Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellowship

The Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellowship at Brown University offers 4 undergraduate students an opportunity to participate in public interest law projects for a summer. Broadly defined, public interest law includes helping those often lacking resources to retain attorneys, engaging in a variety of advocacy work, and participating in shaping public policy.

The Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellowship at Brown is managed by the Swearer Center at Brown University in partnership with the Arthur Liman Public Interest Program at Yale Law School. The program is named after Arthur Liman, a 1957 graduate of Yale Law School. Through his distinguished career, Liman demonstrated how dedicated lawyers in both private practice and public life serve the needs of people and causes that might otherwise go unrepresented. The Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellowship at Brown is funded by the generous support of Arthur Liman’s son, the filmmaker Doug Liman ’88, and the Liman Foundation.

The base stipend for SPRINT domestic opportunities will be $2,500. In addition, aided students with parent contribution/responsibility of $15,001 and above will automatically receive a Gap Award of $2,000, for a total of $4,500. Similarly, aided students with parent contribution/responsibility of $15,000 and below will receive a Gap Award of $3,000 for a total of $5,500. Parent Contribution/Responsibility is determined by the Office of Financial Aid. Eligible students may also qualify for a Summer Earnings Waiver.

Past Liman Fellows from Brown and the organizations with which they worked can be seen here. Past fellows and organizations from all seven universities offering Liman Fellowships are listed here.

meet the Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellowship Cohorts

Structure

Students selected as Liman Fellows secure their own placement, with support available from the Swearer Center and Brown's Center for Career Exploration. (See a list of suggested resources for identifying opportunities here.) Summer Fellows have worked on issues such as immigrants’ rights, workers’ rights, prison conditions, educational equity, juvenile justice, and marriage equality. Placements can include non-profit organizations providing civil or criminal legal services to individuals, institutions representing particular groups, entities focused on problems of legal and public policy, and law-related media. The fellowship does not provide funding for students to work in for-profit law firms, even those that engage in pro bono work.

In general, the Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellowship program supports work in the United States. On rare occasions, work that has both an international and domestic focus has been supported. On occasion, work with federal, state, or local government, which is targeted at particularly needy populations, has been supported.
The organization and internship opportunity must meet the criteria of our program (Internship over 8-10 weeks, unpaid or low-paid that meets SPRINT summer funding requirements, public interest work, generally with a non-profit organization), and you must confirm your placement if you are accepted into the Liman Fellowship program. Placements are expected to provide a substantial opportunity that should be a student’s primary summer experience.
Incoming fellows are expected to attend the annual Liman Public Interest Colloquium at Yale Law School, held each spring (usually March or April) in New Haven, CT. Students’ travel from Providence and lodging for the Liman Colloquium are arranged with the Swearer Center, and these expenses are covered by the program.
Summer fellows are required to submit a final report describing their work and fellowship experience.
The Liman Fellowship may satisfy the practicum requirement for students participating in the Engaged Scholarship Certificate.

Eligibility

Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are enrolled in spring 2024 and fall 2024 are eligible to apply for SPRINTs. The program is open to students from any concentration. Students must be available for 8-10-week internships during the summer. Graduating seniors (May '23) are not eligible. International students are eligible to apply but should review SPRINT FAQs about receiving an award from Brown as an international student.

Students who have received summer funding from BrownConnect (LINK, UTRA, Signature Programs) in a previous summer will not receive priority consideration, but are eligible to apply again. Supporting students on Brown University financial aid—particularly students with the highest demonstrated financial need—is the primary priority of the College and available summer funding. Receiving a previous academic year UTRA will not impact your eligibility for a summer SPRINT.

Apply

This application is closed.

Contact

Joshua Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Co-Curricular Learning: [email protected]