Law Fellows Program

The Coelho Law Fellowship Program

Central to the mission of The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation is bringing together and fostering the development of leaders from our disability community. In particular, we believe in creating a strong pipeline of law students with disabilities who will go on to serve as attorneys, judges, public policy professionals, and public servants.

Our ultimate goal is to increase disability representation the legal profession. 

As the disability rights slogan goes, "Nothing About Us Without Us!" or more aptly "Nothing Without Us!" because people with disabilities belong in every sector of society, including the legal profession. We need people with disabilities in law schools, in law firms, on the bench, in the Congress, in legal academia and beyond! 

In order to do so, we need to strengthen the pathway into law school for disabled students. Too often, students with disabilities are discouraged from attaining higher education. Educational barriers, along with negative assumptions and attitudes, dissuade our community from reaching careers in law and policy.

This has to change. Our program targets college students and recent graduates with disabilities to provide encouragement, support and mentorship that is crucial to success. 

Currently, there is no program like The Coelho Center Law Fellowship Program with a specific mission to train and mentor college students with disabilities to think about a path toward law school.

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.

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 disability/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

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA):

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 if you need an accommodation to apply. 

Directions:

• To apply, please fill out your contact information, answer six short-answer questions, and include a Personal Statement describing the applicant’s background and commitment to advocacy.  
• 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 Monday, April 15, 2024 Wednesday, May 1, 2024 by 11:59 pm PST. 
• Applicants will be notified of their acceptance no later than Wednesday, May 1, 2024 Monday, May 6, 2024. 
• Acceptances will be made on a rolling basis. 

Application Link:

• https://forms.gle/Dm9kA4iVpm9piFuh7 

To learn about our past fellows:

• Check out this discussion with The Hon. Tony Coelho, Coelho Center Director Katherine Perez, and three Coelho Fellow Alumni.
• Read Coelho Fellow bios from the class of 2022-2023. 
• Read testimonials from previous Coehlo Law Fellows.

For more information, please contact Coelho Center Director, Katherine Perez, at katherine.perez@lls.edu.