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Postgraduate Fellowships

Successful Columbia graduates and faculty, and their firms, families, and friends, have created fellowships that allow other Columbians to pursue careers in human rights and public interest law. Some are earmarked for work at a particular organization or location. Others encourage graduates to do public interest or human rights work at an organization of their choice.

Columbia Law School students are usually also among the few who are selected for entry-level positions in the government, including the Department of Justice Honors Program and at the State Department. They also often receive the prestigious public interest fellowships that are available to all recent law graduates.

There is no one true path to a public interest career. Columbia Law School graduates pursue many different avenues to public interest work, including entering the public sector directly after graduation, pursuing a judicial clerkship before entering the field, and working in a law firm that supports a strong pro bono practice before transitioning into the public sector. The Center for Public Interest Law enables students to choose the path that is right for them.

For more complete information about public interest postgraduate fellowships at Columbia, please click here.

Examples of Postgraduate Public Interest Fellowships: Cochran, Neufeld & Scheck (New York Office) and Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgan & Dardarian (Oakland, CA Office) each fund two-year Fellowships for Columbia graduates to work on civil rights cases at their respective law firms. Henkin-Stoffel Human Rights Fellowship enables a Columbia Law School graduate to spend two years working in human rights law - one year in the United States and the other in another country - to pursue a career as a legal practitioner specializing in human rights work. Kirkland & Ellis New York City Public Service Fellowship provides a Columbia graduate the opportunity for a year of postgraduate public service at an organization of the student's choice that meets serious human needs in New York City. Leebron Fellowship funds a one-year human rights project of the Columbia graduate's choice. Sandler Fellowship allows a Columbia Law School graduate to work at Human Rights Watch for one year.