Apply to Host an MJF Summer Fellow
Since 1983, MJF has fundraised to place law students in full-time, paid, summer fellowships with public interest law organizations throughout the state. Each fellow performs approximately 10 weeks of full-time work, to a maximum of 400 hours. The work will be completed between the end of Spring Semester and the first day of Fall Semester on a schedule that will be determined between the fellow and the host organization. MJF will provide host organizations with the funds to pay the fellow a minimum rate of pay over 400 hours as an employee of the host. If organizations choose to increase the wages earned by fellows, the expectation is that the organization will use their own funds to increase the wage, rather than decrease the amount of time a fellow spends working.
Applicants must commit to the following:
- Providing a law-related fellowship opportunity with ongoing, regular direction and feedback from the fellow’s supervising attorney(s), who must be licensed to practice in Minnesota;
- Treating the student as an employee of the agency, which includes withholding appropriate taxes and paying the employer’s portion of the taxes, as well as providing malpractice insurance coverage unless not applicable (in the case of the public defender’s office or other immune entities, for example);
- Cooperating with MJF’s process, which includes interviewing at least eight students on appointed dates, including at least one student from each of the three law schools in Minnesota and at least one first-year student; and
- Providing evaluative feedback at the end of the summer.
If your agency received an MJF fellow in 2024, MJF must receive your evaluation of the 2024 fellowship program before you will be eligible to apply for a 2025 fellow.
Timeline for the MJF Summer Fellowship Program:
- October: MJF opens the application window. Application will be available here while the application window is open.
- November: MJF makes funding decisions. Recipient organizations sign an agreement acknowledging they will comply with the program requirements.
- November – December: MJF advertises the program at each of the three Minnesota law schools.
- January: MJF posts fellowship job descriptions on Symplicity and opens the student application window.
- February: MJF sends application materials to recipient organizations. Organizations select which students to interview. MJF coordinates the scheduling of interviews, which will be held remotely.
- March: After the interviews, the agencies rank their candidates and MJF issues the offers.
- April: The fellows and their supervising attorneys connect to discuss scheduling and answer questions students may have.
- May: MJF sends the stipend checks to the agencies. MJF conducts a brief orientation session for the fellows.
- May – August: Each MJF fellow works the equivalent of 10 full-time weeks over the course of the summer. Each MJF fellow is responsible for submitting a final evaluation of their fellowship. Each agency is responsible for conducting a final evaluation of the program and for returning any remaining funds from the stipend to MJF.