Are you a lawyer who wants to make a difference?

Do you care about social issues and justice for all? Do you feel that there is a

need for change

in the present legal system? If so, read on

Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad & ECONET, Pune

Lawyers for Change

FELLOWSHIPS, 2013-14

About Lawyers for Change (LfC)

Lawyers for Change (LfC) is a fellowship programme that supports young lawyers working on issues of social justice. The LfC Programme works towards developing the capacities of young lawyers to alter power relations in society by empowering vulnerable groups to assert their rights. The LfC Programme is designed for grooming young lawyers to become leaders in law by responding to the issues and needs within their communities using law as a comprehensive strategy for social change. Over the course of the programme, LfC will systematically work with lawyers and help them build the identity and skills required for Social Justice Lawyering. The LfC Academy has distinguished faculty members from amongst well-known human rights educators, retired members of the judiciary, senior lawyers, academics and practitioners in the field. Activities of the Academy will include rigorous training sessions; opportunities for legal interventions while working with rights based organizations in different parts of the country; sharing of knowledge and resources; and developing leadership skills of the fellows. Over the duration of the fellowship, the Academy will provide every kind of support to mentor the fellows and enhance their skills of social justice lawyering.

Structure of the Programme

The programme is a six months fellowship. During the six month time period, the selected fellows will be taken through an intensive capacity building process to use law for fighting exclusion, discrimination, enabling entitlements and to establish herself/ himself as a leader in the field of law. During the fellowship period there will be three events/ contact sessions in which the fellows will be expected to remain present. These contact sessions will be conducted once every two months for 4-5 days. In between the contact sessions, fellows will work in their respective fields on rights based issues which will be presented to the Academy, explore possibilities of legal interventions and also carry out tasks assigned by the Academy.

Applications for the Fellowship

We are looking for: Practicing lawyers who are associated with organizations working on rights based issues. Lawyers who want to start a practice on social justice issues, or Organizations that want to nominate lawyers /lawyer leaders working in the field of human rights issues.

The programme is open only to candidates below 32 years of age. A good knowledge of written and spoken English and working knowledge of computers is a must for every candidate. The programme is open only to citizens of India.

Fellowship
Selected candidates will be awarded a fellowship of upto Rs. 14,000 per month. Candidates will also be entitled for a monthly allowance of Rs. 2500 for books, travel. Travel to and from Ahmedabad for attending training sessions will be reimbursed according to policy.

How to apply?
An email may be sent to leaders.law@gmail.com on or before 20th November, 2013 with the CV of the applicant attached. The Subject field of the email must clearly mention Application for Programme. Candidates who had applied for the previous batch may also apply. Date and location of the interview will be notified to shortlisted candidates.

About ECONET
ECONET was instituted in the year 1993 and has been working with Tribals, Nomadic and De-notified Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Dalits. ECONET develops leadership capacities of individuals belonging to these vulnerable groups by working on development perspectives and soft skills at various levels. ECONET also engages with state and national level governance systems, facilitates networking processes at the grassroots level and evolves mechanisms for amplifying the voices of the people emerging through the networks in micro and macro spaces.

For more information, contact:

Programme Anchors
Arjun Kapoor: +91 90999 10585 Niyati: + 91 90999 89549 Email: leaders.law@gmail.com http://econetindia.org/ www.centreforsocialjustice.net www.facebook.com/censocjust www.facebook.com/lawyersforchange

About Centre for Social Justice

Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is a socio-legal non-governmental organization registered as a public charitable trust in Gujarat, India. It is one of the first organizations of its kind in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat and was set up with a view to pursue justice and to uphold and promote human rights. The Centre operates through a network of law centres in local communities across these States through a team of lawyers, paralegals and researchers that take a holistic approach to human rights by providing litigative support as well as outreach to villages through law clinics. CSJ focuses on the various legal issues concerning the rights of women, Dalits, tribals, minorities and other socially vulnerable groups. Today, CSJ responds to almost 4,000 claims annually through its law centres and is a part of several national campaigns for institutional law reforms. It has contributed to structural changes to make access to justice a reality for the vulnerable.