Summer Fellowship Aid/SPIF

Yale supports one of the most expansive programs of summer public interest work in the law school world. In the summer of 2012, we provided fellowships for 193 students through the Summer Public Interest Fellowship (SPIF) program. We will continue this program for the summer of 2013, supporting Yale students working in public interest, government, and not-for-profit organizations.

"As an older student with previous educational and asset debt, the impulse was strong to prioritize the financial benefits of working at a firm over the valuable public interest experiences that would help me as an aspiring civil rights lawyer.  SPIF not only allayed those fears for me, it helped me to make a contribution to a public interest organization working with meager means, in addition to allowing such organizations to benefit from the unique talent and drive of YLS students.  While my summer colleagues struggled to obtain funding for their work, I felt extremely lucky to have SPIF on my side." Viviane Scott, J.D. Candidate, Class of 2014

In the summer of 2012 SPIF awards supported YLS student work at 166 diverse organizations and agencies including:

American Civil Liberties Union
Bronx Defenders
Center for Constitutional Rights
Earthjustice
FBI
Greater Boston Legal Services
Department of Justice
Humane Society of the United States
Innocence Project New Orleans
Lawyers for Children
MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
NAACP  Legal Defense and Education Fund
Natural Resources Defense Council
New York Attorney General's Office
Poverty and Race Research Action Council
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Securities and Exchange Commission
Southern Center for Human Rights
Supreme Court of Israel
Tahirih Justice Center
The Ho-Chunk Nation
The Office of the White House Counsel
The Urban Justice Center
World Bank, Sanction Board Secretariat