The Fund for American Studies has long done excellent work educating students on the principles of individual liberty and free-market public policy.  Many Cato scholars and interns have been involved with its programming over the years, including Roger Pilon and Randy Barnett in the legal field.  I now have the privilege of serving on the Board of Visitors of TFAS’s Legal Studies Institute (along with Randy and others who are familiar to those who follow Cato’s work), and heartily recommend its summer program for law students looking for a DC experience that includes an internship, class credit, mentoring, high-level briefings and panels, and career development.  The application deadline has now been extended to April 3.  Here are the details:

LEGAL STUDIES INSTITUTE                                     

May 23 – August 2, 2013                                                                                             

Washington, D.C.                                                                             

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

• Legal Internship: Participants will be placed in a 9-week summer legal internship where they will work full-time and gain substantive experience in the legal profession. Internship sites include law firms, courts, public interest organizations and the legal departments of trade associations, corporations and government agencies.

• Briefings and Activities: Participants will attend private briefings at institutions of the judicial, legislative and executive branches and will meet with prominent judges, lawyers and judicial scholars. Previous guest speakers have included; Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and D.C. Federal Court of Appeals Judge Douglas Ginsburg among others.

• Career Development Activities: Workshops will be held to help prepare participants for success in their law careers, and planned networking events will facilitate professional interaction. 

• Attorney Mentor Program: Each participant will be matched with an experienced lawyer who will serve as a professional mentor during and after the program. 

• Constitutional Law Course for Credit: You will be enrolled in a constitutional law course titled “Originalism and the Federalist Papers.” Classes will be held at Georgetown University Law Center. Students will receive credit from Ohio Northern University Pettit School of Law, or for an additional fee from Georgetown University Law Center. The course will be taught by Federalist Society lecturers, Professor John Baker, visiting fellow at Oriel College, University of Oxford and Visiting Professor at Georgetown University. Professor Randy Barnett, the Camack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at Georgetown University Law Center and Professor Roger Pilon of the Cato Institute will also lecture. 

• Housing: Students will live in fully-furnished apartments in downtown Washington, DC and are matched with other Institute participants. The apartments provide easy access to the DC metro transportation system. 

• Scholarships: 75% of students receive scholarship awards based on financial need and merit.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Applications will be accepted until the extended deadline of April 3, but applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.  Visit www.DCinternships.org/LSI for more details and to begin an application. Questions may be directed to Jennifer Fantin, LSI recruitment and admissions assistant at admissions [at] tfas.org  or 202.986.0384.