Summer Fellowship Program at Neighborhood Legal Services, Supported by The John P. Gismondi Fund at The Allegheny County Bar Foundation

The John P. Gismondi Fund was established in January 2014 to provide summer employment opportunities to University of Pittsburgh law students at Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS) or other similar public interest non-profit organizations providing legal services to those in need. The program is financed by a $225,000 donation to the Foundation by Pittsburgh attorney John P. Gismondi. Gismondi, a well-known, local trial attorney and Past President of the Allegheny County Bar Association, has been an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law for more than 25 years and is a graduate of the university and its law school.
According to Gismondi, the fund fulfills two purposes. “My goal in setting up this program was to help law students develop clinic skills and at the same time provide free legal service to folks in need. I am pleased that we are accomplishing both of those goals and that the students seem to like it..”

Eligibility

The Gismondi Fund will sponsor four Summer Fellowship positions to students who have completed their second year of law school at the University of Pittsburgh and are certified to represent clients in accordance with the court rules of Allegheny County. The Gismondi Fellows will have the opportunity to earn real-world experience handling legal matters — including client contact — at public service organizations. In the past, Fellows have worked at Neighborhood Legal Services, KidsVoice and the offices of the county District Attorney and Public Defender. The Gismondi Certified Law Student Summer Fellowship Program will run from May 22, 2023 to July 28, 2023.

Application deadline: January 20, 2023

To view the program overview, click here.

To view the Gismondi Family Foundation, click here.

If you have any questions, please contact Mallory Draisma at mdraisma@acba.org