About

The John Paul Stevens Foundation is dedicated to promoting public interest and social justice values in the next generation of American lawyers.  Through the Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship Program, the Foundation supports law students who spend the summer working in unpaid public interest law internships.  The Fellowship Program reflects Justice Stevens’ deep belief that a dynamic and effective justice system depends on a cadre of trained and committed lawyers committed to public interest work.

In honor of Justice Stevens’ retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court, a group of his former law clerks – led by Skip Paul, Doug Winthrop, and Larry Marshall – established the Foundation in 2010.   An independent nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, the Foundation provides a formal home for the Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship Program.  The Stevens Fellowship Program was created in 1997 at Northwestern University School of Law, Justice Stevens’ alma mater, and then expanded to Santa Clara University School of Law, Stanford Law School, and UC Berkeley School of Law.  Today, 38 law schools across the United States participate in the Stevens Fellowship Program.