Ways in
Other Ways In
Fellowships get the attention because they have deadlines. These routes mostly do not, which is why they are easy to miss and worth asking about directly.
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Apply as a staff attorney
In addition to applying to fellowships, once you pass the bar exam, you can apply to be a staff attorney. Staff attorneys are entry-level positions offered to recent graduates by legal aid organizations.
LAAC's own job board carries current openings across California, including the entry-level attorney roles organizations hire into every year.
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Your law school's own public interest funding
Many law schools have public interest funding for summer internship placements at legal aid organizations. Some law schools offer fellowships for public interest legal work, including at legal aid offices.
This money does not compete with anything else on this page, and every school sets its own terms. Ask your public interest office what they fund and when the deadline is.
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A paid summer law clerk position
Many organizations now have funding to pay for their summer law clerks.
A paid summer clerkship is often how an organization decides who to hire, and a real first look at the work.
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The national public interest job boards
Legal aid organizations use a number of other job websites, some public interest or social justice focused, like PSJD.org and Idealist.org, and some general sites, like Indeed.com or LinkedIn.
Worth searching alongside LAAC's board rather than instead of it: the same organization often posts in different places for different roles.
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Volunteer, then talk to people
Then, when you’re at an organization, even as a volunteer, talk to people. Ask if you can join someone for coffee in person or on zoom to ask them about their work. If you’re on the benefits team, but you have always wanted to learn about housing, ask the housing lead if you can chat with them. Make friends at your own organization and at others. We are a small community in that everyone eventually knows everyone else, and if you make it known that you are interested in direct services work, but you’re currently doing policy work, friends may let you know about opportunities. This is especially important if you are moving across the state and still want to work in legal aid.
Most of this page is LAAC's own guidance, published at How to get a job in legal aid.
Before the bar
The LSFN fellowship is now the Public Interest Bar Fellowship
LAAC is the new home of the LSFN fellowship!
If you have been told to look for the Legal Services Funders Network fellowship, this is it. It began in 2020 for Bay Area graduates waiting on a delayed bar exam, and it now runs from LAAC under a new name. In the 2026 cycle applications opened on April 3; the 2027 cycle has not been announced.
