If you are a New American, please plan to attend the information session for the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. The session will be held in 110 Boalt Hall, 2-3 P.M., on Thursday, April 15. Warren Ilchman, Director, Stanley J. Heginbotham, Consulting Director of Selection, and the current Boalt 1L who is now a Soros Fellow, will provide information and insights about how to be a successful applicant for this prestigious $90,000 two-year national fellowship.

A New American is a person who holds a Green Card, or is already a naturalized citizen, or the child of a naturalized parent (the other parent cannot be a US born citizen). A candidate must not be more than 30 years of age as of November 1 of the year of application. Please go to www.pdsoros.org for more information about the fellowships.

Dennis Tominaga
Assistant Dean of Financial Aid

The Boalt Hall Women’s Association is offering the Herma Hill Kay Summer Fellowship to Boalt students who dedicate their summer work to improving women’s lives through the law. Students may apply for the fellowship by sending both the general Boalt Hall Funding Application plus answers to the supplemental questions (see below) in one document to saragiardina@berkeley.edu by Thursday, April 1st. If you are selected as a Herma Hill Kay Fellow, you will be required to attend the HHK Fellows Reception on April 26th at 5PM in the Goldberg Room.

Supplemental Questions:

1. Herma Hill Kay has dedicated her professional life to improving women’s rights. Please describe any activities you have undertaken to promote women’s equality and empowerment. Activities may be academic, work-related or volunteer, and may be in or outside of law school.

2. Please describe the particular population of women your work will benefit.

Questions? Contact Sara at saragiardina@berkeley.edu.

The Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic is proud to announce the Robert J. Glushko Summer Clinical Fellowships, several exciting opportunities for Berkeley Law students interested in working on law and technology policy issues to gain real-world experience advocating on behalf of the public interest.

Funded through a generous donation from Professors Robert Glushko and Pamela Samuelson, these paid Fellowships will provide a small number of rising 3Ls with the opportunity to work full-time over the summer with Samuelson Clinic faculty to support the Clinic’s ongoing legal work on behalf of their clients and the public interest. The Fellowships are intended to provide a summer experience participating in real-world lawyering and policy work where students to assist Clinical faculty in the execution of live cases on the Clinic docket.

If you are a rising Berkeley Law 3L interested in a Fellowship for this summer, please email (1) your resume and (2) a short statement of no more than 1,000 words describing your interest in and commitment to technology law, public policy, and/or the public interest to Clinic Directors Jason Schultz (jschultz@law.berkeley.edu) and Jennifer Urban (jurban@law.berkeley.edu). Submissions are due no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, March 5, 2010.

More information about the Samuelson Clinic is provided below and can be found at http://www.samuelsonclinic.org/.

Established in January 2001, the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley Law was the first clinic in the nation to provide law students with the opportunity to represent the public interest in sound technology policy through client advocacy and participation in legislative, regulatory, litigation and technical standard-setting activities. Since its founding, the Samuelson Clinic has been extremely successful in a broad range of matters in the digital realm, working with nonprofit organizations, government agencies and legislators, and academic researchers across a variety of issues touching on technology including free speech, privacy, intellectual property, electronic commerce, voting systems, open source software and the life sciences.

Today, the Samuelson Clinic offers law students the unparalleled opportunity to learn about lawyering, government institutions and the complexities involved in technology-related law, while representing individuals, nonprofits, and consumer groups that could not otherwise obtain counsel on these legal issues. Through the clinic, students counsel small and large clients; file amicus briefs; comment on proposed legislation and regulations; produce guidelines on new and emerging technologies; conduct cutting-edge research, often in conjunction with non-profits, experts, or graduate students from other disciplines on campus; and most importantly, provide legal assistance on important issues related to law and technology such as biotech, copyright, privacy, free speech, electronic voting, patent reform, etc.

The Human Rights Center announces its annual competition for student fellowships with human rights organizations in the United States and abroad. Registered students at UC Berkeley, Graduate Theological Union, UC Davis, Hastings College of Law, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, and UC San Diego are eligible, with priority given to graduate and returning students.

The fellowship includes a stipend of $4,500. The awards will enable students to carry out clearly defined human rights-related fieldwork during summer 2010 with specific governmental or non-governmental organizations related to the student’s area of study.

A completed application consists of 4 collated sets of the following materials: 1) Application cover sheet; 2) Curriculum Vitae/resume; 3) A 2–5 page statement of purpose; 4) Recommendation letters from 2 faculty members; and, 5) Letter from the sponsoring organization.

Fellowship applications are available online at http://hrc.berkeley.edu or at the Human Rights Center, 460 Stephens Hall.

Completed applications must be submitted to the Human Rights Center by 4:00pm on February 25, 2010.

For further information about the fellowships, please see our website at http://hrc.berkeley.edu.

