PILnet, formerly the Public Interest Law Institute (PILI), is pleased to invite applications for its International Public Interest Law Fellows Program for 2011-2012. PILnet will select lawyers from China for ten months of study and practical experience in New York and Budapest, Hungary. The program targets future leaders in various fields of public interest advocacy. 

International PILnet Fellows will join other public interest lawyers from around the world. They will reside a total of eight months in the U.S. The Fellows Program begins with a semester of study at Columbia University School of Law and additional public interest advocacy training. In the spring, International Fellows will participate in a three-month period of internships at New York-based public interest law organizations and a two-month study visit based out of PILnet’s Budapest office.  Fellows return to their home countries after the Fellowship, with the aim to implement the project developed during the Fellowship. 

PILnet will cover the cost of a round-trip coach airfare to the U.S. and Budapest, housing in New York and Budapest, a monthly stipend and emergency medical insurance. Selected candidates for the Fellows Program are required to sign an agreement to the terms of the program, stating that they will complete it in full.

·   Public interest leadership potential of the candidate in his or her country (minimum of two years working experience with the organization is required),

·   The nature of the candidate's relationship with the nominating organization, and

·   The candidate’s ability to communicate in English.

·   The quality of the proposed project and its potential for promoting public interest law and human rights in the candidate’s home country, and

·   The track record of the nominating organization in promoting public interest advocacy.

Applicants must submit the following documents:

·   A completed program application form;

·   A curriculum vitae;

·   A nominating letter from ­­the organization where they are employed, supporting their application to the program and indicating how the Fellows Program would be a benefit to the organization/institution;

·   Two recommendation letters (in addition to the nominating letter), at least one from an individual outside of the nominating organization;

·   A description of a project that the applicant would like to work on during the first semester of the program, ideally with practical significance to their work upon return home;** and

·   A copy of the applicant's law school transcript.

·   A copy of the applicant's bar association membership,

·   Information on the nominating organization/institution, and

·   Additional recommendations.

**The project description should be a 2- to 3-page outline of a project that you would like to develop during your time as an International PILnet Fellow. This should include:

·   A preliminary description of your project,

·   Why it is important that this project be designed,

·   How and why your project can succeed, and

·   Who you will engage in your home country, and in the US and Europe, in order to increase the quality of your project.

Examples of public interest advocacy projects might include, but are certainly not limited to:

·   Promoting legal reform to reduce racial discrimination,

·   Improving implementation and enforcement of children’s rights law, and

·   Establishing legal education clinics in universities.

Submission via e-mail of application materials is strongly encouraged, though materials may also be submitted via regular mail. INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. If an application is submitted without one of the required components, it will be disqualified, unless the applicant can justify why he/she cannot obtain the required information.

The DEADLINE for receiving applications at PILnet is March 18, 2011.  For more information and application forms, please contact Erin Carll, Program Coordinator, by e-mail: pilnetfellowship@pilnet.org  or by clicking here(http://www.pilnet.org/images/pdf/applicationform2011final.doc).  Printed applications can be sent via mail to the address on the application.

Please note that PILnet cannot provide any financial or logistical assistance for accompanying family members, including in securing suitable family housing. Moreover, Columbia University requires evidence of financial support for accompanying family members prior to issuing official invitations to them. Providing proof of the requisite financial support for accompanying family members will be the responsibility of the applicant.