2L Public Service Guarantee

• You must work full-time for a minimum of 10 weeks at a qualified government or public interest organization. The organization must be either a government agency (federal, state, or local) or a non-profit organization and the work performed must be non-partisan, legal in nature, and supervised by an attorney.
• Judicial internships and public-private law firms do not qualify for the 2L Public Service Guarantee. You also cannot get Guarantee funding for coursework (including Officer Candidate School) and you cannot get credit and Guarantee funding for the same work per ABA regulations.
• To be eligible for the full $6,500 in Guarantee funding, you may not earn more than $10,000 for the entire summer from all sources of funding. If you exceed this $10,000 cap, the Guarantee funding amount will be reduced. For example, if you earn $5,000 from your summer internship with the ACLU, you would only be eligible for $5,000 in Guarantee funding.
• The 2L Guarantee cannot be stacked with other sources of Michigan Law funding. However, if you are a Michigan Law PRAL fellow, you may be eligible for a prorated share of Guarantee funding if your work at a qualified employer or employers is for at least 10 weeks and you do not exceed the $10,000 cap from all sources of funding. Please contact [email protected] to discuss your PRAL fellowship and 2L Public Service Guarantee Funding.
• An Equal Justice Works Summer Legal Corps award ($1,000) does not count towards the Guarantee funding caps.
• 2L Public Service Guarantee funding may be considered taxable income even if a W-2 is not issued. This should not be construed as tax advice, however, and we encourage you to consult with a tax advisor for more information.
• Students interested in receiving Law School funds for a summer or post-graduate position outside the United States must consult with the Office of Career Planning regarding University-required paperwork that must be completed before funds can be released. Further, the University’s International Travel Policy lists University Travel Restricted Destinations, and activities in these destinations are not eligible for University funding. Because the list of Travel Restricted Destinations is subject to change, students should be aware that it is possible that funding is not ensured, and should therefore keep in close contact with OCP about potentially affected destinations.
• Guarantee funding is meant to fill-in gaps when other funding is not available to you. If your employer offers a stipend, you should accept the stipend and apply for a reduced amount of Guarantee funding, as appropriate.

To be eligible for 2L Public Service Guarantee funding, you must obtain a full-time internship for a minimum of 10 weeks with a qualified government or public interest organization. The organization must be either a government agency (federal, state, or local) or a non-profit organization and the work performed must be non-partisan, legal in nature, and supervised by an attorney.

The choice of where you spend your 2L summer, the skills you develop, the practice area you choose, and the connections you make can have an impact on your postgraduate career plans.

Speak to an advisor

You must:

1. Secure a qualified internship with a government or public interest organization that is full-time for a minimum of 10 weeks.
    
2. Complete the application form.
   Complete the Application Form
    
3. Have your employer submit an Employer Verification form.
    
4. The application deadline is 11:59pm on May 28. You must submit both the Employment Verification form AND the application form by that deadline.
    
5. At the end of your internship, submit an online summary of your experience to be shared with other Michigan Law students through the Public Service Network.

Before you can apply, you need to report your job to the Office of Career Planning. 

Report Your Job

After you report your job, your employer will appear under Public Service Work Experience within a day or two. 

Is My Employer Listed?

Once your employer is listed under Public Service Work Experience, please click on the employer name to review, complete, and submit the form.

Is My Employer Listed?

Your employer will need to complete the Employer verification form.

Employer Verification Form (google form)

To check on the status of your application, click on Check on Guarantee Application under Public Service Work Experience.

Check Status

Yes, you may choose to work at more than one qualified government or public interest organization. To be eligible for Guarantee funding, you have to work for a total of 10 or more weeks at these agencies/organizations and you must work for a minimum of 6 weeks at one of these agencies/organizations. 

You may also spend a portion of the summer working at a non-qualifying legal employer such as a private firm, or in a legal research assistant position, but to be eligible for Guarantee funding, you must work at least 10 weeks at a qualified government or public interest organization and your Guarantee funding amount will be reduced if you earn more than $10,000 for the entire summer from all sources of funding. For example, if you complete a 10-week unpaid internship with Legal Aid and then work for a private firm for 4 weeks and earn $6,000 from the private firm, you would only be eligible for $4,000 in Guarantee funding.

Yes. The deadline is set for late May to allow most, if not all, students to secure a summer internship by that date.

Yes, you may be eligible to receive the 2L Guarantee for both your “2L summer “(i.e. after your second year of law school) and your “dual degree summer” (after your dual degree year but ONLY IF you have already completed your first year of law school as well). To qualify for the 2L Guarantee twice, your internships must otherwise qualify and you must show evidence that you applied for the maximum funding available for your “dual degree summer” from your graduate program before applying for the 2L Guarantee. Money obtained from the graduate program may impact the amount of funding you obtain from the 2L Guarantee given the $10,000 cap.

Your Guarantee stipend will be disbursed in one payment after the close of the winter semester. We strongly encourage you to set up direct deposit in Wolverine Access to ensure timely receipt of your stipend. If you have not arranged for direct deposit, please make sure that Wolverine Access is updated with your current address so that a check can be mailed to you.

The date you received the funding depends on when your application and employer verification form are received. Stipend payments will be processed starting at the beginning of May.