Over 200 WU students (predominantly rising 2Ls) have interned over the past 17 summers with legal aid and human rights agencies in Africa – and, to a lesser degree, in Latin America, Asia, and Europe – providing free legal services to low-income and indigent clients and client communities, legal services providers, and international courts. We are excited to continue the Global Public Interest Law Fellowship program again in summer 2019. (Upper class WU students also may intern overseas in the summers through the Dagen-Legomsky program or for a semester through the International Justice & Conflict Resolution semester externship course.)
If you are interested in doing a global public interest law internship this coming summer, please send a resume and a detailed statement of interest to Professor Tokarz asap, by midnight Th., Jan. 31, 2019. Sooner is better; acceptance will be via rolling admissions. You are strongly encouraged to speak with prior interns. You also might find it beneficial to speak with Nicole Gougeon, the Hon. Richard B. Teitelman Justice Fellow, who interned in South Africa, Korea, and Australia. See the Global Public Interest Fellowship flyer attached.
Your statement should outline the following:
- your interest in doing public interest law work (past, present, future);
- your reasons for wanting to work in South Africa or elsewhere (including your course work, travel, or other experiences in your target country or region or with issues relevant to your target country or region, such as racism, HIV/AIDS, conflict resolution, poverty, land redistribution, public health, environment, women and children);
- the agency (or type of agency) and the type of work (direct legal aid v. human rights capacity building) in which you are interested, and why (you can rank order your choices;
- your experience in teamwork and collaboration;
- the name of your Legal Practice instructor or another faculty member who knows you; and
- anything else you think would be helpful in assessing you, including the name of your Legal Practice instructor or another faculty member who knows you.
Please also indicate the country, the agency (or type of agency), and the type of work (direct legal aid v. human rights capacity building) in which you are interested. You can rank order your choices. Selections will be made on a rolling basis and conclude by the first few weeks of the spring semester. In the past, selected students have been eligible for $1,000 travel stipends from the International programs office, in addition to the CCD summer stipends.
FAQs:
- How competitive are the global summer public interest fellowships? WE USUALLY GET 30+ APPLICANTS. WE ACCEPT APPROXIMATELY 10-15. IN THE END, IT ALWAYS SEEMS TO WORK OUT RIGHT THAT THE STUDENTS WHO ARE BEST SUITED AND WHO REALLY WANT TO GO, END UP GOING.
- What placements are potentially available for this summer? OVER THE PAST ALMOST 20 YEARS, WE HAVE ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS WITH A NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL SERVICES PROVIDERS, AGENCIES, AND COURTS (ALTHOUGH TYPICALLY THE COURTS PREFER INTERNS WHO HAVE INTERNATIONAL LAW EXPERIENCE). TYPICALLY, WE PLACE
- 6 STUDENTS IN DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA (3-4 STUDENTS AT THE LEGAL AID BOARD (PREDOMINANTLY CRIMINAL AND FAMILY), 2-3 WITH THE LEGAL RESOURCE CENTRE (PREDOMINANTLY IMPACT LITIGATION), AND OCCASIONALLY 1-2 AT LAWYERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (PREDOMINANTLY IMMIGRATION CASES));
- 1-2 IN ACCRA, GHANA (1 AT THE LEGAL RESOURCES CENTRE AND/OR 1 WITH FIDA);
- 1-2 STUDENTS IN CHILE AND PANAMA (WITH FIMA, AN ENVIRONMENTAL NGO IN CHILE, AND NGOs IN PANAMA);
- 1-3 WITH NGOs IN CHINA, SINGAPORE, AUSTRALIA, INDIA (BEJING ARBITRATION COUNCIL, SINGAPORE ARBITRATION CENTRE, INT’L JUSTICE MISSION); AND
- 1-2 IN ITALY (ROMA TRE UNIVERSITY IMMIGRATION CLINIC).
- Is there a possibility of new placements? IF YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR CONNECTION TO AN OVERSEAS NGO, WE CAN DISCUSS, BUT YOU WILL NEED SUBSTANTIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE NGO AND THEIR PRIOR ACCEPTANCE OF US LAW INTERNS IN ORDER TO MAKE YOUR CASE.
- How are individual placements decided? IN COLLABORATION WITH STUDENT, FACULTY, AND STAFF.
- What are the dates internships typically begin and end? INTERNSHIPS RUN FOR ROUGHLY 9-10 WEEKS, ROUGHLY FROM MID-MAY (STARTING A WEEK OR TWO AFTER EXAMS END, UNTIL THE END OF JULY. WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE COUNTRY TEAMS TO COORDINATE ON THE SAME TIMETABLE.