The Environmental Law Section of the California Lawyers Association is pleased to announce its Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship program for Summer 2025. The program provides opportunities for law students from diverse backgrounds to work in governmental and public interest environmental law organizations in order to develop their interests and skills in the field of environmental law. 

The Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship program gives law students a chance to spend 8 to 10 weeks over the summer practicing environmental, energy, land use, and/or natural resources law at a participating government agency or public interest organization. Each participant will receive an $8,000 stipend. The Section assists students with placement at the governmental agency or public interest organization and matches the Fellows with mentors who practice in the field. The Section also coordinates gatherings and provides opportunities for Fellows to meet other Section members and attorneys who practice in environmental, energy, land use, and natural resources law fields, and it invites each Fellow to attend the Section’s Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite^® in October following the Fellowship with free conference registration.

The Fellowship program is designed to help foster diversity within the Environmental Law Section. The Section strongly encourages applications from law students from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds (including but not limited to diversity arising from the applicant’s sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, color, race, religion, ancestry, national origin, familial status, marital status, mental or physical disability, or genetic information); as well as from students from backgrounds that may have presented obstacles to accessing the legal profession, such as family financial hardship while growing up, being the first in one’s family to go to college, or geographical circumstances such as coming from a rural or inner-city background that limited social interaction with lawyers. The Section will consider such information, as described in the applicant’s personal statement, as part of the selection criteria. Other selection criteria include interest in environmental issues, personal and leadership qualities, and academic record.

The program is open to all law students interested in practicing environmental law in California. Preference is given to first- and second-year students; however, third-year students who are not taking the Bar exam during the summer will also be considered. Students must be members of the Environmental Law Section of the California Lawyers Association in order to be eligible for the program. The California Lawyers Association allows law students up to three free one-year Section memberships, and students who are not already members will be required to join the Environmental Law Section if they are selected for a Fellowship.

The program awarded Fellowships to ten students in 2025. The number of Fellowships for Summer 2025 has not been finalized and will depend in part on the level of sponsorship participation. The Section will coordinate student placements at agencies and organizations interested in participating in the program. In making placements, the Section expects to build off of its experiences from earlier years of the program as well as its prior participation in the American Bar Association’s summer fellowship program. Prior placements have included various agencies and organizations in California, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, Earthjustice, Communities for a Better Environment, Sierra Club, NRDC, the California Attorney General’s Office, the California Public Utilities Commission, as well as other government agencies and non-profit organizations. Specific placements for the 2025 program will be made on a case-by-case basis and may or may not include these or similar entities.

This program is co-sponsored by the California Lawyers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

The Environmental Law Section of the California Lawyers Association (CLA) is pleased to announce its Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship program for Summer 2025. The program is co-sponsored with the California Lawyers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The program provides opportunities for law students to work in governmental and public interest environmental law organizations in order to develop their interests and skills in the environmental law field. The program is designed to foster diversity in Environmental Law Section membership, which is one of the core objectives in the Section’s Mission Statement. To that end, the Section encourages students from diverse backgrounds to become environmental lawyers and join the California environmental bar, with the goal that over time our Section membership will better reflect the diversity of all Californians. 

The Fellowship:

• An 8-10 week internship as a Diversity & Inclusion Law Fellow at a participating government agency or a public interest organization in the field of environmental, energy, land use, or natural resources law, with an $8,000 stipend.
• Assignment of a mentor from the Environmental Law Section.
• Participation in Environmental Law Section and local environmental bar association events as available.
• Scholarship to the Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite®, October 2025 (free registration).

Selection Criteria:

• Interest in environmental issues.
• Leadership qualities and ability.
• Academic record.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Open to all law students interested in practicing environmental law in California. Preference will be given to first- and second-year students; however, third-year students who are not taking the Bar exam during the summer will also be considered.
• Law students must be members of the CLA Environmental Law Section in order to participate in the Program. The CLA allows law students up to three free one-year Section memberships; students who are not already members will be required to join the Environmental Law Section if selected for a Fellowship.

Application Package:

• A completed application form. 
• A resume.
• Undergraduate transcript(s).
• A law school transcript (except for first year law students).
• Non-law school graduate transcript(s), if any
• A personal statement (not to exceed 2 pages) describing how the applicant meets the selection criteria.
• Two references, including one from a law school professor.

Fellowship selections will be based on the application materials and may include personal telephonic interviews by members of the selection committee. Applicants may also be interviewed by prospective employers.

Instructions: Please submit a completed application package, including the application form and additional required materials, through the Environmental Law Section website. Please direct any questions to Pam Amundsen, Section Manager, at environmental@calawyers.org.

Deadline: A complete application package must be received by October 30, 2024.

Beginning with the 2024 class of the Environmental Law Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship, one fellowship each year will be designated as the Clifford Thomas Lee Memorial Fellowship. This fellowship designation was created to honor Clifford Thomas Lee, one of California’s most influential and respected water law experts, who passed away in November 2022. Mr. Lee was also an Advisor to the Executive Committee of the Environmental Law Section of the California Lawyers Association and the 2021 recipient of the Section’s Lifetime Achievement Award. A fireside chat with Mr. Lee, filmed for the 2021 Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite®, covers his myriad contributions to California water law beginning in 1977 and continuing for more than 40 years during his career as a Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice.

The Clifford Thomas Lee Memorial Fellowship will be chosen each year by the fellowship’s selection committee. Fellows receiving this designation will typically exemplify one or more of the following qualities that characterized Mr. Lee’s prestigious career:

• an interest in focusing on water law, water quality and conservation, or similar issues after graduation;
• a commitment to a career in public service or public interest environmental law after graduation; and/or
• an interest in a summer placement with the Natural Resources Section of the California Department of Justice.

Prospective fellows will not need to submit additional materials to be considered for this fellowship designation, although they are encouraged to discuss these qualities in their personal statement to the extent relevant.

If you represent a prospective sponsor and are interested in establishing a one-time or recurring contribution to support the Clifford Thomas Lee Memorial Fellowship, you are encouraged to contact Pam Amundsen, Section Manager, at environmental@calawyers.org or complete the pledge form below and include a note in the “Questions or Comments” section that the contribution will be designated for this fellowship.