CDPAC Graduate Teaching Fellowships

E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship and Stuart Stiller Post-Graduate Fellowship Program

 In 1960, Georgetown University Law Center established a pioneer legal internship program for recent graduates of law schools. The E. Barrett Prettyman and Stuart Stiller Fellowship Program combines instruction in the Law Center's graduate school with representation of indigent clients in the local courts of the District of Columbia. It trains recent law graduates in both the academic and practical aspects of courtroom advocacy. At the same time, the program contributes to the improvement of defense advocacy in the criminal justice system by providing able, devoted counsel under mature supervision for indigent defendants.

The Fellowships are awarded to three outstanding recent law graduates selected to participate in a two-year program leading to the LL.M. degree. Two fellowships were established in honor of E. Barrett Prettyman, the distinguished former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and one fellowship honors the advocate and lecturer, Stuart Stiller. Participation in the Fellowship is contingent upon admission to the District of Columbia Bar. The Fellowships provide a stipend (taxable) of $53,500 per year, in addition to full tuition and fees.

New fellows register at the Law Center in mid-August. The first five weeks of the program are devoted to an intense, comprehensive study of criminal law, procedure, evidence, and trial practice. Thereafter, the fellows represent indigent clients in criminal cases in the local courts of the District of Columbia. Fellows begin with misdemeanor cases and later move on to felonies. All trial work is under the close supervision of Professors and Co-Directors John Copacino and Abbe Smith and Visiting Professor Vida Johnson, all of whom have substantial experience in the trial of criminal cases.  The fellows are supported by a professional investigator and interns in the Clinic's Investigative Internship Program.

At the beginning of the second year, the fellows substantially reduce the number of new cases they accept and assume major responsibility for the supervision of students in the Criminal Defense & Prisoner Advocacy Clinic (Professor Abbe Smith and Visiting Professor Vida Johnson), Criminal Justice Clinic (Professor John Copacino and Visiting Professor Vida Johnson), and the Juvenile Justice Clinic (Professor Wally Mlyniec and Professor Kristin Henning). In these clinics, third-year law students represent defendants in misdemeanor and juvenile proceedings. The fellows also bear some of the responsibility for classroom instruction in the clinics. The program ends in July of the second year.

Applying for a Fellowship at Our Clinic

For the past several years we have received well over 100 applications for the three fellowships. We do the best we can to give every application individual attention. We will rarely reject an applicant based solely on his or her transcript. Instead, we  give weight to all of the varied experiences and talents which indicate potential as a criminal trial lawyer and clinical supervisor/teacher.

Unfortunately, these talents and experiences will not always be reflected in application materials unless the applicant makes a special effort to see that they are. Please provide us with as full a picture of yourself as you can and encourage your references to be as detailed as possible.

Applications for The E. Barrett Prettyman and Stuart Stiller Fellowship Program will be accepted from September 1, 2013 through November 1, 2013.  Applications will not be accepted after the deadline of November 1, 2013. We will try to notify applicants selected for interviews by the end of November. Please make sure to include a telephone number where we can reach you in December. We interview in our office during the month of December, and we make final selections in February and March.

Thank you for your interest in the Prettyman/Stiller Program. Please click here for application to the Prettyman/Stiller Fellowship Program (available in August 2013).

Inquiries should be directed to:

Ms. Teruko Richardson, Executive Assistant
E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship Program
600 New Jersey Avenue, Room 130
Washington, D.C. 20001
Tel: 202-662-9575
Email: prettymanfellowship@law.georgetown.edu

Letters of references should be addressed to:
John Copacino and Abbe Smith
Co-Directors, E. Barrett Prettyman/Stuart Stiller Fellowship Program
Georgetown University Law Center
600 New Jersey Avenue NW
Washington, DC  20001