Leadership Opportunities
Civil Rights & Social Justice — Human Rights Magazine
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Civil Rights & Social Justice
- Description: Human Rights is the official publication of the American Bar Association’s Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. The magazine has an international readership that includes many prominent figures in the arena of human rights and civil liberties. Published quarterly, the award-winning magazine circulates to approximately 12,000 CRSJ members, academic institutions, libraries, and other interested readers. The magazine provides information and analysis that will ultimately help leaders, scholars, and activists protect and expand individual rights. Past themes include fair elections and voting rights, the state of free speech, international human rights, children’s rights, immigration, and the rights of indigenous peoples. If you are interested in writing for the Human Rights magazine, please contact the editor Melissa Hodek.
- Deadline: None
- Who is eligible: Law Students, Young Lawyers, all interested parties
Tort Trial & Insurance Practice — Leadership Academy
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Tort Trial & Insurance Practice
- Description: The Leadership Academy is designed to provide young lawyers leadership skills that they can apply both to their practice and to TIPS. All are encouraged to apply, but if selected, it is required that they become members of TIPS.
- Deadline: 12/1/2022
- Who is eligible: Young Lawyers
- Learn More or Apply Now
Fellowships
Business Fellowship
- Applicants must have demonstrated leadership experience in the ABA, the Business Law Section, and/or leadership experience in a bar organization for young lawyers, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers, or lawyers with disabilities. Additionally, applicants must fall into one of these categories: Young lawyer (under 40 years of age or in practice for less than 10 years), Lawyer of color, LGBTQ+ lawyer, Lawyer with a disability
- Learn More or Apply Now
The Loretta Collins Argrett Fellowship
The American Bar Association Section of Taxation is pleased to announce the Loretta Collins Argrett Fellowship, which seeks to create a more accessible and equitable pipeline into the Section of Taxation (“the Section”) and the tax bar.
Section of Family Law Fellowship
The Section of Family Law Fellowship Program consists of two kinds of fellowships:
- Diversity Fellowship
This fellowship is awarded to diverse family lawyers with a proven interest in family law who meet the diversity criteria identified in the Section's Diversity
plan and have demonstrated financial need.
- Access to Justice Fellowship
This fellowship is awarded to family lawyers working in legal services or non-profit legal organizations whose work centers around providing free or low cost family legal services to individuals in traditionally underserved diverse communities and have demonstrated financial need.
Solo, Small Firm & General Practice Division — Diversity Fellowship Program
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Solo Small Firm & General Practice Division
- Description: The program aims to promote diversity within the Division and the ABA, while providing leadership opportunities within the Division for historically underrepresented groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, women, LGBT individuals, and persons with disabilities.
- Deadline: 4/1/2022
- Who is eligible: Any lawyer or judge, who is a member of the Division, with a diverse background and experiences as defined by ABA Goal III may apply.
- Learn More or Apply Now
Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice — Program for Prospective Administrative Law Scholars
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice
- Description: The Fellowship program is designed to help diversify the administrative law contingent within the legal academy by positioning promising lawyers currently in government or administrative and regulatory law practice to be successful job candidates in the academic marketplace. The heart of the fellowship is designation of a primary mentor and two secondary mentors. The goal of the formal mentorship would be to produce, within a year a publishable administrative law manuscript. In addition, the mentee would deliver his or her paper at a workshop, which would lead to coaching for the “job talk,” were the mentee to go on the job market.
Additional benefits would include access to online electronic research services, such as Westlaw and LEXIS, and to submission services, such as Scholastica, through a liaison arrangement with a law school. These fellowships include multiple programs presented by a diverse panel of law professors reviewing how to enter and succeed in the academic job market, and regular invitations to Administrative Law Section CLE programming and ongoing webinars will be extended complimentary. The Section considers the fellowship a 2 year commitment, and will choose up to 4 Fellows every year. In addition, the mentee would deliver his or her paper at a workshop, which would lead to coaching for the “job talk,” were the mentee to go on the job market.
Currently, these activities are virtual but reimbursement of travel expenses may be available when live activities resume. - Deadline: 9/15/2021
- Who is eligible: Young Lawyers, Diverse candidates
Academic Scholarships
Diversity & Inclusion —SOGI LGBT Public Interest Scholarship Program
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Diversity & Inclusion
- Description: In 2019, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Commission announced the inauguration of the ABA SOGI LGBT Scholarship Program, which is aimed at recent law students and/or law school graduates studying for the Bar who are either LGBTQ or who will be working in the LGBTQ space doing public interest work which may include, but not be limited to, working for Community Based Organizations; Non- Governmental Organizations; policy work in a governmental and/or non-governmental setting; doing academic research, teaching or the like; or any other type of program that helps to promote and protect the Rule of Law and the civil and human rights of LGBTQ persons.
The Scholarship will provide financial support to a first, second or third year law student, or recent law graduate to enable the student or recent law graduate to work in the LGBT public interest arena for the Summer/Fall of 2021. One or more scholarships of up to $5000 each will be awarded annually, subject to the availability of funds and the recommendation of the commission’s Scholarship Committee.
