Columbia Justice Fellowship (2025)
This fellowship funds up to three Columbia Law School J.D. graduates for two years, placing each with one of a select group of impact litigation organizations focused on promoting justice. Fellows will have the unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge impact litigation for prominent organizations and to participate in effecting social change through legal advocacy. The organizations participating in the 2025-2027 term are the ACLU's National Security Project, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Applications for the 2025 fellowship are due on October 15, 2024. Open to the Columbia Law School J.D. Class of 2025 only.
2025 Columbia Justice Fellowship Application
David W. Leebron Human Rights Fellowship (2025)
This fellowship honors the Law School’s former dean (1996-2004) and his commitment to providing meaningful experiences in human rights law. The fellowship enables a Columbia Law School J.D. or LL.M. graduate to spend one year working in human rights in the United States or abroad, in pursuit of a career in human rights law, whether in academic life, at governmental, intergovernmental, or nongovernmental organizations or agencies, or as legal practitioners specializing in human rights work. The 2025 application is due on February 23, 2025. Open to Columbia Law School students and graduates only.
2025 Leebron Fellowship Application
Excelsior Service Fellowship (2025)
The two-year Excelsior Fellowship supports J.D. graduates to work in New York State government alongside senior members of the administration. Fellows play a policy-influencing role, with the opportunity to focus on the most pressing issues of the day. The 2025 application is due January 26, 2025. As a participant in the Excelsior Program, Columbia Law School is granted a predetermined number of fellowships for current 3Ls.
More about Excelsior Service Fellowships: ny.gov | program flyer
2025 Excelsior Fellowship Application
Global Public Service Fellowship (2025)
This 12-month fellowship, available to graduating J.D. and LL.M. students and to alumni who completed their degree within the past two years, supports work with a public service organization, intergovernmental agency, national supreme court, or international court host abroad. Preference is given to organizations based in the Pan-Asia region who are engaged in issues of international law and global consequence. Applications involving environmental work in Asia will be given special consideration. The deadline to apply for 2025 is February 2, 2025. Open to Columbia Law School students and graduates only.
2025 Global Public Service Fellowship Application
Herbert and Nell Singer Social Justice Fellowship (2025)
This two-year fellowship honors Class of 1928 graduate Herbert Singer and his commitment to supporting meaningful learning experiences in public interest law. The fellowship helps to launch the social justice career of a J.D. Columbia Law School graduate who demonstrates substantial commitment, ability, and preparation for making a difference as a public interest lawyer by providing a stipend to be a staff attorney or carry out a project at a nonprofit organization in the United States. The deadline to apply for 2025 is November 3, 2024. Open to Columbia Law School J.D. students and graduates only.
2025 Singer Fellowship Application
J.D. Pathways Fellowship (2025)
Max Berger Pathways Fellowship (2025)
J.D. graduates who demonstrate serious commitment to, and preparation for, careers as public interest, government, or human rights lawyers are eligible for Columbia Law School J.D. Pathways Fellowships. Recipients work at a qualifying host organization in the U.S. or abroad for one year. The deadline to apply for 2025 is May 1, 2025.
The 2025 application will be posted in early 2025. At that time, we will announce whether the fellowship is open to the members of the J.D. Class of 2025 from any ABA-accredited law school in the United States or just those from Columbia Law School. We do expect the application to be substantially similar to the 2024 application, below.
2024 J.D. Pathways Fellowship Application
Kirkland & Ellis New York City Public Service Fellowship (2025)
Kirkland & Ellis offers its New York City Public Service Fellowship to “give something back” to the community and to enhance its relationship with Columbia Law School. The fellowship provides one graduating J.D. student the opportunity for a year of postgraduate public service that meets serious human needs in New York City. The deadline to apply is February 6, 2025. Open to current 3Ls from Columbia Law School and NYU Law School only.
2025 Kirkland & Ellis Fellowship Application
LL.M. Pathways Fellowship (2025)
LL.M. graduates who demonstrate serious commitment to, and preparation for, careers as public interest, government, or human rights lawyers are eligible for LL.M. Pathways Fellowships. Recipients work at a qualifying host organization in the U.S. or abroad. The fellowship period is three to 12 months. The deadline to apply for 2025 is March 9, 2025. Open to current Columbia Law School LL.M.s only.
2025 LL.M. Pathways Fellowship Application
Manne Family Fellowship at the Texas Civil Rights Project
Information on the 2025 fellowship cycle will be posted when available. Please be in touch with the PI/PS Office if you think you would like to apply for this fellowship.
The Manne Family Fellow will be employed by the Texas Civil Rights Project for one year. The Manne Family Fellow will be fully integrated into one of the organization's legal programs and work closely with the program’s legal and advocacy team. The fellow will focus their time on impact litigation and advocacy. Open to the current and previous year's J.D. classes of Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School, and the University of Texas School of Law.
