Americans United for Separation of Church and State is looking for a two-year (Aug./Sep. 2025–Aug./Sep. 2027) Constitutional Litigation Fellow who is committed to civil rights, impact litigation, and upholding core First Amendment protections. Your work will include defending the rights of women, LGBTQ+ people, and racial and religious minorities against religion-based discrimination and oppression. And you will fight to keep religion out of government—including through challenges to religious activities in public schools, public financing of religious institutions, and government-sponsored religion in the public square.

EJW Fellows seek to meet the unmet legal needs of marginalized communities in a wide range of issue areas highlighted on their website. Project-driven, the EJW application prioritizes: 1) a clearly defined problem of significant magnitude; 2) an ambitious but feasible means to address the problem with an impactful, creative/innovative concrete strategy; 3) a sustainable and scalable solution; 4) a series of opportunities for engaging the sponsoring firm/corporation in the project. EJW proposals can often serve as a template for many additional fellowships throughout the year. Recommendations sent directly to the EJW portal must be received a week before the deadline. Sign up for advising with Judy Murciano by making a Fellowship appointment. Please check the EJW site for relevant info sessions and Guide. 

Skadden Fellows address civil legal services for low-income individuals to foster economic security and provide access to justice for marginalized communities. Whether you are conducting direct legal services or working on impact systemic change, it is critical to identify clients’ legal needs first and address the racial justice lens of your work overall. Host organizations may attach to their sponsorship letter community and/or media support for the targeted issue. Former and current Fellows can also contribute additional supporting letters for your work. Please consult the Skadden Application page for important dates. Sign up early for mock interviews with Judy Murciano by selecting Fellowship Advising when making an appointment. Semi-finalists often design colorful one-page handouts for their interviews.

Applying for the U.S. Department of Justice's SLIP or Honors Program? Our application guide is now updated for this year's application cycle.

Read the 2024 OPIA Insider’s Guide

OPIA has now transitioned to a new appointment scheduling system! We have joined the Office of Career Services in CSM/Symplicity, so you will now be able to make all your HLS career advising appointments in one place.

We appreciate your patience as we make this transition. If you have any questions please contact opia@law.harvard.edu or call us at 617-495-3108.

Bidding closes for V-PIIP virtual interviews on August 21 at 12 p.m. ET. Bidding for resume collection will continue until September 12 at 12 p.m. ET. All applications must be submitted through Symplicity CSM. Visit the step-by-step guide on how to submit your bids through Symplicity CSM.

Here are the deadlines for OPIA's internally administered fellowships for which 3Ls and alumni are eligible to apply. Mark your calendar and make an appointment to speak with an OPIA adviser!

The People's Parity Project Leadership Fellows program is open to rising 2Ls with an anticipated two-year commitment. The fellowship will start in September 2024 and finish in May 2026. Applications are due by August 22nd. Learn more about the fellowship and apply here.

The Equal Justice Works Career Fair is the largest public interest legal career fair in the country, bringing together more than 250 public interest employers and over 2,500 law students and recent graduates for prescheduled interviews and informal "table talk" discussions over the course of three days. There are currently over 70 employers hiring for postgraduate positions.

The 2024 Equal Justice Works Career Fair will be held virtually from October 9-11. Registration is now open!

The Equal Justice Works Career Fair is the largest public interest legal career fair in the country, bringing together more than 250 public interest employers and over 2,500 law students and recent graduates for prescheduled interviews and informal "table talk" discussions over the course of three days.

The 2024 Equal Justice Works Career Fair will be held virtually from October 9-11. Registration is now open!

View the employer list for up-to-date listings of employers participating either through table talks or interviews.  In particular, note that the US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division tends to hire many of its 2L summer interns through the EJW Career Fair.  You must apply for prescheduled interviews for all employers by Thursday, September 12 at 5 p.m. ET.

An independent clinical opportunity is available in the Legal Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston for the Fall 2024 semester.  The student will likely be asked to work on matters arising out of the operation and development of payment systems as well as other fintech-related initiatives, including technical research into central bank digital currency systems. 

Students should submit a resume and cover letter to Dana Pierce, Director of Externships, at dpierce@law.harvard.edu by August 1, 2024. Applications will be sent to the Federal Reserve Bank for their review and selection. Once a student is selected by the Federal Reserve Bank, the student will be required to submit an independent clinical application.

More info about this opportunity with the Federal Reserve Bank.

The application deadline for the Spring 2025 White House Internship Program is July 26, 2024, and the application deadline for the HLS Semester in Washington Program is August 16, 2024. Read more

Congratulations on completing Harvard Law School! OCS and OPIA remain available to you for advice throughout your career. Read about our career resources for alumni. 

If you have secured employment, please take a minute to complete the Graduate Employment Survey in CSM. The ABA requires all law schools to report the employment outcomes for its graduates pursuant to ABA Standard 509(b). The information you provide will be reported in the aggregate, will not be shared with anyone, and will allow us to comply with this ABA requirement.

If you are unsure of your start date, so that you can complete the survey, you may enter an estimated date and note in the survey that it is approximate. The Office of Career Services will follow up with you later in the spring for an updated start date.

Read this post for information regarding upcoming Bar Exam application deadlines.

Thinking of applying for a U.S. Department of Justice Volunteer Legal Internship? Our application guide is now updated for this year's application cycle.

Read the 2023 OPIA Insider’s Guide to the U.S. Department of Justice Volunteer Legal Internship Application Process.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Public Service Venture Fund, which serves to support HLS graduates’ public interest careers and amplify the impact of their work. Read more about the PSVF, its history, and how some alumni are using PSVF funds to build a better world.

All 2L and 3L students considering or planning to apply for clerkships for the 2024 cycle can now refer to HLS’s updated 2023 anecdotal list of judges with a public interest focus when researching potential clerkship options. Note that this version has been significantly expanded to include federal circuit and district judges confirmed in the last year, as well as additional federal magistrate and state court judges. The updated list can be accessed here.

Student Government's Public Interest Committee and the Law and Social Change Program are coordinating a peer-to-peer mentoring program for public interest students! 1Ls will be matched with more experienced students who have similar public interest career aspirations to share advice/resources/frustrations. The program will have a budget for mentors and mentees to get coffee or pastries, and will also be coordinating small group meetings with HLS professors in each interest area. Please sign up if you are interested in being a mentor or mentee! The program is open to all kinds of public interest students, including students who are going to firms upon graduation but hoping to transition later in their careers.

As you may have heard, beginning this September, HLS will institute a new orientation session for returning 2L students designed to help you reconnect with classmates, reflect on what you have learned in your first year and first summer as a law student, and look ahead to your future career. HLS will offer the three-hour orientation program on three different afternoons: Thursday, September 28; Friday, September 29; and Sunday, October 1, and you will be asked to choose the session that works best for you.

Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN) (HLS JD 1980) will be making a virtual visit to Professor Howell Jackson’s Federal Budget Policy class on Tuesday, November 22nd, from 9 to 10 am in WCC 2009. Students not enrolled in the course are welcome to sit in on the session.