Public Interest
2010 SABA-DC Public Interest Fellowship
In association with the North American South Asian Bar Association Foundation, SABA-DC provides financial assistance in the form of summer fellowships to law students working at public interest organizations in the metropolitan D.C. area. The primary purpose of the fellowship is to help fund student internships with a public interest organization for the benefit of the South Asian community and the metropolitan D.C. area. The number of Fellowships awarded, as well as the amount of each grant, will be determined by the SABA-DC Fellowship Committee and is based on SABA-DC’s fundraising efforts and the number of quality applicants it receives. SABA-DC and the NASABA Foundation will be sponsoring up to three fellowship grants in 2010. Fellowship funding is made possible, in part, by generous funding from the NASABA Foundation.
Each applicant must be a current law student in good standing, and must plan to be employed or intern with a public interest organization during the summer of 2010. Public interest law can be practiced in five types of settings: nonprofit organizations; legal services organizations; district attorneys/public defenders; federal, state, and local government; and public service law firms. SABA-DC considers all of the materials submitted by the applicant, with particular weight given to the applicant's essay. Other factors that SABA- DC may consider include commitment to public service, financial need, academic achievement, and other personal circumstances.
Download the 2010 Public Interest Fellowship Application here.
To be considered, all application materials must be postmarked or e-mailed no later than May 15, 2010 to either secretary@sabadc.org or the following address:
South Asian Bar Association Fellowship Application
c/o Mr. Padma Shah
South Asian Bar Association of Washington D.C.
P.O. BOX 65349
Washington, DC 20035
Donate to the SABA-DC Public Interest Scholarship Fund for 2010
SABA DC invites you to contribute to its Public Interest Scholarship Fund. Your donation will be applied towards the SABA DC Public Interest Fellowship, which is awarded each year to law students working in the field of public interest law on issues affecting the South Asian community. If you have any questions about the Fellowship or would like additional information, please contact us at sabadc@sabadc.org.
Committed to the Public Interest
SABA-DC is committed to pro bono and other public service activities, and encourages its members to get involved in various activities that serve the South Asian community as well as the DC area more generally. SABA-DC has co-sponsored the DC Bar’s Advice and Referral clinic, at which individuals who typically do not have the resources to hire lawyers are offered free legal advice and, when necessary, referred to other available resources.
SABA-DC has participated in efforts spearheaded by the South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT), including its annual Be The Change event which fosters leadership and community engagement through service and volunteerism. SABA-DC also participates in broader, policy-oriented efforts such as organizing panel discussions on a variety of issues of interest to the South Asian community and attending meetings at the Department of Justice relating to a variety of issues associated with access to the judicial system by minority groups.
In addition to these efforts, individual SABA-DC members engage in a variety of pro bono and community service projects through their law firms and other employers, from assisting immigrants from Bangladesh in a landlord/tenant dispute arising from the eviction of tenants to facilitate the conversion of an Adams Morgan apartment building into luxury condominiums, to representing a Nepalese national seeking asylum.
SABA-DC encourages individuals or organizations to contact a member of the SABA-DC Board with suggestions for activities or potential projects for SABA-DC and its members to serve the public interest.