2024 Manne Family Texas Civil Rights Project Fellowship Application
Manne Family Fellowship at the Texas Defender Service (2025)
This one-year fellowship allows a recent graduate to join the Texas Defender Service, a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of representation afforded to those facing a death sentence and to expose and eradicate the systemic flaws plaguing the Texas death penalty. The deadline to apply is December 15, 2024. Open to the current and recent J.D. classes of Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School, and the University of Texas School of Law.
2025 Manne Family Texas Defender Service Fellowship Application
Mark Haas Public Interest Fellowship (2025)
This fellowship supports one to two graduating J.D. or LL.M. students from China to pursue public interest legal work in the United States for three to six months. The deadline to apply is March 5, 2025. Open to current Columbia Law School 3Ls and LL.M.s only.
2025 Haas Fellowship Application
Millstein Financial Regulation Fellowship (2025)
This fellowship honors Jim Millstein ’82, who served as the Chief Restructuring Officer in the U.S. Department of Treasury during the financial crisis of 2008, and his father, Ira Millstein ’49, who founded the Systemic Risk Council, a private sector initiative to ensure that legislators and regulators remain vigilant in addressing the underlying causes of the crisis. This fellowship provides a stipend to a recent Columbia Law School graduate who demonstrates substantial commitment, ability, and preparation for making a difference to do substantive legal work on issues related to financial regulation within the U.S. Congress or an executive branch agency for one year. DEADLINE EXTENDED: Applications are due December 8, 2024. Open to Columbia J.D. students and graduates only.
2025 Millstein Financial Regulation Fellowship Application
Millstein Government Service Fellowship (2025)
The Millstein Government Service Fellowship honors Jim Millstein ’82, who served as the Chief Restructuring Officer in the U.S. Department of Treasury during the financial crisis of 2008, and his father, Ira Millstein ’49, who founded the Systemic Risk Council, a private sector initiative to ensure that legislators and regulators remain vigilant in addressing the underlying causes of the crisis. The fellowship is intended to place a fellow within the executive or legislative branch of the U.S government for one year. DEADLINE EXTENDED: Applications are due December 8, 2024. Open to Columbia J.D. students and graduates only.
2025 Millstein Government Service Fellowship Application
Public Interest Enhanced LRAP Fellowships (2025)
Enhanced LRAP Fellowships are awarded to Columbia Law School J.D. students who have demonstrated dedication to and exceptional promise for leadership in public interest law. These fellowships cover all loans up to the cost of law school tuition for fellows whose annual income does not exceed $100,000. They include the Lowenstein Fellowship, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP Fellowship, and Berger Fellowship.
In 2025, Columbia Law School is offering the Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP Fellowship and the Lowenstein Fellowship. The deadline to apply is June 15, 2025. Open to Columbia Law School J.D. students and graduates only.
The 2025 application will be posted in spring 2025 and will be substantially similar to the 2024 application, below.
2024 Enhanced LRAP Application
Sandler/Human Rights Watch Fellowship (2025)
Human Rights Watch, a leading international human rights monitoring and advocacy organization, has created the Sandler Fellowship for a Columbia Law graduate from the J.D. program, in honor of Judge Leonard Sandler ’50. The fellow spends one year in either the New York or Washington, DC office, monitoring human rights developments in various countries, conducting onsite investigations, drafting reports on human rights conditions, and engaging in advocacy aimed at publicizing and curtailing human rights violations. Applications are due October 14, 2024. Open to Columbia Law School J.D. students and graduates only.
2025 Sandler Fellowship Application
Social Justice Legal Foundation Impact Litigation Fellowship (2025)
The Social Justice Legal Foundation, a nonprofit civil-rights litigation group, seeks applicants zero to two years out of law school for its 2025 Impact Litigation Fellowship. The Impact Litigation Fellowship is a fully funded two-year fellowship focused on training recent law school graduates in the nuts and bolts of strategic social justice litigation—from investigation and filing through summary judgment and trial, and every discovery dispute and oral argument in between. Fellowships are full-time, hybrid positions based in Los Angeles, California. Salary starts at $86,000 commensurate with litigation or clerkship experience and increases by $4,000 after admission to the bar. The Foundation provides a bar exam stipend, relocation assistance, a generous paid time-off policy, comprehensive healthcare benefits, retirement benefits with employer match, and professional development funds. It is offered in two-year cycles. Applications for 2025 are due October 18, 2024. Applications from students of the foundation’s advisory law schools (Columbia, Yale, Stanford, UCLA, Howard, and Northwestern) will be given priority if submitted by October 18. The final application deadline is November 1.
2025 Social Justice Legal Foundation Impact Litigation Fellowship
Ask a Question
Emily Harris (she/her)
Director of Public Interest Lawyering and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers