Grants
PILF grants exist to encourage public interest law work by subsidizing public interest and government summer clerkships and jobs. PILF grants are exclusive to Duke Law students but are noncompetitive: every applicant who meets the requirements for a particular grant will receive that grant. The value of all PILF grants is a function of the amount of money that is raised throughout the year and the number of people that seek and qualify for grants. The more money PILF raises, the more money each qualifying applicant receives.
PILF grants have been used to subsidize a variety of legal clerkships. Legal Aid of North Carolina, the United Nations, the California Appellate Project, and the International Justice Mission are only a few of the many interesting and meaningful organizations that PILF grant recipients worked for. Please note that PILF does not fund judicial clerkships. Grant recipients that ultimately choose to not work in qualifying public interest or government jobs must return all grant money to PILF. For more information about any of the grants or about their requirements, please contact one of PILF's Co-Chairs.
Summer Fellowship
Summer Fellowships tend to range in value from approximately $2500 to $4000, depending on the success of the fundraising efforts. They are provided only to non-graduating students who have unpaid summer clerkships with federal, state, or local government agencies, domestic non-profit organizations, international non-profit, government, or inter-governmental agencies. Applicants must also volunteer at least twenty (20) hours to PILF fundraising activities during the year and timely submit their grant application. Summer fellowship applicants are encouraged to seek funding from additional sources. Those applicants who receive additional grants will receive a "Thank You" grant in an amount less than a Summer Fellowship (but still substantial given the hour requirement) so as to allocate more funds to other applicants who are not eligible for extra funding.
Bar Grant
The Bar Grant is purposed to assuage the cost of the bar exam for graduating law students who are immediately going to work in qualifying public interest or government jobs. This grant tends to be approximately $1000. To qualify for the Bar Grant, graduating students must pledge to work in full-time law or law-related public interest or government work that pays less than $60,000 per year. Eligible employment for Bar Grants mirrors both Tier 1 and Tier 2 Eligible Employment under Duke Law's Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP). All Bar Grant applicants must volunteer at least ten (10) hours to PILF fundraising activities during their final year and timely submit their grant application.
Kelly Taylor worked with UNICEF Ecuador and spent half of her summer working with indigenous Shuar students at a bilingual school in the Amazon.
Jessica Shulruff spent her 1L summer in Peru working for UNICEF, working with the Shipibo people of the Amazon basin.
Submit a photo of your PILF-funded summer activity by contacting the Website Chair.