Skadden Fellowship Foundation (Skadden Foundation)

Quick Stats

• Annual Giving: $4.4 million (2023/2024)
• Success Rate: Highly selective; approximately 34 fellows selected per annual cycle from a pool significantly larger than 100 semifinalists
• Decision Time: ~11 weeks (application in September; final decision in early December)
• Grant Range: $68,000/year salary support per fellow (two-year fellowship); $15,000 (Flom Incubator Grants); $7,500 (academic article grants); $2,500 (F2F training honoraria); $1,000 (on-site learning honoraria)
• Geographic Focus: United States, its territories, and American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian communities

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Contact Details

• Website: skaddenfellowships.org
• Email: Skadden.Foundation@skadden.com
• Pre-Application Support: The Foundation's Executive Director, Charlie Gillig, regularly conducts information sessions at law schools across the country. Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend these sessions or reach out via email with questions.

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Overview

The Skadden Fellowship Foundation (formally registered as the Skadden Foundation, EIN: 13-3455231) is a New York-based private grantmaking foundation established in 1988 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. It operates as a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organisation. Its primary mission is to fund two-year fellowships for recent law graduates and judicial clerks who commit to public interest legal careers addressing unmet civil legal needs of people living in poverty across the United States.

Since its founding, the Foundation has awarded more than 1,000 fellowships across 43 states and Washington, D.C. Total assets stand at approximately $11.2–11.5 million, with annual charitable disbursements of approximately $4.4 million distributed across 101 grants annually (median grant: $38,000). Ninety per cent of former Fellows continue in public interest work after their fellowship ends. Alumni have gone on to found 24 nonprofits, lead 54 organisations as executive directors, serve as 125 law school academics, and hold 170 government roles.

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Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

• Two-Year Fellowship: $68,000/year base salary support per fellow (plus fringe benefits, professional development up to $2,000/year, relocation reimbursement, bar exam expense reimbursement, and loan repayment assistance). Host organisations paying Fellows $73,000 or above receive an additional $5,000 annual supplemental grant. Fellows are employees of their host organisations; the Foundation reimburses the host.
• Flom Incubator Grants (FIGs): $15,000 grants to former Skadden Fellows to experiment with novel public interest legal approaches. Established in 2011 using a testamentary bequest from the late Joseph Flom; 185 grants made to date. A special COVID-19 variant of $10,000 grants was deployed in 2020 (28 grants). Application is restricted to former Fellows via a password-protected alumni portal.
• Academic Article Grants: $7,500 to former Fellows to write an academic article relevant to the public interest law community. Application is likewise restricted to former Fellows.
• Fellows to Fellows (F2F) Honoraria: $2,500 to former Fellows with at least 10 years of public interest practice, to deliver training sessions to current and recent Fellows.
• On-site Learning Initiative Honoraria: $1,000 to former Fellows who host current Fellows for on-site learning visits.

Application method: Fixed annual deadline (Fellowship); invitation-only/alumni-only (FIGs, F2F, and on-site honoraria).

Priority Areas

• Civil legal services for people living in poverty (including the working poor)
• Housing rights and homelessness
• Immigrant protections and immigration law
• Workers' rights and employment law
• Voting rights and civil rights
• Mental health advocacy
• Veterans' benefits (a growing focus area in recent cycles)
• Disability rights
• Elderly legal services
• Human rights deprivations

What They Don't Fund

• Criminal representation of any kind
• Projects that are civil in nature but serve client populations detained in the adult carceral system (jails or prisons)
• Projects located outside the United States, its territories, or American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian communities
• Projects hosted by law school clinics or projects (host must be a standalone 501(c)(3))
• Organisations that cannot employ at least two full-time attorneys who devote the majority of their time to civil legal advocacy
• Applications from Directors, Officers, or employees of the Foundation; current or former Skadden partners; Skadden employees; or their family members

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Governance and Leadership

Staff

• Charlie Gillig, Executive Director — A 2011 Skadden Fellow himself, Gillig has spent his entire legal career in public interest law. He became Executive Director following the resignation of Kathleen Rubenstein. He actively visits law schools to conduct information sessions and is the primary point of contact for prospective applicants. On the 2026 class, Gillig stated: "We had an exceptional group of candidates — even larger than last year's applicant pool — and we didn't do anything differently this time around. We selected the fellows based on our traditional criteria, focusing on the needs of the client populations."
• Susan Plum, Senior Advisor (formerly founding Executive Director and most recently interim Executive Director) — On the Foundation's legacy, Plum has said: "It demonstrates Skadden's enduring investment in the Foundation, which has enabled thousands of individuals living in poverty to receive the legal support they need to address their most important issues." She has also noted: "As the needs of our clients, Fellows and host organizations evolve, we continuously seek ways to provide support that aligns with those shifting needs. This has led to the launch of many new programs over the years."