The Center for Law, Energy and the Environment is offering two positions for fellows to work on the Center’s City Streets Project in May and June 2010. We are undertaking this project in collaboration with the Center for Resource Efficient Communities at Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design. These fellows will be in at the beginning of a multi-year project that will look at the design, function and regulation of a major city street with an eye toward reducing related greenhouse gas emissions. Working with experts in urban design, water use, traffic management, parking policy, human behavior and energy efficiency, we will select a typical street and identify wasteful design and use. We will establish a vision for the design and use of that street that would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Then, we will identify barriers to making that vision a reality in the form of rules, statutes, practices, funding decisions and governance. Finally, we will work to eliminate those barriers through education and policy development. During this initial two-month exercise, the fellows will be involved in preliminary legal research that will help us set the scope for the remainder of our work. There may be an opportunity for work on the project beyond the initial two-month period.

Fellows will engage in research and writing, will participate in meetings with other project participants, and may be asked to conduct interviews. The fellows will work under the direction of Steven Weissman, the Center’s Associate Director for Energy Law and Policy. The positions will require full-time work for two months. Steps will be taken to accommodate final exam schedules.

Please provide the following information to the Center:
1) cover letter outlining your interest in the subject area and any relevant experience, and
2) resume or CV.

Review of applications begins on January 15th, 2010. Applications accepted until positions have been filled.

To apply, please email Claire Van Camp at cvancamp@law.berkeley.edu.

The Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security (Berkeley CHEFS) seeks law students for summer fellowships to conduct research in summer 2010. The Fellows will engage in law and policy research on work-family issues and health care reform. Applicants are encouraged to express interest in one of these topics and provide information about any work experience, academic courses, or research in these areas.

Summer Fellows must be available to work full time during the summer. The fellowships are unpaid, but Berkeley CHEFS is willing to assist students who are seeking to secure funding from other sources. Please see below for more information on the mission and direction of Berkeley CHEFS.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to chefs@law.berkeley.edu. Applications must be received by January 15, 2009; hiring decisions will be made within one month of the application deadline.

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The mission of the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security (Berkeley CHEFS) is to address the increasing insecurity faced by American workers and families through the development of integrated and interdisciplinary policy solutions.

The economic security of American families is a growing national concern but policy proposals to address the needs of working families with regard to health security, economic security, and work-family balance are too often advanced separately. With faculty experts in law, social welfare, public health, political science, public policy, medicine, and economics, Berkeley CHEFS initiates robust dialogue and research aimed at developing policy recommendations to assist the engineering of legislative, institutional, and regulatory reforms. Berkeley CHEFS’ programmatic goals include:
- Increasing health security through promoting universal health coverage and improved care delivery at the national, state, and local levels;
- Developing better protections for workers who are on voluntary or involuntary leave from their jobs; and
- Supporting working families in a flexible workplace.
For more information, please visit: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/chefs.htm.

The Mike Synar Research Fellowship

Please note that the deadline for the Mike Synar Research Fellowship has been extended to December 15, 2009. Synar Research Fellowships are awarded to distinguished U.C. Berkeley graduate students who are writing their dissertations on an aspect of American politics, including public opinion, electoral behavior, civic participation, government institutions, social movements, and public policy. This year, the Institute of Governmental Studies will award five Synar Research Fellowships of $3,000 each. We encourage applicants from UC Berkeley Law School’s Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program to apply.

Eligibility
To be eligible, graduate students must have advanced to candidacy. The research project must be on an aspect of American politics. Students who are conducting comparative research across nations with the United States as a major case are eligible to apply.

Application and Procedures
Applications must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15th to 117 Moses Hall. Applications can be found at: http://igs.berkeley.edu/csr/csr_synar_grant.html. If you have questions, please contact Terri Bimes 510.642.4679 / bimes@berkeley.edu.

BCLBE Stem Cell Law and Economics Fellowships. The Berkeley Center for
Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) is offering two Stem Cell Law and
Economics Research Fellowships for the 2010 calendar year. The fellows
will (i) participate in BCLBE research projects concerning stem cell
intellectual property commercialization and (2) pursue an independent
research project relating to legal and / or economic issues arising in
the research, development and commercialization of human stem cell
technology. The subject of the independent research project will be
developed by the fellow in consultation with BCLBE faculty. Possible
topics include, but are not limited to, intellectual property issues
presented by human stem cell research and development, the impact of
capital and regulatory constraints on translating human stem cell
research into commercial products, the projected economic impact of the
availability of human stem cell based therapies on the health care
system, or cross-border regulation of development,commercialization and
delivery of human stem cell therapies.

Each fellow will be entitled to receive $10,000. The fellowships are
available to current Berkeley Law 1L and 2L JD candidates and to Ph.D.
candidates in the JSP program.

Fellows will have the following obligations during the 2010 calendar year:

Spring Semester:
Attend the Berkeley Stem Cell Center Fellows Ethical, Legal, Social
Issues (ELSI) Training Seminar (10 Friday lunchtime sessions).
Participate in supervised research projects as part of the BCLBE
pluripotent stem cell IP commercialization research project. Develop
independent research project related to legal and / or economic issues
arising from human stem cell research.

Summer:
Pursue independent research project: benchmark- complete first draft of
research paper.
Continue supervised research projects at BCLBE.

