E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship Program
The Criminal Defense & Prisoner Advocacy Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic, and Juvenile Justice Clinic offer a post-graduate two-year fellowship. Three fellows are selected annually through the E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship Program at Georgetown Law. The goal of the fellowship is to provide high quality representation to adults and adolescents accused of crimes and provide recent law school graduates with rigorous training in criminal trial advocacy and clinical teaching. Fellows spend two years in the program, after which they are awarded an LLM degree in Advocacy. During the first year, fellows try cases and develop their public defense skills under close faculty supervision in the criminal clinics. During the summer, they take classes in clinical teaching and supervision and begin to develop their skills as clinical teachers.
In 1960, Georgetown University Law Center established a pioneer legal internship program for recent law graduates. The E. Barrett Prettyman 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 the criminal and juvenile justice systems by nurturing and developing able, devoted indigent defense counsel.
The Fellowships are awarded to three outstanding recent law graduates. Participation in the Fellowship is contingent upon admission to the District of Columbia Bar. The Fellowships provide a stipend (taxable) of $70,000 in the first year and $75,000 in the second year, with full benefits, in addition to full tuition and fees.
New fellows register at the Law Center in mid-August. The first six 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 Professor John Copacino, Professor Eduardo Ferrer, Professor Kristin Henning, Professor Vida B. Johnson, and Professor Abbe Smith, all of whom have substantial experience in the trial of criminal cases. The fellows are supported by a professional investigator, Lauren VonWiegen, and interns in the clinics’ Investigative Internship Program.
At the beginning of the second year, the fellows substantially reduce the number of new cases they take on and assume major responsibility for the supervision of students in the Criminal Defense & Prisoner Advocacy Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic, and the Juvenile Justice Clinic. In these clinics, third-year law students represent defendants in adult misdemeanor and juvenile misdemeanor and felony cases. The fellows also share in classroom instruction in the clinics.
In order to understand the nature of clinical supervision, Prettyman fellows, along with fellows from Georgetown’s other clinical course, are enrolled in the Elements of Clinical Pedagogy course. This course, taught by various members of the clinical faculty and led by the Co-Directors of Georgetown’s Clinical Pedagogy Programs, Professors Wallace Mlyniec and Deborah Epstein, introduce the fellows to the essential elements of clinical supervision theory. Class begins with an Orientation in mid-August of the second year and then continues until the following April. 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 to the fellowship. We do the best we can to give every application individual attention. We will rarely reject an applicant based solely on the transcript. Instead, we consider all of the varied experiences and abilities that indicate potential as a criminal trial lawyer and clinical supervisor/teacher. It is up to the applicant to provide as full a picture as you can and to encourage your references to be as detailed and specific as possible.
The application for The E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship Program will become available on August 23, 2023 for submission from September 1, 2023 through October 31, 2023. Please note that applications will not be accepted prior to September 1, 2023 nor will applications be accepted after October 31, 2023. All applications and supplemental materials must be received by October 31, 2023 via email. ALL supplemental materials submitted by the applicant must be submitted in one PDF. Recommenders may submit letters of recommendation separately via email at lawprettymanfellowship@georgetown.edu. Please note that the applications are submitted electronically.
Thank you for your interest in the Prettyman Program. Please click here for the application.
Inquiries should be directed to:
Katrecia Banks
E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship Program
600 New Jersey Avenue, Room 123 Washington, D.C. 20001
Tel: 202-662-9593
Email: lawprettymanfellowship@georgetown.edu
Transcripts and letters of reference should be addressed to:
John Copacino, Abbe Smith, and Vida Johnson
Directors, E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship Program
Georgetown University Law Center
600 New Jersey Avenue NW, Room 123
Washington, D.C. 20001