The objective is to award the first scholarship(s) in time for the recipient(s) to utilize the funds during Summer/Fall 2022. - Deadline: 4/30/2022
- Who is eligible: Law Students, Young Lawyers
- Learn More or Apply Now
Diversity & Inclusion — Legal Opportunity Scholarship
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Diversity & Inclusion
- Description: Awarded annually to 10-20 racially and ethnically diverse students entering law school for the fall semester of the calendar year.
- Deadline: 4/15/2022
- Who is eligible: entering law students
- Learn More or Apply Now
Intellectual Property — Foundation for Advancement of Diversity in IP Law Sydney B. Williams Scholarships
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Intellectual Property (Offered by FADIPL/ABA-IPL Section makes a contribution)
- Description: The goal of the Sydney B. Williams scholarships is to increase the number of under-represented minority groups serving as intellectual property law practitioners in law firms and the intellectual property law departments in corporations. Since April 2002, the FADIPL has been awarding a number of $10,000 Scholarships for Minority Scholars as well as arranging internships and mentorships to assist under-represented minority law school students intending to practice intellectual property law.
- Deadline: 3/31/2022
- Who is eligible: Law Students
- Learn More or Apply Now
Internships and Clerkships
Business Law — Diversity Clerkship Program
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Business Law
- Description: The Business Law Section Diversity Clerkship Program focus is on judicial clerkships, where diversity among judicial clerks remains disproportionately low. For law students, serving as a judicial law clerk is a mark of distinction and honor that will advance their future career opportunities in law practice, and academia, in government as high-level appointees, and in securing appointments to the bench. Clerkships in business law courts provide another unique and highly important benefit to law students: the ability to see a microcosm of business practice, and allow the student to become familiar with business issues. Such a background will prove invaluable to a career in business law, whether it be litigation or transactional work. Applicants must be current second year law students attending an ABA-approved law school.
Applicants must be considered diverse in one of the following ways: Law student of color Women Law students with disabilities LGBT law students Students who have overcome social or economic disadvantages such as a physical disability, financial constraints, or cultural impediments to becoming a law student Applicants must demonstrate financial need. Applicants must be ABA Law Student Division and Business Law Section members. - Deadline: 1/7/2022
- Who is eligible: Law Students
- Learn More or Apply Now
Commission on Disability Rights — Accenture 1L Summer Internship Program for Law Students with Disabilities
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Commission on Disability Rights
- Description: Applicants Must: Be (or become)a member of the American Bar Association; Be a law student with a disability; Be enrolled at an ABA accredited law school and have successfully completed the first year with a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent); and Be scheduled for graduation in spring 2023 (fulltime students) or spring 2024 (part time students).
- Deadline: 1/20/2022
- Who is eligible: Law Students
- Learn More or Apply Now
Commission on Disability Rights — Eli Lilly 1L Summer Internship for Law Students with Disabilities
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Commission on Disability Rights
- Description: The Legal Student Program at Eli Lilly provides an opportunity to work within their Corporate Intellectual Property department. Their student program offers a broad range of responsibilities from across the legal department and may include researching legal issues impacting business strategy, researching global intellectual property law developments, drafting policy and procedures updates for intellectual property department, attending client meetings, interacting with legal professionals across the corporate legal function, and collaborating with internal teams on cross-group projects.
- Deadline: 3/29/2022
- Who is eligible: Law Students
- Learn More or Apply Now
Commission on Disability Rights — Prudential 1L Summer Internship for Law Students with Disabilities
- Offered by: Commission on Disability Rights
- Description: Applicants must be (or become) a member of the American Bar Association; Be a law student with a disability Be enrolled at an ABA accredited law school and have successfully completed the first year with a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent) Be scheduled for graduation in spring 2023 (full-time students) or spring 2024 (part-time students).
- Deadline: 2/1/2022
- Who is eligible: Law Students
- Learn More or Apply Now
Commission on Disability Rights — Microsoft 1L Summer Internships for Law Students with Disabilities
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Commission on Disability Rights
- Description: Applicants must be first -year law students in good standing for the degree of J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school; be (or become) a member of the American Bar Association; and be a law student living with a disability Applicants must also have: excellent analytical ability and legal drafting skills; excellent oral and written communications skills and the ability to communicate effectively across a large number of diverse internal groups, teams, and divisions; a demonstrated ability to work efficiently, meet deadlines, and manage multi-dimensional projects in a fast-paced environment; and the ability to research and learn new concepts and legal issues quickly to facilitate problem-solving.
- Deadline: 2/1/2022
- Learn More or Apply Now
Judicial Division — Judicial Clerkship Program
- Sponsoring ABA Entity: Diversity & Inclusion, Judicial Division
- Description: The Judicial Clerkship Program (JCP) introduces law students from diverse backgrounds from around the country to judges and law clerks. The program informs and educates the students as to the life-long benefits of a judicial clerkship. The program also encourages judges to consider students of color that they otherwise may not have considered for a judicial clerkship. This three-day program allows the law students to explore legal issues, perform legal research, prepare legal memoranda or briefs and defend their positions to their colleagues and the judges and Pipeline members.
- Deadline: 12/1/2021
- Who is eligible: Law Students
- Learn More or Apply Now