Skadden Fellowships

The Skadden Fellowship Program was established in 1988 to commemorate the firm’s 40th anniversary, in recognition of the dire need for greater funding for graduating law students who wish to devote their professional lives to improving legal services for under-resourced communities. Fellows can work on projects related to the elderly, the homeless, and the disabled, as well as those deprived of their civil or human rights. The aim of the foundation is to give fellows the freedom to pursue public interest work; thus, the fellows create their own projects at public interest organizations with at least two lawyers on staff before they apply. Fellowships are awarded for two years to graduating 3Ls and outgoing judicial law clerks who want to work in the public interest field. Fellowship sponsors must be a 501(c)(3) organization that provides civil legal services to the poor, including the working poor, the elderly, the disabled, or those deprived of their civil or human rights. Skadden provides each fellow with a salary and pays all fringe benefits to which an employee of the sponsoring organization would be entitled. For those fellows not covered by a law school low-income protection plan, the firm will pay a fellow’s law school debt service for the tuition part of the loan for the duration of the fellowship. The application deadline is early September. The application contains four essay questions that ask about the applicant’s proposed project, past involvement in public interest law, and commitment to public interest law. Applicants must submit the following supporting documents to supplement their application:

  1. Signed fellowship application including three essays;

  2. Commitment letter from potential sponsoring organizations.

  3. Two letters of recommendation from a law school professor and a former employer;

  4. Official law school transcript; and

  5. Resume.

The foundation works closely with an Advisory Committee comprised of a dozen partners from all of Skadden’s U.S. offices to administer the program and select each year’s fellows. Each year, the firm receives a large number of applicants from which approximately 100 semifinalists are identified based upon each applicant’s qualifications (competency, academic performance, character, and demonstrated commitment to the public interests), demonstrated effectiveness of the sponsoring organization, and the quality of their proposed project. Each applicant is interviewed by one or more members of the Advisory Committee and by the foundation director. From this group, 56 finalists are chosen to be presented to the trustees, composed of seven individuals from outside the firm, Skadden’s executive partner, two of counsel at the firm and one second-year fellow. Skadden chooses 28 recipients, who are notified in mid-November.