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.
For 2025-2026, we are officially offering two fellowships based on the needs of our fellows:
- Yearlong Coelho Law Fellowship
- Summer Coelho Law Fellowship
The programs offer a different experience based on the needs of the fellow. Participating for an entire school year may be prohibitive for some fellows. We encourage students who are starting law school in fall 2026 or applicants who are not available for the yearlong programming to consider the summer fellowship option.
The summer fellowship opportunity allows fellows to participate in the Disability Rights Law Course and summer conference and enables fellows to grow their network in disability advocacy. Summer fellows will not be eligible for the stipend and will be responsible for all costs involved in attending the conference.
The yearlong fellowship experience continues beyond the summer program and includes a $1,000 stipend. The stipend is contingent on participation and completion of the items below:
- A summer intensive disability rights law course, including submission of final exam
- A two-day conference
- A year-long course delivered virtually via webinar during the academic year
- A disability rights project
- Publication opportunity (optional)
- $1000 stipend* (upon completion of the program)
- Virtual graduation ceremony to celebrate fellows
*Aside from the publication opportunity, all other listed items: the courses (including assignments), conference attendance and disability rights project completion are required to receive the fellowship stipend for yearlong fellowship participants.
Expand each topic below for more information.
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Fellows will attend a three-week long intensive disability rights law course held virtually in the evenings.
The 2025 summer course will take place:
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Monday through Thursday from June 9 - July 1, all meeting times will be 4:00pm-6:30pm PST and will take place via Zoom.
(Applicants must affirm that if chosen they will make an honest effort to attend all fellowship programming or make plans to review recordings.)
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Fellows will attend a two-day conference with Disability Rights leaders, advocates and champions of disability justice. They will also have access to law school admissions staff to ask questions and learn about the pathway to law school.
This year's conference mode is in development. The conference will take place July 11-12, 2025. Fellows will be notified of details and if the conference is in-person or virtual, once selected for the program.
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The Coelho Fellows will participate in an academic year-long virtual course.
The course runs from August 2025 to May 2026 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.
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Fellowship Webinars take place the first Saturday of each month except January*. Course Dates:
Saturday, August 2, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, September 6, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, October 4, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, November 1, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, December 6, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, January 10, 2026 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)*
Saturday, February 7, 2026 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, March 7, 2026 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, April 4, 2026 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
Saturday, May 2, 2025 (9-12pm PT; 11-2pm CT; 12-3pm ET)
*The January webinar will be on the second Saturday of the month.
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All fellows will present one-time on an article about a disability topic of their choosing during our webinar series.
(Applicants must affirm that if chosen they will make an honest effort to attend all fellowship programming or make plans to review recordings.)
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All fellows will complete a disability rights project, selecting from one of three options:
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- A 10-page "first year law school" 1L legal memo
- Work with a law firm to submit a 10-page legal memo, and/or
- Organize and execute a panel discussion with policy experts
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The Coelho Law Fellows will all have access to participate in an optional publication opportunity on The Coelho Center Blog: https://thecoelhocenterblog.wordpress.com/.
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Virtual Graduation:
Saturday, June 6, 2026 (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.)
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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.
The fellowship serves current college students and recent graduates, including international students. We also want to hear from you if you are looking to make a career change and would benefit from such a fellowship.
Current college students must be enrolled in a community college, college, or university.
Applicants do not need to be certain that they would like to attend law school. Only an interest in the law is required.
Additional notes on eligibility
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. Additionally, while yearlong international fellows are eligible for the stipend, we currently are unable to support travel funding for the summer conference.
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, misdiagnosis, 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
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Please choose the link to apply for the fellowship option that best suits your interests and capacity.
To Apply
- Please fill out the correct application for the fellowship (Yearlong or Summer Fellow), your contact information, answer the short-answer questions, and include a Personal Statement describing your 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 the online form or in a Word/PDF document via email to The Coelho Center.
- 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 The Coelho Center.
- Applications will be accepted up until Wednesday, April 30, 2025. by 11:59 pm PST.
- Applicants will be notified of acceptance or request for short interview sessions, no later than Monday, May 9, 2024. Interviews, should they be necessary, will take place within 2 weeks of application submission, and no later than the week of May 12 - 15, 2025.
- Acceptances will be made on a rolling basis.
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 The Coelho Center (coelhocenter@lmu.edu) if you need an accommodation to apply.