Here is a story from one of our 2007 APIL Fellowship recipients!  Make a difference today!

APIL made it possible for me to accept a summer clerkship at a nonprofit environmental law organization by giving me a $1000 grant to help cover the expense of living away from home. I was very nervous about the expenses I would incur, but I knew the clerkship was very important to my career in environmental law, and would pave the way for similar employment during and after law school. My clerkship was with Earthjustice, a national nonprofit organization specializing in environmental litigation related to federal public lands. I learned a tremendous amount of substantive law related to NEPA, the Wilderness Act, federal reserved water rights, and the Endangered Species Act. Earthjustice does not represent private individuals, but instead represents nonprofit environmental conservation organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society. Because of the limited budgets typical of most nonprofits, APIL's work is crucial for those interested in pursuing public interest law. Unlike many law schools, UNM is unable to provide supplemental funding for students choosing to take unpaid/underpaid opportunities, which leaves APIL as the only law school organization from which to get financial support. It is imperative that students continue to pursue public interest work and not be discouraged by the small salaries typical of public interest work. APIL provides encouragement as well as moral and financial support to allow students (like me) to pursue incredibly fulfilling and necessary public interest legal work.