The Honorable Phyllis W. Beck Public Interest Law Fellowships Grant

The Honorable Phyllis W. Beck Public Interest Law Fellowships Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Independence Foundation
Amount: Up to US $67,000
Last Updated: March 11, 2025

Summary

The Honorable Phyllis W. Beck Public Interest Law Fellowships, established in 1996 and named after a prominent legal figure, supports law school graduates in securing positions with local organizations that provide free legal services to underserved communities in Philadelphia. The fellowship covers compensation and benefits for young lawyers dedicated to public interest law, emphasizing direct representation for disadvantaged clients. Applicants must identify a sponsoring organization and develop a project that aligns with the organization's mission.

Overview

The Honorable Phyllis W. Beck Public Interest Law Fellowships The Honorable Phyllis W. Beck Public Interest Law Fellowship program enables some of the best and brightest law school graduates to come to the Philadelphia area and obtain employment with a local organization that provides free legal services to the underserved. About the Fellowship Renamed in 2024 in honor of the former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Independence Foundation, the Honorable Phyllis W. Beck, the Public Interest Law Fellowships were originally established in 1996. Through the fellowship program, the Foundation funds the compensation and employment benefits for accomplished young lawyers who have decided to direct their considerable talents to public interest service. Program Description Fellows work for a sponsoring legal services organization serving the disadvantaged whose work has been funded previously by Independence Foundation. The Foundation requires that the focus of all Fellowship work be on direct representation of disadvantaged clients. The Foundation also assists the Fellows in repayment of their often substantial educational loans. Project Development Fellowship applicants must identify a sponsoring organization (must be a public interest law firm funded by the Independence Foundation - currently the Foundation funds these public interest law firms). Together with the sponsoring organization the applicant will develop the project. A potential sponsoring organization must be a civil legal services organization serving the disadvantaged and must have its principal office in Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, or Chester County, Pennsylvania. A project typically consists of a new substantive area of legal practice or type of legal service which is consistent with the sponsoring organization’s overall mission but in which the organization has generally not previously engaged. For example, an Independence Foundation Fellow at the Legal Clinic for the Disabled provided focused legal services to disabled men and women who were victims of caregiver, domestic or other abuse (a new area for them). In rare instances Fellowships are granted to support public interest law projects that do not involve developing a new area of practice but rather consist of the development of a new approach that more effectively, innovatively and comprehensively delivers a type of legal service the organization has previously attempted to provide. For example, an Independence Foundation Fellow at SeniorLAW Center expanded and improved on the organization’s ability to serve financially and physically abused senior citizens by delivering legal services to these clients in their own homes and by engaging in extensive community education to help these seniors avoid abusive situations.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Eligibility RequirementsLaw school graduates, outgoing judicial law clerks and attorneys who are currently employed and who want to work in the public interest for a nonprofit legal services organization are eligible to apply for these fellowships. Application must be made within five years of law school graduation. Applicants do not need to be US citizens to apply. If not a US citizen, applicants must be able to demonstrate ability to legally work in the US and be eligible to take a bar exam in the United States. Once admitted applicants must be eligible to practice law in Pennsylvania.

Ineligibility

Fellowships will not be granted to fund either the prosecution or defense of criminal defendants.