The Liberty Aldrich Summer Fellowship Program enables one NYU J.D. student to spend their summer working with Family Legal Care, whose mission is to increase access to justice in New York State Family Court by combining legal guidance, easy-to-access technology, and compassionate support to help unrepresented parents and caregivers self-advocate on critical family law issues, while working on reform that improves the system for everyone.
This fellowship was established in honor of Liberty Aldrich, an NYU Law alumna who has served as a family defense attorney and a Bronx Family Court judge. She is currently the Executive Director of the Children’s Law Center. In 1995, after observing first-hand the lack of information available to family court litigants and the dire consequences of this void, Judge Aldrich co-founded Family Legal Care, originally known as LIFT–Legal Information for Families Today. An active board member and supporter for 22 years, Judge Aldrich now has emeritus status and continues to support Family Legal Care’s work.
The Aldrich fellowship will give a law student with a strong interest in family and domestic violence law, direct services, and access to justice issues, the opportunity to provide legal assistance and guidance to Family Court litigants in matters of child support, custody, visitation and orders of protection. The Aldrich fellow will receive comprehensive training in providing direct services to family court litigants and ongoing supervision and support from Family Legal Care’s team. The fellow will also have the opportunity to conduct legal research, analysis and writing. The internship will be primarily remote, but may include limited in-person time at Family Legal Care’s office in downtown Manhattan and/or in the New York City family courts.
The Aldrich Fellow receives a $500 supplement in addition to their PILC summer funding for a 10-12-week internship at LIFT. First and second year law students are eligible to apply. Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to pilc.info@nyu.edu, with a subject FLC-Aldrich Fellowship. The application deadline is January 30, 2025.
Reach out to Katie Neilson at kathryn.neilson@nyu.edu with any questions about the Aldrich Fellowship