[COLPI-SLClinics] Deadline for PILI Fellowship Program March 15

-------- Original Message --------
From: "Julie Heaner Plavsic" <jplavs@law.columbia.edu>


**REMINDER TO APPLICANTS: DEADLINE FOR THE 2003-2005 PUBLIC INTEREST LAW
FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM IS MARCH 15**

PILI/Justice Initiative Public Interest Law Fellows Program
Columbia University School of Law
(2003-2005 Session)

Columbia Universitys Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) and The Open
Society Justice Initiative (formerly the Constitutional and Legal Policy
Institute), are pleased to invite applications for the Public Interest
Law Fellows Program. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2003.

The program will select five lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe,
Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus (the region) for two years of
study and practical work experience. One slot in the program is
specifically designated for womens rights advocates, one slot for
disability rights advocates, and one slot for a Roma rights advocate,
with the two remaining slots undesignated.

Criteria for selection will include the experience of the applicant, the
applicants potential to contribute to the development of the human
rights or public interest law field in the region, and the suitability
of the applicants proposed role in the nominating non-governmental
organization (NGO). Applicants must have a minimum of two years relevant
work experience outside of law school. Preference will be given to
applicants under 35 years of age. Minorities, especially Roma, are
strongly encouraged to apply. Selection decisions will be made by May 1,
2003.

The Fellows will reside a total of one year in the US, consisting of one
semester of study at Columbia University and two three-month
internships. Fellows will return to their home countries after the first
year, where they will spend at least one year working with their
nominating NGO on human rights/public interest advocacy on a non-profit
basis in such areas as providing legal services, strategic litigation,
campaigning for reform, and human rights training/education. Upon their
selection, Fellows will be required to sign an agreement with the
Justice Initiative and Columbia University according to which he/she
will commit to two years in the program; the first year to be spent in
the US and the second year in his/her home country working with the
nominating NGO.

The Justice Initiative will cover the cost of a round-trip coach airfare
to the US and provide each Fellow with a monthly stipend for a period of
up to 12 months, a textbook allowance, and medical insurance for a year
while in the US. The amount of this stipend is carefully calculated to
cover the expenses of one person in the US for the period of one year.
The Justice Initiative will also pay a local salary during the second
year that is equal to an amount determined to be similar to equivalent
work by the nominating NGO. This amount will be provided to the
nominating NGOs in the form of a grant.

Please note, the Justice Initiative and PILI cannot provide any
financial or logistical assistance for accompanying family members,
including securing suitable family housing. Moreover, Columbia
University requires evidence of financial support for accompanying
family members. In the 2002/2003 academic year, this amount was equal to
$700 a month for an accompanying spouse and $350 a month for each
dependent child. Providing proof of the requisite financial support for
accompanying family members will be the responsibility of the applicant.

Program Description

The Open Society Justice Initiative (formerly COLPI) is a new
international legal program of OSI. Based in New York and Budapest, the
mission of the Justice Initiative is to contribute to the consolidation
of open societies through the development of legal policies and
practices grounded in the rule of law and the protection of human
rights. The Justice Initiative aims to provide intellectual leadership
to law reform efforts by combining practice and legal advocacy with the
accumulation and dissemination of knowledge in its areas of core concern
- national criminal justice reform; international justice; freedom of
information ad expression; anti-corruption; equality and migration. In
each of these areas, the Justice Initiative seeks to contribute to the
evolution and application of substantive law, and the development of
legal capacity. Justice Initiative conducts its activities in Central
and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Guatemala, Haiti,
Mongolia, South, Southern and West Africa, and Southeast Asia.

The goal of the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) is to advance
human rights principles through assisting the development of a public
interest law infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia,
Central Asia and the Caucasus. PILI is supported by the Ford Foundation,
the Mott Foundation, the UK Department for International Development,
the European Community, and the Soros network of foundations. The Public
Interest Law Fellows Program is one of PILIs core activities.

Fellows will be expected to arrive in early August in order to participate
in US Legal Methods and Problems, an intensive course that starts prior to
other classes and provides an academic orientation for lawyers from civil
law countries. In the first semester of the program, Public Interest Law
Fellows participate in a non-degree program in which they audit 3 to 5
courses at Columbia Law School.  As auditors, Fellows do not participate
in exams and do not receive grades or credit from the law school for
completing a course. All Fellows are required to participate in a seminar
taught by Edwin Rekosh, Executive Director of the Public Interest Law
Initiative. This seminar which pairs Fellows with a select group of
full-time Columbia students provides a practical-oriented overview of law
reform issues confronting the legal systems of Central and Eastern Europe,
Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus from an interdisciplinary
perspective, with an emphasis on democracy-building, civil society, and
enhancing the promotion and protection of human rights.  Each Fellow will
be expected to propose a project relating to human rights or other public
interest law issues, which will be the subject of research and
collaboration by teams formed with other students in the seminar. The
project should be related to the needs and priorities of the applicants
nominating NGO, but may change over the course of the semester based on
the input of other students in the seminar. Ideally, the result of the
seminar will be a project plan that can be further modified during the
remainder of the year to fit the particular needs of the NGO.

In the spring and early summer, Fellows participate in two three-month
internships at human rights, legal services, or other public interest
law organizations in the New York area. To the extent possible,
internships will be selected according to Fellows particular interests
in the area of human rights and public interest law.

More information about the Public Interest Law Initiative can be found
on the Internet at: www.pili.org. More information about Columbia Law
School can be found at www.law.columbia.edu.

Application Procedure

Applicants must submit the following:

- A completed program application form
- A nominating letter from an indigenous NGO in the region describing
the need for having a lawyer working in the organization and
contractually committing to the Justice Initiative to hire the applicant
for at least one year after he/she returns from the US. The nomination
letter should also indicate a monthly salary rate, inclusive of all
income taxes, social security and other wage-related payments payable by
the individual or organization, that will be offered to the applicant by
the NGO in the event that he or she is selected for the program (the
salary amount is provided to the NGO by the Justice Initiative in the
form of a grant).
- At least one recommendation from an individual outside the nominating
organization
- A project proposal that he or she would like to work on during the
first semester of the program, ideally with practical significance to
the nominating NGO. (Some past examples include: developing a strategic
litigation strategy to address discrimination against women in the
workplace; drafting a model mental health care law with a detailed
implementation strategy; establishing a legal aid program, and promoting
freedom of expression and religion through litigation and public
education.)
- Information on the nominating NGO and additional recommendations are
also encouraged, although not required.

The electronic submission, via e-mail, of application materials is
strongly encouraged although materials may also be submitted via
facsimile or through 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 needed information.

The DEADLINE for receiving applications at PILI is March 15, 2003.  For
more information and application forms, please contact Julie Heaner
Plavsic, Fellowship Program Manager, 435 W. 116th St, Mailcode 3525, New
York, New York; tel: 1-212-851-1060; fax: 1-212-851-1064; e-mail:
jplavs@law.columbia.edu. Application forms can also be downloaded from
PILIs web site at www.pili.org



========== COLPI Street Law-Type Clinics List ==========
Send mail intended for the list to <COLPI-SLClinics@hrea.org>.
Archives of the list can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org/lists/colpi-slclinics/markup/maillist.php
To subscribe to the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>, with the
following text in the message: subscribe colpi-slclinics
To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>, with
the following text in the message: unsubscribe colpi-slclinics
If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact: owner-colpi-slclinics@hrea.org