Fall Semester:
Finish research paper.
Present results of research paper Berkeley Stem Cell Center Fellows meeting.
Continue supervised research projects at BCLBE.

Interested students should submit a statement of interest, CV,
transcript of law school courses (including those proposed for Spring
2010), and the names of two references. Applications or questions about
the fellowships should be submitted to Ken Taymor, BCLBE Executive
Director, at:
ktaymor@law.berkeley.edu

Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. December 21, 2009.

Princeton in Africa (PiAf) offers yearlong fellowship opportunities with a variety of organizations that work across the African continent. PiAf Fellows work in service-oriented positions in many different fields, including humanitarian aid, public health, conservation, and education. Since its launch in 1999, PiAf has placed almost 200 Fellows in 28 countries. Graduating seniors and young alumni from any U.S. college or university are eligible to apply. For more information, visit www.princetoninafrica.org, call 609.258.7215, or email piafapp@princeton.edu.

You are probably aware — at least generally – of Berkeley Law’s Summer Fellowship Program, which supports students who do public interest or government work during the summer.

While the actual application deadline is a long way off, you do need to begin figuring out how you will satisfy the 25-hour pro bono requirement for receiving funding through the Program.  Students often elect to complete pro bono hours through student-run projects (e.g. Community Legal Outreach; Workers’ Rights Clinic; CARC; Juvenile Hall Outreach) and many of these projects get underway very early in the semester.  So, now is a good time to look into them.  You should check the Berkeley Law Events Calendar for kick-off meetings and information sessions this week and next.

The Berkeley Law Summer Fellowship Program provides $4000 to JD students who are completing a first summer of qualifying public interest or public sector (government) summer work.  The Program also provides additional funding to 2L students who are completing a second summer of eligible work.  Note: Unfortunately, judicial externships are not eligible for Berkeley Law Fellowship funding.

You can find all of the eligibility requirements for the 2008-09 Program via the CDO’s general Summer Fellowships webpage. In particular, you should familiarize yourself with the Guidelines from last year (which are not expected to change much if at all this year) on the Berkeley Law Summer Fellowship Program webpage. (The 2010 Guidelines and Application Form will be available in early March 2010.) 

The principal requirement for receiving funding is the completion of 25 hours of pro bono work (prior to the April 1, 2010 application deadline). Please plan in advance to complete these hours because it can be very difficult to identify sufficient pro bono opportunities if you wait until the deadline nears. Generally speaking, to count toward the pro bono requirement, work must be:

1) law-related; (2) supervised by an attorney; (3) in the public interest; and (4) uncompensated (by either financial remuneration or academic credit). Students often complete their hours by:

• participating in student-run projects (e.g. Community Legal Outreach; Workers’ Rights Clinic; CARC; Juvenile Hall Outreach; etc.);
• performing pre-approved work at non-profit organizations; and/or
• directly assisting the public interest fellowship fund-raising efforts of any Berkeley Law student organization.

Please click here for a detailed description of how the pro bono requirement may be satisfied; take the time to read the rules carefully and contact us if you are in need of clarification. hese requirements have become more detailed (in an effort to make them more fair), so you should not rely simply on what others tell you about them.

We will have a chance to discuss the Summer Fellowship Program and other summer funding options in greater detail later in the semester. 

1Ls:  Rest assured, other than considering the pro bono requirement, there is no need to begin thinking about your summer job search before the 1L Career Orientation in late October.  If you have any questions, please contact Linda Maranzana, Associate Director of Public Interest/Public Sector Programs in the CDO, at lmaranzana@law.berkeley.edu or (510) 643-2675. 

The Coblentz Civil Rights Fellows Committee is currently accepting applications for the newly established William K. Colbentz Civil Rights Endowment Student Research Fellowships program. The program supports research and activities relating to racial and ethnic justice in California and the nation. Six student Coblentz Fellows will be selected to work for one semester, beginning the fall of 2009, in one of four of Berkeley Law’s research centers: the Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice (BCCJ), the Center for the Study of Law and Society (CSLS), the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice (Henderson Center), or the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity (Warren Institute). Selected Fellows will support ongoing or new research efforts being conducted by the center in which they are placed. Fellows will be expected to produce a brief report at the end of the semester describing the goals, scope and outcomes of the assigned project

The Coblentz Fellowship can be taken as a paid fellowship ($2,583 for the semester) or for credit, but not for both. This determination will be made by each selected student prior to each appointment.

Eligibility- JD (2L and 3L only), LLM, JSP and JSD students who will be matriculated in academic year 2009-2010 are eligible to apply.

How to apply- Interested students should forward applications via e-mail to Matt Perry at mperry@law.berkeley.edu by no later than April 28, 2009. Applications should include a current resume and a brief cover letter (no more than two pages in length) demonstrating an applicant’s interest in and commitment to racial/ethnic justice. Applicants may choose to indicate which center they would prefer to work with, but it is not required and does not guarantee placement in a given center if selected for the program.