Public Interest Law Fellowship (PILF) The PILF program at UMass Law offers a comprehensive, integrated experience designed to prepare law students for careers in public service. This program provides specialized advising, frequent exposure to public service lawyers and policymakers, and numerous opportunities for real-world experience in public interest law internships.
Scholarships and Requirements Up to 25 fellowships are awarded to entering students each year in a highly competitive application process. The fellowship includes a 50% scholarship for both tuition and fees. As a condition of the fellowship, students are required to perform the following:
• Attend approximately 50 public interest/public policy events during your term of enrollment at the law school
Recent PILF Internship and Job Placements • Assistant Chief Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security • Attorney Advisor for the District of Columbia Office of Tenant Advocates
• Perform no less than 200 hours of community service or pro bono
• Attorney Advisor for the Office of Hearings Operation at the Social Security Administration
• Agree to employment in a public service law position for 4 years
• Buzzard’s Bay Coalition
legal work during your term of enrollment at the law school upon graduation
• Colorado Legal Services – Child and Family Unit
Community The Public Interest Law Fellows form a strong community within UMass Law. Each year, we bring together all the current and alumni fellows to build a network that we hope will leverage both their individual professional opportunities and their future collective impact. In addition, the fellows comprise almost a quarter of our student body. The public service and public interest programming that is the core of the PILF co-curricular experience creates a focused, vibrant campus environment for all of our students.
Making a Difference More than 25,000 public service hours have been conducted by Public Interest Law Fellows since 2010.
• Connecticut Veterans Legal Center • Federal Board of Veterans Appeals, Washington, DC • Greater Boston Food Bank • Habitat for Humanity • Judicial Clerk at the Executive Office for Immigration Review for the Department of Justice • Judicial Interns in both Massachusetts Appeals and Superior Courts • Lawyers Without Borders • Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office • Several Massachusetts District Attorney’s Offices • Presidential Management FellowDepartment of Labor, Washington, DC • Rhode Island Center for Law and Public Policy
• U.S. Dept. of Education – Office for Civil Rights
UMass Law Admissions 333 Faunce Corner Road, Dartmouth, MA 02747-1252 Ph: 508.985.1187 | Fax: 508.985.1104
umassd.edu/law
202101119-SOL-PILF-INST-JT
• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Judicial Intern