2025 Arc of Justice Fellowship

Public Advocates Inc. and the Charles Houston Bar Association (CHBA) are proud to announce the seventh annual Arc of Justice Summer Fellowship opportunity for law students committed to pursuing careers in public interest law. The Arc of Justice Summer Fellowship is a collaboration between Public Advocates and CHBA to improve the representation of attorneys of color in the public interest profession and to increase advocacy with communities of color throughout the Bay Area, particularly Black communities. The Arc of Justice Fellows will spend the summer clerking at Public Advocates with dedicated support from CHBA.

The Fellows will leverage Public Advocates’ and CHBA’s networks and professional development resources and will be exposed to public interest practitioners representing a wide variety of legal fields. In addition, the Fellows will establish meaningful connections with other summer law clerks and attorneys at other public interest legal organizations, minority bar associations, government agencies and private law firms or corporations.

Since 2016, Public Advocates and CHBA have selected Arc of Justice Summer Fellows from law schools throughout the country to clerk on our Education Equity and Metropolitan Equity (Housing and Transit Justice) Teams. The Fellows have engaged in local, regional, and state policy work on behalf of students, transit riders, and residents of color. They have also been warmly welcomed into the CHBA network, building meaningful relationships with high-caliber Bay Area attorneys through networking and social events.

Fellowship Partners

Public Advocates, a non-profit law firm and advocacy organization, challenges the systemic causes of poverty and discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing and transit equity, and climate justice. Since 1971, Public Advocates has focused on “making rights real” across California by collaborating with grassroots groups representing people of color, immigrants, and low-income individuals to achieve strategic policy reform, enforce civil rights, and support movement-building.

CHBA is a nonprofit organization of lawyers, judges, and law students throughout Northern California, and operates as an affiliate member of the National Bar Association and the California Association of Black Lawyers. Since 1955 CHBA has been committed to working within the African American community to facilitate access to the justice system and to promote equal protection under the law.

Legal Clerkship Program

Our Legal Clerkship Program exposes students to the diverse strategies of our impact work in an environment designed to help them develop as public interest attorneys. Each law clerk is assigned to a supervising attorney on one of our two teams (Education Equity and Metropolitan Equity) who has primary responsibility for giving constructive feedback in a positive learning environment.

Law clerks on the Education Equity Team support attorneys in K-12 and Higher Education advocacy in partnership with community-based organizations. Examples of cases and campaigns include legal advocacy to defund school police, enforcement actions to hold districts accountable for transparent and equitable budgeting, and enforcement actions to hold community colleges accountable for remedial education reform.
Law clerks on the Metropolitan Equity Team support attorneys and community groups to win investment and development that meets the needs of the region’s low-income residents and workers. Public Advocates, along with our community, regional, and statewide partners, works to secure more affordable housing, robust and affordable local transit service, investment without displacement, healthy and safe communities, and greater power for low-income communities of color in local and regional decision-making. Examples of our work include campaigns and coalition work that aim to create more homes that families can afford and more protections for tenants facing rising rents.

Law clerk duties may include legal research and writing, drafting policy memos and reports, client communication and leadership development, community training and resource development, coalition-building, and data analysis. In addition to providing substantive legal advocacy experience, the Legal Clerkship Program includes a number of brown bag sessions, visits to legislative and state agency meetings in Sacramento, team-building events, meetings with community partners, and other activities intended to complement the day-to-day work of our law clerks.

We value applicants with a demonstrated commitment to public interest work.

The summer program begins the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Summer clerks commit to working full-time for 10 weeks (Monday through Friday, 7.5 hours/day).

Public Advocates currently has a hybrid schedule and we expect all of our clerks to be able to commit to working at least part time for 10 weeks in Public Advocates’ San Francisco or Sacramento offices, with the acknowledgement that this could change if COVID-19 levels increase.

Qualifications

Public Advocates and CHBA are seeking a law student with a demonstrated commitment to:

Promoting diversity in the legal field, such as through membership in a relevant bar association or law school affinity group;
Pursuing a career in public interest law and/or policy; and/or
Serving low-income communities, communities of color and/or immigrant communities — and the Black community, in particular.

Living Allowance

The ten week-long Arc of Justice Summer Fellowship comes with a $6,000 living allowance (subject to taxes) to each summer clerk who commits to and completes a 10-week internship. The allowance can be used to supplement any additional outside funding law clerks may receive.

How to Apply

Applicants should provide a cover letter explaining:

Your specific interests and qualifications (please do not simply recap your résumé);
Your experiences and commitment to working with low-income communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities;
Your reasons for applying to Public Advocates;
Your preference (if any) for placement with our Education Equity or Metropolitan Equity Teams; and
Your preference (if any) for placement in our San Francisco or Sacramento offices.

In addition, include a résumé, writing sample and list of references.

Send your materials in one PDF or Word attachment to our Legal Clerkship Program at lawclerks@publicadvocates.org. Only applications submitted to this email address will be considered. Please include “Arc of Justice Fellowship Application” in your subject line. If you are applying for the Arc of Justice Summer Fellowship, please do not submit a separate summer clerkship application.

We are currently accepting applications and plan to finalize our class by the end of February, 2025.

Diversity Commitment

Public Advocates is committed to fostering a diverse staff and diversity in the legal profession. We encourage all interested individuals to apply — especially Black, Indigenous and People of Color; women; people from low-income backgrounds; people with disabilities; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender; and anyone belonging to any other federal or state protected category. Read our Diversity Vision Statement.