Every year, twenty Brooklyn Law School first- and second-year students are selected as BLSPI Fellows. Fellows work in a diverse array of public interest, public service, and human rights organizations in New York City, nationally, and, increasingly, internationally as well. (Click here for a full list of former BLSPI Fellows.) The connective thread among these organizations is how heavily they rely on assistance from law students; BLSPI Fellows are indispensable to the work that they do in providing direct legal services to indigent clients, bringing impact litigation on behalf of under-served communities, and educating members of society and government officials about pressing social issues.
APPLICATION AND SELECTION
New BLSPI Fellows are interviewed and selected by previous BLSPI Fellows. Having been BLSPI Fellows themselves, they are uniquely placed to gauge applicants’ interest in and commitment to working in the public interest. To apply for a Summer 2012 BLSPI Fellowship, go to blspi.org/apply.
FUNDING
BLSPI Fellowship Funds are derived from the annual BLSPI Auction. The Auction, in past years, has raised as much as $55,000 which goes, in substantial part, to supporting the following summer’s BLSPI Fellows. The benefit of this funding mechanism is mutual: students, professors, and alumni who participate in the Auction know that they are providing vital support to the next generation of public interest lawyers, and Fellows know that they have the full support of the entire Brooklyn Law School community behind them.
MENTORSHIP
Each new class of BLSPI Fellows relies on previous Fellows for advice, assistance, and encouragement. BLSPI Fellows form a cohesive community, both among themselves and within the wider Brooklyn Law School public interest community.
