Stanford Law School is committed to supporting students seeking full-time careers in public interest and public service. Our Public Interest Fellows program provides special support to those third-year students who have a history of public service, provide leadership within the law school, and are committed to beginning their careers as public interest/public service lawyers. The Fellows Program exists to create a community of support for the cohort of students seeking post-graduate public interest jobs during their third-year or post-clerkship and assist them in that endeavor.

SELECTION CRITERIA
All rising third-year law students who intend to start their career in public interest or public service immediately upon graduation or following a judicial clerkship, and who accept the responsibilities below, are invited to serve as Public Interest Fellows for the upcoming academic year.

RESPONSIBILITIES
Public Interest Fellows will work with the Levin Center in developing various initiatives. Obligations include:

• Serving on at least one PI Fellows Committee (options are determined based on student interest) and via that committee organizing at least one Levin Center event (e.g., an event for 1Ls considering “opting out” of OCI);
• Serving as a mentor to first-year students through PI-FAMM, including by coordinating group meetings and meeting with your mentees at least quarterly;
• Attending the Levin Center’s Spring Public Interest Awards Reception;
• Participating in quarterly meetings/events with Levin Center staff during the academic year;
• Being available to assist the Admissions Office in recruiting prospective students interested in public interest through email outreach to prospective students (especially admitted students during Winter and Spring);
• Informing Levin Center staff and withdrawing from the Program if your plans change and you accept an offer from a law firm or other non-public interest employer.

Third-year students who plan to start their careers in the private sector and return to public service later should register for the Public Interest Associates program.

The Public Interest Fellows program has been in place for decades, but it was only in spring of 2007 that we shifted to the current structure which offers objective selection criteria. Starting with the class of 2008, all graduating 3L students who meet the prerequisites and accept the responsibilities are eligible to be Public Interest Fellows. The Fellows who have served since this change are included below.