HOPE's Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program (SPIF), for rising 2Ls with a genuine commitment to public interest work, provides a full-time placement at a South Florida non-profit or government agency (which would otherwise be unpaid), along with a public interest lawyering course.
SPIF participants experience firsthand how lawyers can make a significant difference in the lives of clients by assisting in their representation in criminal, family/domestic violence, education, disability, housing, and immigration cases, as well as in other proceedings.
See Past Fellows: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014
Program Specifics
- Students will attend a pre-departure meeting in April.
- Students will participate in a mandatory in-person orientation/training in late May, followed by an 8-week, full-time internship at a South Florida public interest or government agency. Judicial internships do not qualify.
- Students will receive a $3000 stipend.
- Students will participate in a 3-credit Public Interest Lawyering Course that meets twice weekly in the evenings.
- Students will submit weekly journals and a final paper with feedback from HOPE staff attorneys.
- Students will attend webinars with leading public interest attorneys.
- All 1Ls who are in good academic standing, with a GPA of 2.5 or above, and are returning to Miami Law the following academic year, are eligible to apply. Students should be aware that if they transfer after receiving the fellowship and/or do not return in the fall as a continuing Miami Law student, they will be expected to return the funding.
- Fellows must complete a minimum of 300 hours of work, or approximately 37.5 hours per week, over the course of 8 weeks.
- Students who have already secured an internship at a qualifying local non-profit or government agency are eligible to apply. Otherwise, HOPE will match fellows with South Florida agencies such as: Legal Services of Greater Miami, Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office, Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, Broward State Attorney's Office, Broward Public Defender's Office, Dade Legal Aid, Catholic Charities Legal Services, Office of Regional Counsel, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and The Everglades Law Center, among others. Please note that judicial internships do not qualify.
"My experiences growing up in post-apartheid South Africa inspired me to pursue a legal education with a focus on public interest law. Continuing racial and economic disparity in South Africa and here in the U.S. motivated me to serve low-income communities and advocate on behalf of underrepresented populations that lack meaningful access to the justice system. The SPIF program granted me the opportunity to challenge institutions of mass incarceration, generational poverty, and disenfranchisement."
Christin Swanepoel,
Class of 2023
APPLY
The 2026 SPIF application will be available by early December 2025 and will be due in mid-February 2026. Please email umhope@law.miami.edu with any questions.
