Maria, Gabriella & Robert A. Skirnick Public Interest Fellowships

Maria Ann Skirnick, JD '69, and Robert A. Skirnick, JD '66, University of Chicago Law School, through a generous gift to Harvard Law School, established the Skirnick Fellowships to promote public service. The Skirnicks are now joined by their daughter, Gabriella Skirnick, JD/MBA '07. The purpose of the Fellowship is two-fold: to achieve an immediate impact on the lives of the people served by the programs where the Fellows will be working and, with an eye to the future of the legal profession, to develop public interest law leaders and practitioners of tomorrow, whether they continue to work in the nonprofit arena or become pro bono advocates in the private bar.

Eligibility

The Skirnick Fellowships will be awarded to graduating Harvard Law School students (i.e., only 3Ls) who demonstrate potential to become outstanding public interest lawyers and who will be working in qualifying practice settings. Qualifying practice settings include domestic nonprofit public service organizations, private public interest law firms and government agencies. Among equally qualified applicants, those who will be or are providing civil legal services for the poor, including the working poor, will receive preference for funding. Jobs not eligible for support include positions involving criminal prosecution or defense, international positions, judicial clerkships, and positions in academic institutions (with the exception of clinical teaching fellowships where the fellow will actually be practicing public interest law).

Fellowship Awards

The amount awarded varies each year depending upon graduating students' needs. This year there will probably be two different Skirnick Fellowships: a large grant and a fully funded position

Salary Fellowship

One fellowship will be awarded of up to $40,000 (depending on location of the job and other factors). This will provide a one-year salary for a 3L to work at the organization of his or her choice. The organization will be required to pay benefits, including health care costs. In order to be eligible for this funding, you will need to show that you have come close to exhausting your external sources of jobs/fellowships. You will also need to investigate whether the organization you plan to work for is able to accept outside funding (some organizations, typically governmental, have bars on salaries being paid by outside entities).

Large Grant(s)

This grant will be up to $15,000. This grant is designed to help with job creation. Applicants must demonstrate that their sponsoring organization will be able to provide them with enough additional funds through salary or outside fellowships to ensure a living wage and health benefits.

Selection Criteria

Fellows are selected by a Public Service Committee. The Committee seeks Fellows who demonstrate potential to become outstanding public service lawyers through their prior public service experience, personal essays, recommendations, extracurricular activities, law school course work, academic achievements, and current work plans.

Application Procedure

Applications must include the following:

• A cover letter that indicates who will be submitting recommendation letters as well as the names of three Harvard Law School students, faculty (including clinical faculty), administrators, alumni/ae, or public interest employers (other than those who are writing recommendation letters) prepared to speak with a Committee member concerning your candidacy.
• A resume.
• Two to three letters of recommendation concerning your experience and potential for an outstanding public interest career, including at least one Harvard Law School faculty member (may include clinical faculty). The Committee will accept copies of recommendation letters written for other purposes and audiences, provided their content is applicable. The letters may be included with the application, or recommenders can email their letters directly to Alexa Shabecoff at shabecof@law.harvard.edu.
• A two- to three-page personal statement discussing your motivation for engaging in public interest work, your public interest work experiences and extracurricular activities, career goals, and employment plans for the upcoming year, along with any other matters you wish the Committee to consider. While the general format of the statement is open, you should discuss the public service job you will hold (or the type of work you hope to obtain) during the Fellowship, any outstanding contingencies to obtaining this position.
• A current law school transcript.
• For the fully-funded (salary) fellowship, you must provide the following:
  • Description of your efforts to date to secure a job and/or fellowship and why you think you have exhausted outside sources of funding or your ability to land the kind of job you want without Skirnick Fellowship funding.
  • A description of your proposed placement and what you will be doing at that organization
  • A confirming letter from your proposed host organization, stating that they will accept you, that they will provide benefits, and confirming the type of work that you will do. They should also note that they would otherwise not be in a position to hire you absent the Skirnick Fellowship.

For the large grant, you and your sponsoring organization must describe the amount your organization will provide towards your salary and health benefits and the amount of Skirnick funding you are seeking.

Although there is no formal interview process, the Committee may speak with applicants at its discretion.

Questions may be directed to Alexa Shabecoff, Esq., Assistant Dean, Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising, at (617) 495-3108. Applications and correspondence should be sent to the Public Interest Fellowships Committee care of:

Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA)
Pound Hall 328
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA 02138

Applications - including recommendation letters - must be received by OPIA by Friday, May 1, 2009 at 5:00 pm. Awards will be announced in May 2009. If your status changes between application and award, please notify Alexa Shabecoff. Questions should be directed to Alexa at 5-3108 or shabecof@law.harvard.edu. Financial awards will be disbursed in the summer. Skirnick Fellows will be recognized in the Law School graduation program.

For successful applicants whose employment plans remain uncertain at the time of the Committee's decisions, an award will be granted on the condition that the job accepted by the candidate matches the type of work and salary indicated in their Fellowship application. An applicant who plans to take a job different from the type of job(s) outlined in the application must discuss the job with Alexa Shabecoff in the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising to clear whether it is an eligible position.