Summer Funding
You can do a public interest internship and get paid by: a) getting an internship that is paid or b) getting an unpaid internship and securing funding.
1. Getting a Paid Public Interest Internship.
Most public interest internship are unpaid, but there are internships that do come with funding. You can identify them by going to CUNY Law Symplicity or go to these websites:
- PSJD : To search for paid summer internships, click Search Jobs , then Job Type(s) > Job Schedule(s)> Internship Summer And Salary Level(s)> Stipend
- Government Honors and Internship Guide : (aka the “Arizona Handbook” ). Lists federal state and local government internship and tells you whether the position is paid or unpaid. Email careerplanningoffice@law.cuny.edu for access info
- USAjobs.gov : Search for “Pathways” summer internships –paid internships which factor into Federal government pay grades.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of public sector employers who have offered paid summer internships before:
- Advancement Project
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Bronx District Attorney’s Office
- Center for Constitutional Rights – Ella Baker fellows
- Earthjustice
- Juvenile Law Center, Philadelphia
- Legal Outreach
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- New York City Law Dept. Summer Honors Program
- New York County District Attorney’s Office
- New York County Lawyers – Minority Judicial Internship Program
- New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
- Public Defender of Colorado
- Yale Law School – Jerome Frank Clinic internships
2. Securing Funding for an Unpaid Summer Internship
- Internal on-campus funding sources
- CUNY Law School Foundation summer public interests grants and Sorensen Center summer fellowships
Deadline to apply is 12/20/2021. Late applications will not be accepted.
- CUNY Law Student organizational summer fellowships
- College work study
- CUNY Law School Foundation summer public interests grants and Sorensen Center summer fellowships
- External sources of funding such as those listed below:
Deadlines indicated where current or previous one known. Deadlines are constantly set, so you should check the funding source where none are indicated. All current non-graduating students are eligible unless otherwise indicated.
- AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Minority Outreach Program
- Alaska Conservation Foundation – Ted Smith Conservation Internships
- American Bar Association – Judicial Intern Opportunity Program
Deadline: January 7, 2022 - American Bar Association – The Janet D. Steiger Fellowship
- American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty John J. Curtin Jr. Legal Internship Program Deadline: Last year’s was late March
- American Society of International Law Arthur C. Helton Fellowship Program
Deadline: Summer 2022 program to resume, no deadline set but in 2020 deadline was late January. - Animal Legal Defense Fund Summer Litigation Program Clerkship
For summer 2022 only accepting unpaid internship applications - Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area Law Foundation
- ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION EDUCATIONAL FUND SUMMER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM-
- Asian American Law Fund of New York, Inc. Community Service Scholarship
- Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Summer Fellowship University of Michigan Law School
Deadline: April 6, 2022 - Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
- Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law Michael Maggio Immigrants’ Rights Fellowship
Deadline Feb. 11, 2022, requires applicant to find a host organization. - National Lawyers Guild – The Haywood Burns Memorial Fellowships for Social and Economic Justice
Deadline Jan. 3, 2022 - Federal Communications Bar Association Foundation – Robert E. Lee Scholarship and Internship Fund
The application for the FCBA Foundation Law School Summer Internship Stipend Program will be available in early 2022. - Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics
Deadline: Jan. 2, 2022 - Fiscal Internship Program. Peter G. Peterson Foundation
- GARY TELL ERISA LITIGATION SCHOLARSHIP- FELLOWSHIP Last year’s deadline was March 15, 2021
- Dr. M. L. “Hank” Henry, Jr., Fund for Judicial Internships – The LeGal Foundation
- Human Rights Campaign – McLeary Law Fellows Program
- Initiative for a Representative First Amendment Summer Fellowship – Harvard Law
Deadline Jan. 11, 2022 - International Monetary Fund Internships
- Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization LSO Summer Fellowships, Yale Law School
- JRC-JTB Summer Judicial Internship Diversity Project Deadline: January 9, 2022
- Latino Judges Association Summer Internship
Deadline: February 4, 2022 - Legal Aid Association of California-Dan Bradley Fellowship Program
Deadline April 16th - Fred T. Korematsu Summer Fellowship- National Asian/Pacific American Bar Association Law Foundation (NAPABA NLF) and Fred Korematsu Institute
- Massachusetts Bar Foundation, Legal Intern Fellowship ProgramDeadline March 11, 2022
- NAACP Summer Fellowship Program Not to be confused with NAACP LDF internships
- New Jersey Legal Services Deborah T. Poritz Summer Public Interest Legal Fellowship Program. Rolling Deadline so first come first served, notice publicized on November 24, 2021
- New York City Law Department – Summer Honors Program
Deadline: 1L’s may apply after Dec. 1, 2021 - National Public Radio – Policy and Representation Internship Summer 2022 internship applications will go live the week of December 13, 2021. Deadline to apply is Friday, January 14, 2022 at 5PM ET.
- New York State Bar Foundation Kay Crawford Murray Commercial Division Fellowship
Deadline: 1L’s only, March 21, 2022 - New York State Bar Association/ Health Law Section Diversity Summer Fellowship in Health Law
Deadline: December 6, 2021 - New York State Bar Foundation Trust and Estate Law Fellowship
Deadline: February 7, 2022 - The Miriam Maccoby Netter Fellowship, The New York Bar Foundation
New York County Lawyers Association, Hon. Harold Baer Jr. and Dr. Suzanne Baer
Minority Judicial Internship Program Deadline: Last year’s deadline was Jan. 14, 2021 - Civil Rights Legal Internship Program New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
- Nuclear Age Peace Foundation InternshipsDeadline: March 1st
- The Peggy Browning Fund (Workers’ Rights issues) Deadline February 14, 2022
- Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network – Martin Luther King, Jr. Summer Internship and Fellowship Program
Rolling deadline - PRIDE Law Fund
- Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) (Chicago agencies)
Deadlines: Nov. 1 for 2L’s, Nov. 15 for 1Ls - QLAW Foundation of Washington – Sher Kung Summer Fellowship
- Queens District Attorney’s Office Brave Summer Internship
Deadlines: 2L’s may apply as of October 2022; 1L’s may apply Dec. 1, 2021 - RAND’s Summer Associate Program
Deadline Dec. 1, 2021, 11:59 PST - South Asian Bar Association of D.C.-Public Interest Fellowship
- SOUTH ASIAN BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK PUBLIC SERVICE FELLOWSHIP
- Emily Spitzer Fellowship National Health Law Program
- STUDENT INTERNSHIP PROGRAM- INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: March 18, 2022 - THE URBAN LEADERS FELLOWSHIP (ULF)
Deadline: Dec. 27,2021 - Merton C. Washington Internship on Social Insurance
Deadline: Jan. 28, 2022 - The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy Gleason/Kettel Law FellowshipsLast year’s Deadline was May 2021.
- Fran Kandel Public Interest Grant-Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, CA
Contact
Career Planning Office
CUNY School of Law
2 Court Square, Room 4-108
Long Island City, NY 11101-4356
718-340-4230
careerplanningoffice@law.cuny.edu
Students and alumni please call or email the Office to set up an appointment.
Career Team
Sam Sue
Director
(718) 340-4233
Therese McNulty ’10
Associate Director
(718) 340-4396
Stephanie McGregor
Assistant Director
(718) 340-4232
Rosa M. Cabrera
Assistant Director, Professional Development and Employer Outreach
(718) 340-4149
Alana Greenberg
Administrative Coordinator
(718) 340-4371