Advisory Committee Co-Chairs

• Nesa Amamoo (Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP)
• Emily M. Lam (Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP)

Advisory Committee Members (selection trustees who make final fellowship decisions)

• Lauren Aguiar (Partner, Chief Legal Officer and Global General Counsel, JAB Holding Company; President, Board of Directors of the Foundation)
• Jacob Abudaram (Skadden Fellow, ACLU Disability Rights Program)
• Cassie Chambers Armstrong (State Senator, Kentucky General Assembly)
• Derek Douglas (President, Civic Committee and Commercial Club of Chicago)
• Eric J. Friedman (Retired Partner, Past Chairman and Executive Partner)
• Mei Lin Kwan-Gett (Deputy General Counsel and Global Head of Litigation, Citi)
• Jeremy D. London (Executive Partner)
• Robert C. Sheehan (Retired Partner)
• Tim Silard (President, Rosenberg Foundation)

Other Advisory Partners: James Anderson, Eben Colby, Sean C. Doyle, Brian W. Duwe, Armando Gomez, Jessica Hough, Paul J. Lockwood, Scott D. Musoff, Ryne Posey, Dwight S. Yoo.

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Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

For the Two-Year Fellowship: The application is submitted as a single PDF file emailed to Skadden.Foundation@skadden.com. Applicants must:

1. Download the application and certification pages from the Foundation's website
2. Develop a proposed project in coordination with an eligible host organisation (a standalone 501(c)(3) providing civil legal services to the poor)
3. Secure a signed Host Organisation Certification from the intended host
4. Assemble all documents in the order specified in the instruction sheet
5. Submit the complete PDF by the annual deadline (typically mid-to-late September)

Eligibility for the Fellowship:

• Current 3L law students (or final year of an LL.M. or concurrent graduate programme)
• Outgoing judicial law clerks
• Law school graduates within the past two years (must demonstrate commitment to a public interest career)
• Must have taken or plan to take a US bar exam
• Not required to be a US citizen or to have attended a US law school
• Winter graduates and part-time students should apply in their final year

For FIGs, Academic Article Grants, F2F Honoraria, and On-site Learning Honoraria: Restricted to former Skadden Fellows. Application details are available only via the password-protected alumni section of the website.

Decision Timeline

Milestone	Timing
Application deadline	Mid-to-late September (annually)
Interview invitations sent	1 October
In-person interviews (6 cities)	6–27 October
Finalist notifications	30–31 October
Final Fellows selected	Early December

Interviews are conducted in person across six cities: Palo Alto, Boston, Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The Foundation has accommodated remote/video format interviews and other accessibility requests.

Total decision timeline from application submission to final decision: approximately 10–11 weeks.

Success Rates

The Foundation does not publish an official acceptance rate. Based on available data:

• Approximately 100 semifinalists are identified from the full applicant pool
• 56 finalists are presented to the selection trustees
• Approximately 28–34 fellows are selected per cycle (34 in the 2026 class, which was noted as a 20%+ increase over the prior year)
• The Foundation describes the process as "highly selective" with "far more strong applications than Fellowships available"
• Implied acceptance rate is estimated in the low single digits as a percentage of all applicants

Reapplication Policy

No explicit reapplication policy has been published. However, the Foundation's eligibility window — which limits applicants to current law students, those in a clerkship or LL.M. programme, or graduates within two years of law school — means that most applicants have at most one or two opportunities to apply. Prospective applicants who were unsuccessful in one cycle may reapply in a subsequent cycle provided they remain within the eligibility window. Contact Skadden.Foundation@skadden.com to confirm eligibility before reapplying.

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Application Success Factors

The Foundation has been notably transparent about what it looks for. The following is drawn directly from their published guidance and public statements:

Client-centred focus is paramount. The Foundation's selection is centred on "the clients and whether the applicant and host organization are well-positioned to serve the clients' needs." Applicants must demonstrate deep understanding of — and ideally personal or professional connection to — the client community they seek to serve.

No paradigmatic Fellow or project. The Foundation explicitly states: "There is no paradigmatic Skadden Fellow or project, and what you design should be authentic to you." Applicants should not try to mirror previous successful fellows but should propose projects that genuinely reflect their own passion and insight.

Host organisation alignment is critical. The Foundation expects "that the host organization has expertise in the type of lawyering contemplated" and that the applicant and host are "well-prepared to deliver the planned legal advocacy." Prospective applicants should approach potential host organisations early — ideally in the spring or early summer before the autumn deadline — to develop a genuinely collaborative project.

Use the Fellow network. The Foundation specifically recommends tapping the network of 1,000+ former Fellows as a "kitchen cabinet" resource for designing a project. Making contact with former Fellows working on related issues is a recognised and encouraged practice.

Academic performance matters but is not the sole criterion. While there is no GPA cut-off, the Foundation notes that "many successful candidates will be at the very top of their law school classes, and most will have grades that fall in their law school's top quartile." Strong grades alone are insufficient; they must be accompanied by a demonstrated track record of meaningful public interest work.

Diversity of background is valued. The Foundation actively encourages applications from individuals who are members of groups historically underrepresented in the legal profession, and from those with deep personal or professional connections to marginalised communities.

