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Announcing two new Global Fellowship initiatives at Penn Law

December 11, 2019

These two initiatives support Law School students in gaining invaluable international legal experience.

The International Programs Office and the Career Planning and Professionalism (CP&P) Office jointly support two Global Fellowship programs, open to Penn Law students. Formerly the International Summer Human Rights Fellows Program (ISHRF) and Penn Law International Internship Program (PLIIP), the programs have been renamed and relaunched with new exceptional opportunities.

These programs assist Penn Law students in obtaining valuable international experience by facilitating summer internships, either in private firms based in other countries or in an agency that focuses on international public interest affairs.

Global Justice and Global Legal Practice Fellowships

The Global Justice Fellowship (GJF) helps support JD students interested in international public interest internships during summer break. The program is designed to immerse students in the law and legal culture of another part of the world and to interface with the most pressing global issues facing the global community today.

The Global Legal Practice Fellowship (GLPF) initiates student internship positions at local law firms around the world, giving students cross-cultural experience and a better understanding of foreign legal practice.

Why go global?

In today’s global age, lawyers are increasingly expected to analyze international and foreign sources, as well as trends, drawing upon comparative examples, and reconciling different cultural expectations as they tackle issues in practice. Students entering the legal profession must be detail-oriented and nuanced in their approach to legal issues, in addition to big-picture global thinkers who adapt quickly to change.

Penn Law is a diverse and international community that equips its students to be modern legal practitioners. Along with programs that cover a substantial range of scholarship and challenges of the modern legal world, our international initiatives include training in topics such as Business Economics and Public Policy, Global Human Rights, and Transnational Arbitration. The law school also engages in partnerships with other centers of international learning, both inside and beyond the legal field.

These Global Initiatives facilitate top scholarship on the complex issues facing the international community in the 21st century by connecting our students and scholars with the most dynamic legal markets around the world. The success of our graduates is in part due to the unique opportunities and valuable connections that make up Penn Law’s wider community of international associations and alumni. Through the GLPF and GJF, Penn Law students have taken part in work placements in over 20 countries at law firms and international public interest agencies.

Get in touch

Find out more about the programs and read about previous Penn Law student experiences by visiting the Summer Programs & International Careers pages. To learn more about applying to either of the two Global Fellowships please contact Caroline Ruhle, Associate Director for International and LL.M Counseling, CP&P Office.