In fall 2016, Georgetown Law will launch the Delaney Post-Graduate Residency Program, a training and mentoring program for graduates participating in fellowships in the public sector. The new program, made possible due to a generous gift from alumni April McClain-Delaney (L’89) and Rep. John Delaney (L’88), was established to help graduates bridge the gap between law school and practice.

“The Delaneys are both deeply committed to public service and to advancing the common good. John is a congressman and April plays a leadership role with Common Sense media,” said Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor. “They have both been active in the law school and the university, and they were interested in launching this program to help our graduates pursue public service careers.”

Fellows participating in the 2016-2017 Delaney Program will spend at least one year working for Washington, D.C., area nonprofit organizations that provide direct legal services, advocacy and policy efforts on environmental, consumer and privacy issues and carry out high-impact civil and human rights litigation. The Delaney Program will complement the host organizations’ existing professional development programming while offering critical community-building, networking and mentoring opportunities to these newly minted graduates.

“We are extremely excited that we are able to support not only our graduates but the important work that they and their employers are undertaking,” said Margaret Gerety, director of the Delaney Program and assistant dean for Experiential Learning at the Law Center.

Fellows will attend an Orientation program on Friday, September 23 and skills workshops throughout the academic year. Borrowing from the medical residency model, the workshops will teach important legal competencies including communicating with clients and opposing counsel, researching on a budget, drafting documents, running effective public interest advocacy campaigns, navigating ethical issues in new media and more. The program draws from Georgetown’s tradition of reflective learning and caring for the whole person (cura personalis); throughout the year, fellows will meet in small groups, sometimes accompanied by an alumni mentor or career counselor, to engage in peer coaching and discuss experiences and future goals.

The Delaney Program builds on the success of another Georgetown Law initiative focusing on its post-graduate population and social justice efforts — the D.C. Affordable Law Firm. DCALF, launched in 2015 by Georgetown Law and law firms DLA Piper and Arent Fox, supports six Georgetown Law graduates each year in assisting clients who cannot afford a lawyer but do not qualify for free legal services. Like the Delaney Program, these recent graduates are provided with on-site training from Georgetown’s clinical and adjunct faculty.

“Both of these critical programs consist of two dimensions: public interest work, and hands-on training provided by the law school,” Treanor said.

For more information about the Delaney Program, contact Director Margaret Gerety at Margaret.gerety@georgetown.edu or Associate Director Katie Dilks at skd9@georgetown.edu. Information can also be found here.