The Coelho Law Fellowship Program 2024-2025
Application Form
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To apply, please fill out your contact information, answer the six short-answer questions, and include a Personal Statement describing the applicant’s background and commitment to advocacy. Lastly, identify two references with their contact information.  

References will only be contacted if your application reaches the final stage of review. 

You may submit your application via Google Form or in a Word/PDF document via email to Katherine.Perez@lls.edu. 

As an alternative, you may create a voice or video recording in response to the application questions (in spoken or signed language) and send your files to Katherine.Perez@lls.edu.  

Applications will be accepted up until Wednesday, May 1, 2024 by 11:59 pm PST. 

Applicants will be notified of their acceptance no later than Monday, May 6, 2024. 

The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation brings together and fosters the development of leaders from our disability community. We believe in creating a strong pathway of law students with disabilities who will go on to serve as attorneys, judges, public policy professionals, and public servants. Our goal is to increase representation in the legal profession.  The Coelho Center Law Fellowship Program’s mission is to train and mentor students with disabilities to successfully apply for and excel in law school while addressing any barriers that may arise. 

Our 2024-2025 Coelho Law Fellowship offers: 

A two-week summer intensive disability rights law course held virtually in the evenings from June 17th - June 28th. An in-person conference held at Loyola Law School on July 9-10, 2024. 

An academic year-long virtual course.  The course runs from August 2024 to May 2025 on the first Saturday of the month from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PST.  Sessions include:  

Admissions - How to apply to law school.
Confronting barriers to access in law school.
Networking with disability attorneys and policy-makers.
Continuation of the topics from the summer session. 
Monthly check-ins on students' educational and professional progress. 
Fellowship cohort team-building activities.
Discussion on current law and policies affecting people with disabilities. 

Academic and planning support throughout the law school application process and during law school.

Disability rights project.  All fellows will complete one of three projects: (1) a 10-page "first year law school" legal memo, (2) work with a law firm to submit a 10-page legal memo, and/or (3) organize and execute a panel discussion with policy experts.  

Publication opportunity on The Coelho Center Blog: https://thecoelhocenterblog.wordpress.com/ 

$1000 stipend upon completion of the program.

Summer Intensive Disability Rights Law Course Dates:

Monday through Friday from June 17 - 28, 2024 (4:00pm-6:30pm PST)

(Applicants must affirm that if chosen they will make an honest effort to attend all fellowship programming or make plans to review recordings.)

Webinar Course Dates (first Saturday of each month):

Saturday, August 3, 2024 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, September 7, 2024 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, October 5, 2024 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, November 2, 2024 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, December 7, 2024 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, January 11, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)*
Saturday, February 1, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, March 1, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, April 5, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, May 3, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)

*January webinar will be on the second Saturday of the month. 

(Applicants must affirm that if chosen they will make an honest effort to attend all fellowship programming or make plans to review recordings.)

Tentative Graduation Date: 

Saturday, June 7, 2025 (9-11am PT; 11-1pm CT; 12-2pm ET)

(Applicants must affirm that if chosen they will make an honest effort to attend all fellowship programming or make plans to review recordings.)

I have read the requirements of the fellowship above and affirm that if chosen I will make an honest effort to be available for all programming.  On days when I am unavailable, I will watch the recording at a later date.   *
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Name
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Pronouns
Hometown (City, State, Country)
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Current Residence (City, State, Country) 
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Email 
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Please list any professional online presences (e.g., organizational website, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility
The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility as a core value. As such, we encourage applicants from a broad range of backgrounds with identities intersecting with disability including race, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status. Applicants from low income backgrounds and applicants who have been involved in the criminal legal system are also encouraged to apply.  

Please email Katherine.Perez@lls.edu for any accommodation requests to apply.
OPTIONAL: Please list any intersecting marginalized identities along with your disability.  (i.e. race, religion, socio-economic status, immigration status, gender, sexual orientation, experience with homelessness, experience with criminal legal system)
A limited number of fellowship recipients will be provided full monetary assistance for participation in the program. (Fellowship expenses include travel, hotel and per diem for the conference and the Disability Rights Law Casebook for the course. Expenses do not include the $1,000 stipend.  All fellows will receive the stipend.) 
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Please select one of the following.
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SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Please limit your responses to no more than 200 words.
Where are you on your educational journey?  (Describe what college you attend
or attended, what is your current year in school, when you anticipate to graduate, and/or when you graduated.)  
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Please list the most important professional / work experiences you've had. (Do not cut and paste your resume). 
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How would you describe your interest in attending law school?  (i.e. thinking about it as an option among many, seriously thinking about it, planning for it, studying for the LSAT, taken the LSAT, sent in my applications, etc.)
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Continuing on to higher education is hard: describe what keeps you going.
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Describe what your ideal job would be.
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Describe what you hope to achieve by the end of the Law Fellowship.
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(International Applicants Only): Describe why you have an interest in learning about U.S. disability rights law and policy.
Personal Statement (max 1000 words) (Consider using this space to describe why you are passionate about pursuing law and/or policy work, including any personal or work experience that motivates you. You may also want to describe what legal and/or policy issues are important to you. Lastly, you might want to describe leadership qualities you have or would like to develop.) 
REFERENCES

Please list two references who would be able to vouch for your academic, employment and/or leadership skills and your determination to be selected as one of The Coelho Center Law Fellows. 

Note: We will not contact your references unless your application has made it to the final round of the selection process.
Reference #1 (Name, Title, Email Address)
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Reference #2 (Name, Title, Email Address)
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To help us with recruitment efforts, could you please tell us how you learned about the Coelho Law Fellowship?

Eligibility to Apply:

The Coelho Center Law Fellowship Program is designed to serve students with disabilities interested in pursuing law school. As such, students who identify as a person with a D/disability / D/disabled are strongly encouraged to apply. Students must be currently enrolled in a community college, college, or university, or be a recent graduate. Applicants do not need to be certain that they would like to attend law school. Only an interest in the law is required.  

International Students:

International students with an interest in learning about U.S. disability rights law and policy are welcome to apply. Students must be currently enrolled in college, university or its equivalent, or be a recent graduate.  International applicants do not need to have plans to attend law school in the U.S.  

A Note on Disability: 

The Coelho Law Fellowship Program does not require "proof" of disability. We acknowledge the challenges often associated with lack of access to medical diagnosis, mis-diagnosis, and under-diagnosis. If you identify as being part of the disability community, that is sufficient. 

Examples of disability include:

Physical disability (e.g. paraplegia, amputee, multiple sclerosis, etc.)

Intellectual and/or developmental disability  (e.g. intellectual disability, Autistic, Down syndrome, language and learning disabilities, cerebral palsy)

Psychiatric disability (e.g. depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.)

Sensory disability (e.g. blind, D/deaf, blind-deaf, hard of hearing, etc.)

Chronic illness (e.g. Alzheimer’s, cancer, Crohn’s disease, Fibromyalgia, etc.)

Other disabilities not listed above
I have read and understand the requirements as listed on this application.  By entering my name and the date, I affirm that everything I have written above is true. (Please type your name and the date as an electronic signature.)
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