Deepen your impact. Launch your legal career.
Each year, we invest over $1 million dollars in our summer fellowship program. Primarily for 1L students, summer fellowships offer students the opportunity to engage in meaningful, hands-on legal work in public interest, research, and corporate settings. These placements are designed to support students in advancing justice, policy, and scholarship – while gaining invaluable professional experience.
LSSEP (Law School Summer Employment Program) is our centralized recruitment process for these summer fellowships. While the process is unified in structure and timeline, students must submit individual applications tailored to each employer they are interested in. The Career Development Office (CDO) supports students throughout with resources such as workshops, resume reviews, and interview preparation, helping them navigate multiple applications within a coordinated framework.
Why pursue a legal fellowship
Summer fellowships offered in recent years
- April Burey International Human Rights Internship
- Baker Law Fellowship
- BCE Black Future Lawyers / Future of Law Lab Summer Fellowships
- Blue J Legal Fellowship
- CAPO Fellowship in International
- David Asper Centre Summer Fellowship for Human Rights Advocacy
- Debwewin Fellowships (Debwewin Summer Law Student Program)
- Dr. Scott Guan China Law Practice Award
- Empire / Sobeys Black Future Lawyers / Future of Law Lab Summer Fellowships
- Faculty of Law Experiential Learning Fund
- Hadley Family Fund Fellowship
- Howard Levitt Family Fellowship
- IHRP Fellowship Program
- International Experience Scholarship
- International Human Rights Internship
- June Callwood Programme in Aboriginal Law
- Kenneth Radnoff, Q.C. Fellowship
- Lenczer Slaght Advocacy Internship
- McCarthy Tétrault LLP Business Law Internship
- Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund (OSOTF) – Donner Civic Leadership Fund
- OSOTF – International Experience Scholarship
- R. Douglas Elliott Fellowship
- Sun Life / Future of Law Lab Summer Fellowships
- Theodore "Ted" Rachlin, Q.C. Fellowship
- V. Maureen Kempston Darkes and Lawrence Darkes Fellowships
Each of our awarded fellowships is unique in its focus and structure, but all share a commitment to experiential learning and social impact.
Career-shaping experiences
Summer fellowships open doors for our students - thanks to the generosity of donors. These opportunities allow future legal professionals to gain invaluable experience beyond the classroom.
Take Bruce Yao (JD Candidate, Class of 2027) as an example. This past summer, Bruce worked at Zhong Lun Law Firm in China, an experience made possible through the Dr. Scott Guan China Law Practice Award.