Any member of the HLS classes of 2023–2026, including LLMs, is encouraged to apply. The fellow may work in a public interest-related role at any government agency or nonprofit organization, except for private-public interest firms and courts (although a fellow may work for a human rights or war crimes court).
The following materials are required to be uploaded into the CARAT system:
- A short project proposal (700 words maximum)
- Two letters of recommendation (Recommendations Tab – Recommendation #1 and #2)
- A letter of support from a host organization. (Recommendations Tab – Recommendation #3)
- MOU signed and dated by the applicant and host organization. If employers want to revise the MOU, those changes will need to be submitted at least three weeks in advance of application and approved by the selection committee. If the organization proposes that the fellow sign any other contracts or documents as a condition of the Fellowship, those will also need to be submitted three weeks in advance of the Fellowship deadline. HLR will not accept mandatory arbitration clauses in any materials governing the Fellowship.
- A writing sample that demonstrates scholarly ability (between roughly 5 and 25 pages)
- A roughly 250-word abstract introducing a possible piece of scholarly work drawing on the fellowship experience that the applicant will submit for consideration to publish in HLR if selected as a Fellow
- A resume, with any information about undergraduate, graduate, or law school grades or academic honors (Dean’s Scholar Prize, Sears Prize, cum laude, etc.) redacted. The resume should instead highlight relevant work, internship, clinical, and volunteer experience. Law journal participation, including participation in the Harvard Law Review, may be included on your resume. Journal participation will only be taken into account insofar as it bears on the selection criteria outlined below. Editors of the Harvard Law Review will not receive preference for the Fellowship. Applicants who have had their work published in a law journal should not list those publications on their resume. An applicant may, however, submit the piece they have published in a law journal as their writing sample, provided it complies with the page limit.
Timeline
Applications are due Friday, November 21, 2025, at 5 PM EST via the CARAT portal. Interviews for finalists are expected to take place in January 2026.
Recordings of information sessions held in 2022 and 2025 are available.
Selection Criteria
Criteria Used to Evaluate All Applicants
- The strongest applicants will demonstrate prior public interest experience, how they intend to serve the public interest via their fellowship experience, and how they intend to build on the Fellowship to develop a career in the public interest.
- The sponsoring organizations’ demonstrated effectiveness in addressing the needs of marginalized communities;
- The applicant’s demonstrated ability to serve marginalized communities through their proposed work (this may include experience working within marginalized communities, experience providing direct representation, and/or legal research & writing ability, depending on the relevance of each to the proposed fellowship);
- The applicant’s character, including their ability to adapt to challenging circumstances, work with others on a shared project, and contribute to their communities;
- The applicant’s writing ability as demonstrated by the writing sample and abstract submitted in their application materials.
Criteria Not Considered
- The applicant’s undergraduate, graduate, or law school grades or academic honors (any information regarding grades or honors, including Dean’s Scholar Prizes and Sears Prizes, will be redacted from application materials);
- The applicant’s name (applicants’ names and contact information will be redacted before materials are shared with the screening committee).
Editors of the Law Review do not receive preference. In the first round, evaluations are made by alumni of the Fellowship and by HLR alumni in public interest careers. Those who advance to the second round will be interviewed by a panel of HLR alumni who serve as faculty at other law schools. This panel will select a slate of Fellows.