed Summer Funding programs, Columbia Law School provides other summer funding opportunities listed below.

1L and 2L Fellowships

• Center for Japanese Legal Studies Public Interest Fellowship
  The Center for Japanese Legal Studies Public Interest Fellowship is open to first- and second-year law students who demonstrate an interest in public interest law and working in Japan for the summer. Up to two fellowships are available and each will provide a stipend of $10,000 to cover airfare, living, and other expenses for the summer. The deadline to apply for the 2013 Fellowship is January 28th. Click here for the application.
• The John R. Oldham (’83) Fellowship is administered through The Center for Chinese Legal Studies and is available to first- and second-year law students to support summer public interest (including government) work or academic research in greater China. Applications consist of a resume, transcripts, a two-page summary of the proposed project, an estimated budget, and whether funding will be received from another source (such as WEAI). Applications must be submitted to Paulette Roberts (prober@law.columbia.edu).
• Weatherhead East Asian Institute Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship
  The Weatherhead East Asian Institute offers a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship for advanced Asian language study during the summer. Details are available here.
• Venable LLP Fellowship
  Due to the generous support of the law firm of Venable, LLP and under the leadership of partner and Law School adjunct faculty member Mark Vecchio ’85, Columbia Law School offers a funded public interest fellowship for first-year law students. The fellowship will be awarded to a Columbia Law School student in the J.D. program class of 2015 who demonstrates a commitment to public interest and who is registered in the Guaranteed Summer Funding Program. Information about the fellowship application process will be disseminated in April 2013. 

2Ls  ONLY

• Goldstein Demchack Baller Borgen & Dardarian Civil Rights Summer Fellowship
  The Oakland, California plaintiffs’ civil rights and environmental justice law firm Goldstein Demchak Baller Borgen & Dardarian offers a summer position to a student from a few schools, including Columbia. The firm also has a post-graduate fellowship.
• Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP Summer Associate Positions
  Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, a small civil-rights law firm in New York, located in Tribeca, seriously considers second-year Columbia Law students and pre-clerk 3Ls for summer associate positions. Its practice seeks to effect systemic change in policing around the country through 42 U.S.C. 1983 litigation, primarily on two areas of official misconduct: wrongful convictions (on behalf of DNA exonerees) and serious police brutality. \The NSB internship provides a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of criminal and civil-rights law at every state of litigation. Funding for 2L students will be matched, and 3Ls will be paid on a hourly basis.  Hiring will be on a rolling basis. To apply, email a resume, cover letter and writing sample to Debi Cornwall at debi@cnscivilrights.com.

Other Summer Funding Programs

• Faculty Research Assistant Positions fund students to work closely with Columbia’s faculty on various projects. Past students’ projects have ranged from a landmark death penalty study to preparation for a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Committee to a book on the rights of crime vicitms.
• Other summer fellowships are listed on PSJD in the “Career Central” section.  For any additional questions or concerns regarding summer funding opportunities, please contact Ernesto Hernandez, program coordinator for Summer Programs.