Fellow Guidelines

The Access to Justice Fellows Program

Thank you for your interest in the Access to Justice Fellows Program. Please read the following guidelines carefully before completing your Statement of Interest.

Overview

The Access to Justice Fellows Program, a project of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission and the Lawyers Clearinghouse, enables senior lawyers and retired judges to partner with non-profit organizations, courts, and other public service entities to increase equal justice for all. Although lawyers are encouraged to provide pro bono services throughout their careers, they are not often offered a role to play after retirement. By matching lawyers who are retired or transitioning toward retirement with groups that need their help, the program allows these lawyers to use their specialized skills and experience to do engaging pro bono work, remain active members of the legal community, and help people and groups in need.

Fellows devote 10-20 hours per week to their projects, and commit to work for one academic year, from September through June.

Fellows come from diverse professional backgrounds and have had careers as judges, litigators, transactional attorneys, legal services attorneys, public servants, and public interest advocates.

We welcome statements of interest from all lawyers who are retired or transitioning toward retirement. Some Fellows have completely retired from the practice of law, some are just starting to scale back their practices, and the rest are somewhere in the middle.

How it Works

Please note that, while we welcome statements of interest from potential Fellows at any time during the year, we start recruiting each January. We encourage the early submission of statements of interest so that we have ample time to match Fellows to partner organizations.

After we receive your statement of interest, we will contact you for an initial conversation about your interest in the Fellows Program. We will then provide you with information about specific project proposals that have been submitted by potential partner organizations. We will work with you to identify projects that fit your interests and skill set.

Once you find a project that interests you, we will set up a meeting for you with the potential partner organization. Keep in mind that we receive project proposals throughout the year so you may hear from us on a rolling basis about new projects for your consideration, and you may need to meet with more than one partner organization before finding a fellowship project.

If you know of a non-profit organization, court, or other public service entity that you would like to partner with on a project, we encourage you to reach out directly to that group and ask them to apply. Please notify us if you have a particular partner organization in mind so that we can provide them with program information.

A final match is made if both you and the partner organization agree to work together. Once a match is made, you must agree to fully participate in the program year (see below for Fellow obligations).

If we are not able to find a project for you, we will be happy to reconsider your statement of interest for the following year (with your approval).

Organizational Types

Non-profit organizations, courts, and public service entities are eligible to apply to be partnered with an Access to Justice Fellow. Some groups may not have a lawyer on staff, but the Lawyers Clearinghouse will provide malpractice insurance to any Fellow unable to receive coverage from their partner organization.

Project Types

We ask prospective partner organizations to submit project proposals that are aligned with the mission and strategies of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission (core strategies) and/or the Lawyers Clearinghouse (mission). Additionally, we will consider any project that is focused on increasing access to justice for persons in the Commonwealth or that increases a non-profit organization’s capacity to accomplish a social justice mission.

Projects may entail litigation, be transactional in nature, involve public policy or advocacy work, or relate to other types of legal tasks. To review past fellowship projects, take a look at the Fellow profiles on our website.

Fellow Obligations

If you are matched with a partner organization and agree to serve as an Access to Justice Fellow, we ask that you:

a. Spend 10-20 hours per week working on your project, for one academic year (from September through June).

b. Attend our annual kick-off event, usually held in September.

c. Attend monthly meetings for Access to Justice Fellows, held in Boston.

d. Actively participate in a presentation with your partner organization at one of the monthly meetings held for Access to Justice Fellows.

e. At the end of the program year, complete an impact survey in a timely manner.

f. At the end of the program year, consider making a donation to support the Fellows Program.

Questions? Contact Program Director Susan Gedrick at sgedrick@lawyersclearinghouse.org.