FAIR is now accepting applications for its 12th annual FAIR Fellowship. The FAIR Fellowship is a unique 18-month, post-graduate fellowship that enables a new attorney to work full-time for two consecutive terms: 12 months at Legal Aid at Work (remotely) and six months at a plaintiff-side employment law firm affiliated with the California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), an organization of more than 1,200 workers’ rights advocates throughout California. The salary for this fellowship was recently increased to $97,344 annual equivalent, plus a $10,000 bar stipend.

FAIR will fund a Fellow with salary and benefits during the first year the fellow is working at Legal Aid at Work. The applicant will then be matched with a CELA affiliated firm for the second six month term and be paid a salary and benefits by that entity.

The 2026-28 FAIR Fellowship application is available here; the deadline to apply is October 30, 2025.

Every summer, CELA law firms throughout California hire qualified law students who are interested in representing employees in employment discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, and wage-and-hour matters for a ten-week summer clerkship. This unique clerkship is an invaluable opportunity to make important connections within California’s plaintiff-side employment bar. The Employee Justice Summer Clerkship exists to encourage and support law students from diverse backgrounds who wish to become employee advocates in the law. Recipients of this award can earn $20,000 or more during their 10-week summer clerkship with a California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA) member firm. Ideal candidates for these summer positions will have a demonstrated interest in employment law/social justice issues. The application deadline to participate in the interview program for Summer '26 Clerkships is August 18, 2025. Students who accept and offer from a CELA firm and wish to apply for Fellowship funding must do so by December 31, 2025. For more information and to apply, visit this link.

*A fellowship applicant does not have to go through the CELA OCI process to be eligible to apply for the fellowship. An application does not guarantee a fellowship award.

The John D. Weiss Employee Justice Summer Clerkship Award is given to the top law student chosen from the yearly Employee Justice Summer Clerkship program, who exemplifies the attributes that John D. Weiss demonstrated during his life: a person with a generous heart who gives without expecting recognition, although so deserving; a person who demonstrates a fierce passion for achieving justice for workers; and, a person with an inspiring ability to overcome adversity. The Weiss Fellow will also be recognized with an additional stipend from FAIR. The namesake of this honor, John D. Weiss, was instrumental in helping CELA leaders to establish FAIR and generously supported the organization until his untimely passing in 2013.