Last Chance to Apply to the 2023-2024 Wasserstein Fellowship Program

OPIA is now seeking applicants for the Wasserstein Public Interest Fellows Program.  Applications are due April 3, 2023.

Wasserstein Fellows are practicing public interest lawyers who have shown a demonstrated facility for mentoring. They spend three days advising individual Harvard Law students, speaking to students in group settings, and assisting the OPIA staff in developing advising resources in their field of practice. 

We seek applicants who have shown a long-standing commitment to public interest law and possess interpersonal qualities that will enable them to be effective career advisors. In particular, we aim to select a cohort of Fellows who reflect the diversity of HLS students and who work in practice settings and areas of law that are of particular interest to our current students. 

We especially encourage applicants with the following backgrounds and identities: 

• Latinx, BIPOC, first-generation college and law students. 
• Those working in labor law, anti-trust, health policy, racial justice, public defense and criminal justice reform (particularly prison abolition work), gun violence prevention, preserving democratic norms and institutions, and those working in private public interest or plaintiff’s side law firms. 

In addition to our cohort of 10–12 domestic, three-day Fellows, OPIA will select three international law practitioners to spend a full week in residence at Harvard Law School advising students on pathways to international public service at nonprofit organizations and intergovernmental institutions. While applicants who have either a JD or LLM degree from a US law school tend to resonate more with our students, applicants with exclusively foreign law degrees are also welcome to apply. The international Fellows can expect to meet with a high volume of LLMs, as well as JD students. We especially encourage applicants engaged in transitional justice, human rights litigation, digital rights, democratic erosion, and global climate work to apply. 

We invite you to apply for the Fellowship, and/or circulate the opportunity widely among your public interest networks. If you know a colleague, mentor, or mentee that would make a fantastic Wasserstein Fellow, send us their name and email address, and we will invite them to apply. 

Any questions about the Wasserstein Fellowship program can be emailed to Jillian Tuck, Associate Director for Public Interest Advising, Programs, and Community Building.