{"id":4563,"date":"2021-04-26T10:16:55","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T14:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/?page_id=150911"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:54:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:54:51","slug":"dcalf-fellowship","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/career-exploration-professional-development\/for-jd-students\/public-interest-funding\/post-graduate-public-interest-fellowships\/dcalf-fellowship\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Affordable Law Firm Signature LL.M. Fellowship Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

DCALF LL.M. Signature Fellowship Program Overview<\/h2>\n

Each year, Georgetown selects multiple fellows for a <\/span>DC Affordable Law Firm (DCALF)<\/span><\/a> 15-month fellowship designed to <\/b>cultivate the next generation of public interest attorneys and equip participants with the skills to <\/span>become skilled public interest attorneys and lifelong champions for equity and justice. <\/b>In addition to the position at DCALF, all fellows receive a Georgetown Law LL.M. (Advocacy) \u2013 a degree that comes at no cost to the fellow and is earned through the practice of law at DCALF following successful completion of the 15-month program. Here is more about the DC Affordable Law Firm’s mission and the DCALF Signature LL.M. Fellowship program<\/a>.\u00a0The <\/strong>2026-27 application<\/a><\/strong> is open now through October 31, 2025.<\/strong> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For 10 years, DCALF has been a force in bridging the gaps in civil justice across DC. DCALF is proud of its role in expanding access to legal services, launching the next generation of public interest lawyers through this distinctive fellowship program, and empowering hardworking residents with the legal support they deserve to protect their rights, pursue opportunity, and thrive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Historically, individuals from modest-income households have been left on their own when seeking access to justice, finding themselves ineligible for traditional forms of free civil legal services yet unable to afford private counsel. In the District of Columbia, over 125,000 residents fall within that income range, with one in five DC residents left in a \u201cjustice gap\u201d without access to representation when they need it.\u00a0 In turn, 9 out of 10 modest- and lower-income DC residents have been forced to navigate complex legal proceedings alone as pro se litigants\u2014facing the risk of losing custody of their children, being deported, losing a family home to tax sale or foreclosure, or confronting other life-altering consequences without legal support.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to this access to justice gap, in 2015, Georgetown University Law Center and the law firms of ArentFox Schiff LLP and DLA Piper LLP joined to create <\/span>DC Affordable Law Firm (DCALF)<\/span><\/a>, an innovative nonprofit law firm delivering overwhelmingly free legal services to residents of the District of Columbia whose household incomes\u2014up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level\u2014put them just beyond the limits of traditional legal aid, yet still in critical need of free or affordable legal help. Most DCALF clients are DC residents employed as teachers and teaching assistants, home health aides, childcare workers, nonprofit employees, and in other essential yet lower-paid positions who cannot afford the prohibitive costs of legal representation.\u00a0 Though founded as the first nonprofit \u201clow bono\u201d law firm in the country, DCALF\u2019s evolution in recent years to an overwhelmingly free service delivery model is an acknowledgment of the lived circumstances of DCALF\u2019s client community clients and affirmation of DCALF\u2019s commitment to disrupting inequities in the legal system, breaking down barriers to representation, and delivering an expansive range of direct civil legal services that advance pathways to economic security to for clients and their families to live, work, and thrive in the District of Columbia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

DCALF lawyers deliver legal services to clients in a range of civil matters in family law, humanitarian immigration practices, and heirs\u2019 property, probate, and estate planning matters \u2014 areas with high numbers of unrepresented litigants where access to legal representation can significantly affect a person’s safety, stability, and economic future.\u00a0 DCALF believes everyone deserves access to justice, and that income should not be a barrier to an individual\u2019s receipt of high-quality legal representation. DCALF\u2019s innovative model eliminates economic barriers to representation, ensuring individuals and families have access to high-quality legal assistance regardless of their ability to pay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

DCALF\u2019s post-graduate fellowship programs are a core strategy in bridging critical legal service gaps.\u00a0 Through the legal representation provided by DCALF\u2019s post-graduate fellows, along with DCALF\u2019s staff of veteran attorneys, DCALF serves more than 500 DC residents each year and reaches hundreds more through community outreach and education, breaking down barriers to legal representation and using the power of the law to advance justice and uplift the clients DCALF is privileged to serve.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The DCALF L.L.M. Signature Fellowship Program<\/b><\/h2>\n

The DCALF Fellowship is open to graduating JD students from Georgetown Law and the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. The <\/strong><\/span>2026-27 application<\/a><\/strong> is open now through October 31, 2025.<\/strong> One fellowship position is reserved for a\u00a0 DC-barred Georgetown Law graduate, with one-to-three years post-graduate legal experience. All fellows will be enrolled in Georgetown\u2019s LL.M. program, earn a fully funded LL.M. (Advocacy) upon successful completion of the 15-month program and receive a competitive public interest salary through their employment at DCALF.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fellows receive intensive training during the first eight weeks of Georgetown\u2019s Fall semester. The training covers a range of topics, including lawyering and litigation skills, substantive law in DCALF\u2019s primary practice areas \u2013 family law, immigration law, and probate and estate planning \u2013 and law firm management and practice. Fellows are deeply enmeshed in an understanding of\u00a0 the access to justice crisis in DC; best practices for client-centered, trauma-aware lawyering and cultural humility; hands-on litigation skills; and DCALF\u2019s work to advance anti-racism, equity, and inclusion. Following eight weeks of training, fellows engage in direct representation of clients in DCALF\u2019s practice areas, gaining invaluable direct representation experiences, and supervision and mentorship from veteran attorneys throughout their fellowship, with ongoing training continuing beyond the fall semester. DCALF fellows graduate from the LL.M. program and conclude their fellowship with a comprehensive range of lawyering and litigation skills, deep experience in direct legal representation, an appreciation for the importance of access to justice, and the ability to represent clients with professional competence, zeal, and compassion.<\/span><\/p>\n

DCALF\u2019s Signature Fellowship Program and innovative model has earned multiple national and local awards, including two awards from the American Bar Association since 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Post-Fellowship Employment Outcomes<\/b><\/h2>\n

Alumni of DCALF\u2019s Signature LL.M. Fellowship program have gone on to work for a variety of public and private employers, including:<\/span><\/p>\n