PILI began its new fiscal year on September 1st and in the budget adopted by its Board of Directors, PILI will fund its largest number of Law Student Interns ever in the year to come. PILI will grant $442,000 to fund 80 Law Student Interns at 33 public interest law agencies across Illinois in the coming year. For the 2024-2025 school-year, PILI will fund 24 Law Student Interns, 12 per semester for 200 hours with the school-year stipend set at $3,250. In Summer 2025 PILI will fund 56 Law Student Interns for 400 hours with the stipend set at $6,500. PILI previously increased its stipend amounts over the prior two fiscal years.
PILI’s Law Student Internship Program remains at the center of PILI and provides a start for a new generation of lawyers to learn about and commit to public interest law and pro bono service. Over the last year, our community of Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows have collectively provided an additional 32,700 hours of legal assistance to those in need. PILI has operated its Law Student Internship Program since its founding in 1977, and it is the only program of its kind that attracts law students from across the country to serve at public interest law agencies in Illinois.
While PILI is a funding source for stipends, PILI still works closely with Interns to ensure quality placements, supervision and continuing education through extensive programming along with networking opportunities for Interns to connect and learn from each other. The program helps PILI’s participating public interest law agencies serve more clients and increase their impact while also helping law students develop their legal and client interaction skills, build their professional networks, and strengthen their commitment to public interest law and service. Over 5,000 former Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows make up PILI’s Alumni Network to maintain a careerlong connection to PILI, to each other and the public interest law community.
“PILI’s Law Student Internship Program is our flagship program, remaining just as critical today as it was when PILI was founded in 1977,” said PILI Executive Director Michael Bergmann. “This program ensures that law students have the opportunity and support to gain invaluable practical experience in the public interest law sector while assisting in the critical work of PILI’s participating agencies across Illinois.”
See a full list of agencies in Illinois approved to host PILI Law Student Interns here »
Learn more about PILI’s Law Student Internship Program »