Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Summer Fellowship Due Feb. 17

In honor of United States Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Skip Paul ’75 established the Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowships at Santa Clara University School of Law. Beginning in Summer 2000, these Fellowships have been providing financial assistance to Santa Clara law students to fund public interest and social justice law summer positions. It is intended that students working in these positions will promote the public interest values that have characterized the work and career of Justice Stevens. Six Fellowships were awarded for Summer 2008 work, each in the amount of $5,000.

Skip Paul served as a law clerk to Justice Stevens, first at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and then at the United States Supreme Court. He is the former head of IFILM and in the past, he served as the Chairman and Co-Founder of Sega Gameworks, and as Executive Vice President of MCA, Inc.

Fellowships will be awarded to Santa Clara law students who have completed at least one year of full-time or part-time study by the time the fellowship is to begin.

Each applicant must have arranged a full-time summer law position with a public interest and social interest organization. Qualifying organizations include legal service agencies and government offices, but not judicial externships. Private sector public interest law firms also will be considered as qualifying employers, provided the firm provides a letter or other descriptive material that supports its public interest status.

Application forms for the Stevens Fellowships must be submitted to the Center for Social Justice and Public Service, 3rd floor Bannan Hall, 500 El Camino Real no later than noon on February 17, 2009. Application forms can be found at http://law.scu.edu/socialjustice/stevens-fellowship.cfm.

Selection of Stevens Fellows will be made by a committee consisting of Skip Paul, Esq., Ms. Ann Brandewie, Professor Kenneth Manaster, Professor Stephanie M. Wildman, Professor Eric Wright, and Professor Nancy Wright. Applicants should be available for a brief personal interview. Announcement of the Stevens Fellows for Summer 2009 will be made in March 2009. In the event that an application is declined, the application will be forwarded to the Public Interest and Social Justice Endowment in consideration for a Summer Grant.