January 30, 2008 (Newark, NJ) - Proskauer Rose LLP, an international law firm with more than 750 lawyers worldwide, has created a public interest fellowship program for students at Rutgers School of Law-Newark. The Proskauer initiative complements the school's Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) summer grant program, which provides a stipend to students who forgo paid summer employment to pursue community-based work. 

"We as a firm have long supported the Essex County Legal Services Foundation and this new program is yet another way for us to give back and provide future lawyers the opportunity to gain experience and perform a valuable service," said Marvin M. Goldstein, head of Proskauer's Newark office.

Proskauer will support two fellowships for the summer of 2008 and four fellowships for the summer of 2009. The stipend for each fellowship is $5,000. This year, the application process will be open to first and second-year law students with strong academic performance and a demonstrated commitment to public service. The Rutgers students will work full-time for a minimum of 10 weeks at one of the three agencies funded by Essex County Legal Services Foundation: Essex-Newark Legal Services, the Education Law Center, and Volunteer Lawyers for Justice. The recipients will also be invited to participate in the Proskauer in-house training programs offered to the firm's regular summer associates.

"Each year we have more students than we can support who would like to accept a public interest internship opportunity," said Dean Stuart L. Deutsch. "We are very grateful that, because of Proskauer's generous fellowship program, now more of our students will be able to work during the summer in the public interest legal field."