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Students interested in continuing study and working towards an advanced degree have the option of pursuing post-graduate programs. Some of the available advanced degree programs include taxation, litigation, banking, labor, admiralty, energy, and environment.
For more information on these programs, contact admissions officers at the law schools that interest you or check the comprehensive guide to programs offered throughout the world in the Directory of Graduate Law Degree Programs found in the Law Library. Post-graduate fellowship opportunities are numerous and are available in the U.S. and abroad. The competition for these grants is stiff, so begin your search at least one year prior to the anticipated time of beginning the project. Faculty members who have been recipients of grants or fellowships may be good sources of information. Additional sources of information include The Annual Register of Grant Support: A Director of Funding Services and The Foundation Directory.
In addition to law school grants for graduate degree programs, there are a number of major fellowships and funding programs. Many of these fellowships are for one to two years and may include earning an advanced degree, such as an LLM. Information on fellowships can be obtained in several directories, including Funding for Law Legal Research, Education & Study.
Following is some information about a number of well-known fellowships:
The Skadden Fellowship Foundation, described as "a legal Peace Corps" by The Los Angeles Times, was established in 1988 to commemorate the firm's 40th anniversary, in recognition of the dire need for greater funding for graduating law students who wish to devote their professional lives to providing legal services to the poor (including the working poor), the elderly, the homeless and the disabled, as well as those deprived of their civil or human rights. The aim of the foundation is to give Fellows the freedom to pursue public interest work; thus, the Fellows create their own projects at public interest organizations with at least two lawyers on staff before they apply.
Fellowships are awarded for two years. Skadden provides each Fellow with a salary and pays all fringe benefits to which an employee of the sponsoring organization would be entitled. For those Fellows not covered by a law school low income protection plan, the firm will pay a Fellow's law
school debt service for the tuition part of the loan for the duration of the fellowship. The 2008 class of Fellows brings to 536 the number of academically outstanding law school graduates and judicial clerks the firm has funded to work full-time for legal and advocacy organizations.
The Peggy Browning Fund is a nonprofit corporation established in memory of Margaret A. Browning, a prominent labor attorney and member of the National Labor Relations Board. President Clinton appointed Peggy to the NLRB in 1994, and she served in that position until her death in February, 1997.
The Fund's mission is to provide law students with diverse, challenging work and educational experiences in the area of workers' rights. Such unique and positive opportunities will both increase students's understanding of workers' needs as well as promote their entry into the practice of public interest labor law.
The Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program was established by Executive Order in 1977 to attract to the Federal service outstanding men and women from a variety of academic disciplines and career paths who have a clear interest in, and commitment to, excellence in the leadership and management of public policies and programs. By drawing graduate students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, the PMF Program provides a continuing source of trained men and women to meet the future challenges of public service.
With an ongoing commitment to attracting, retaining and developing individuals with diverse backgrounds, Baker & Daniels awards two $10,000 diversity scholarships each year.
Second-year law students at Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis and Bloomington and the University of Notre Dame Law School in South Bend are eligible recipients. Scholarship recipients also receive a place in Baker & Daniels' summer associate program.
The diversity scholarships were established for students of varied ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds. Lifestyle, disabilities and unique viewpoints are also considered when selecting students for the award. In addition to their applications, finalists are interviewed by members of the Baker & Daniels diversity committee before the winners are chosen.
The Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program is a distinguished transatlantic initiative that each year offers twenty accomplished young Americans the opportunity to complete a high-level professional development program in Germany. Over the course of a nine-month program, Bosch Fellows complete two work phases at leading German institutions, both customized to each fellow's professional expertise, and attend three seminars with key decision-makers from the public and private sectors, taking place across Europe. Fellows are recruited from business administration, journalism, law, public policy and closely related fields. No German language skills are required at the time of application.
The program is fully funded by Robert Bosch Stiftung, one of the largest foundations in Germany, with the goal of creating a new generation of American leaders who have firsthand experience in the political, economic and cultural environment of Germany and the E.U.
The Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) cultivates a lifelong commitment to the public interest law. For law students, PILI strives to encourage pro bono participation as well as law student involvement in externships and law school-based legal clinics. PILI also offers a paid public interest law Internship program during the summer and academic semesters. For new law school graduates, we offer a public interest law Fellowship program. Together, these programs help to instill this critical public interest/pro bono ethic early in an attorney’s career. To ensure that this public interest law ethic grows into a life-long participation in public interest law and pro bono work, PILI offers a pro bono program, the Pro Bono Initiative (PBI). Through PBI, we promote best practices for pro bono work, help ensure effective communication about available pro bono opportunities, and act as a clearinghouse and resource for pro bono issues.
PILI was founded in 1977 as “The Chicago Law Student Public Interest Internship Program," to improve awareness of public interest law and the need for legal services for the poor. The program launched with 12 student interns at four legal services agencies. In 1983, PILI added the Fellowship Program and adopted its current name. In 1999, PILI launched the Pro Bono Initiative for the New Millennium, in an effort to better engage law firms and corporations in pro bono legal services. This was initially established by PILI as a part-time project.
Since its founding, PILI has placed over 2,600 Interns and Fellows. PILI's Pro Bono Initiative is also now a full-time project and PILI recently launched an Alumni Program for its former Interns and Fellows.
SNYDER VISITING SCHOLAR at the Research Centre for International Law Cambridge University England. Dr. Earl A. Snyder, a deceased alumnus of Indiana University School of Law and Cambridge University, has generously provided support for ONE student (current 3L or LL.M or S.J.D.) from Indiana University to work at the Research Centre for International Law of Cambridge University during the fall of 2009 (mid September to mid December). STUDENTS SELECTED IN PAST YEARS HAVE BEEN GRADUATING 3LS. (A current LLM or S.J.D., if selected, would need to take a leave of absence for the fall 2009 semester.)
The Scholarship provides for air fare, housing, meal allowance, and a small stipend. The Centre contemplates that the Snyder Scholar will be in residence for about three months and will conduct extensive research, primarily of his/her own development. Because the Centre expects the Snyder Scholar to work on an international law project, applicants must have had international law or equivalent courses. The Snyder Scholar should also be committed to further study of or practice in international law. Demonstrating a commitment can be done by listing courses taken in the international law area, research in international law topics, employment in the international arena, knowledge of languages, career goals, extracurricular activities and so on.
Applicants should provide the following:
1) a resume; and
2) a statement of commitment to international law; and
3) a personal research agenda of some length.
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