Projects do not need to be "innovative" to succeed. Applicants sometimes assume they must propose a groundbreaking approach; the Foundation has clarified that proven advocacy strategies are entirely acceptable, and that the strength of the applicant–project–host fit matters more than novelty.

Recent funded examples (2026 class):

• Challenging laws criminalising panhandling and homelessness as First Amendment violations (ACLU Trone Center)
• Combating antisemitism and discrimination in K–12 education (Anti-Defamation League)
• Contesting federal grant terminations targeting public health initiatives (ACLU Foundation)
• Addressing post-Grants Pass criminalisation of homelessness (ACLU of Massachusetts)
• Projects serving veterans, immigrants, workers, and individuals with disabilities at legal aid societies and advocacy organisations nationally

Notable host organisations from recent cycles: ACLU (multiple projects and affiliates), Legal Aid Society, Legal Aid Chicago, New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Public Justice Foundation, Legal Assistance of Western New York.

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Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

• This is a fellowship programme, not a general grant programme. Funding goes to individual law graduates to work at host organisations, not directly to organisations. Organisations seeking to engage with the Skadden Foundation should position themselves as prospective host organisations, not grant applicants.
• Host organisations must meet specific structural criteria: standalone 501(c)(3) status, at least two full-time civil legal services attorneys, and the capacity to employ and supervise a Fellow at a minimum $68,000 salary (reimbursed by the Foundation).
• The application window is fixed and annual, with a mid-to-late September deadline each year. Host organisations should build relationships with prospective Fellows well before the deadline — ideally months in advance — as the project proposal is developed collaboratively.
• Hosting limits apply: Organisations with fewer than 50 attorneys may host up to two Fellows in any two-year period; those with 50+ attorneys may host up to four.
• Former Fellows have exclusive access to supplemental funding (FIGs, academic article grants, F2F honoraria) — organisations with former Fellows on staff should ensure those individuals are aware of these opportunities.
• The Foundation's Executive Director actively visits law schools and is approachable. Organisations seeking to become host organisations for the first time would benefit from attending or sponsoring law school information sessions where Charlie Gillig presents.
• Geographic breadth is encouraged. The Foundation funds projects across all 50 states and does not favour any particular region, though projects must be US-based.

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References

1. Skadden Fellowship Foundation — Official Website (skaddenfellowships.org) — including pages: Home, About, Applicant Information, Fellowship Host Information, Flom Incubator Grants, Leadership. Accessed February 2026.
2. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer — Skadden Foundation (EIN 13-3455231): https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133455231 — financial data from 990-PF filings (most recent: November 2024). Accessed February 2026.
3. Instrumentl — Skadden Foundation 990 Report and Grant Profile: https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/skadden-foundation — financial summary data including total assets ($11.5M), total giving ($4.4M), 101 grants, median grant $38K. Accessed February 2026.
4. GrantExec — Skadden Foundation Profile: https://grantexec.com/foundations/133455231 — grant range and award data. Accessed February 2026.
5. NYU School of Law — Skadden Fellows 2026: https://www.law.nyu.edu/news/skadden-fellows-2026 — details of 2026 class. Accessed February 2026.
6. Bloomberg Law — "New Skadden Fellows, First After Trump Deal, Remain Progressive": https://news.bloomberglaw.com/legal-exchange-insights-and-commentary/new-skadden-fellows-first-after-trump-deal-settlement-agreement — quotes from Charlie Gillig and class composition details. Accessed February 2026.
7. David Lat Substack — "Congratulations to the 2025 Skadden Fellows": https://davidlat.substack.com/p/2025-skadden-fellowships-public-interest-fellows-skadden-arps-law-firm — fellowship statistics and commentary. Accessed February 2026.
8. David Lat Substack — "New Skadden Fellows, First After Trump Deal, Remain Progressive": https://davidlat.substack.com/p/2026-skadden-fellows-post-trump-deal-settlement-agreement — 2026 class details and Charlie Gillig quotes. Accessed February 2026.
9. Above the Law — "Skadden Fellowship Sells Out": https://abovethelaw.com/2025/06/skadden-fellowship-sells-out-gets-rid-of-commitments-theyve-championed-since-1988/ — context on programme developments. Accessed February 2026.
10. Skadden Fellowship Foundation — Susan Plum Fellowship Spotlight (2025): https://www.skaddenfellowships.org/fellowship-spotlight/2025/07/susan-plum-on-the-skadden-fellowship-foundation — quotes from Susan Plum. Accessed February 2026.
11. InfluenceWatch — The Skadden Foundation: https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/the-skadden-foundation/ — background and financial context. Accessed February 2026.
12. Lauren Aguiar — Skadden Professionals Page: https://www.skadden.com/professionals/a/aguiar-lauren-e — board leadership information. Accessed February 2026.
13. Penn Law PSJD Fellowship Comparison Chart: https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/10164-psjd-fellowship-comparison-chart-002 — comparative fellowship data. Accessed February 2026.
14. ProFellow — Skadden Fellowship Profile: https://www.profellow.com/fellowship/skadden-fellowship/ — supplementary programme details. Accessed February 2026.