Fellowships
Community Legal Aid (CLA) sponsors law students and lawyers for fellowships funded by the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, Equal Justice Works, and other programs.
Fellows work closely with and are supervised by our experienced attorneys. Fellows carry their own caseload and gain valuable experience in providing a wide range of services to clients, from brief advice to extended representation at administrative hearings and in court proceedings. Fellows are also involved in our systemic advocacy work. CLA invites law students beginning their third year, recent law school graduates, and those with judicial clerkships to apply for CLA’s sponsorship for a fellowship. We encourage interested applicants to consult with us if they have an idea for a fellowship proposal. We also encourage interested candidates with diverse cultural backgrounds and/or proficiency in languages other than English to contact us. CLA interviews fellowship applicants to evaluate if your interests and background are a match for our program’s needs. If we select you, we will work closely with you to design the final fellowship proposal to match your interests with the needs of our program and the requirements of the funder. CLA does not provide fellowship funding. We will work with you to secure funding from another source, such as a foundation or your law school’s own programs.
Selection criteria that will be considered in evaluating applicants for sponsorship include:
- Demonstrated commitment to public interest law;
- Excellent oral, written and legal research skills;
- Strong academic background;
- Experience with or strong interest in representing low-income individuals and communities;
- Proficiency in a non-English language spoken by many of CLA’s clients; and
- Anticipated or current Massachusetts bar admission.
Candidates may email questions about the fellowship application process to Laura Hancock Barry, Development Manager & Fellowship Coordinator at lhbarry@cla-ma.org
