Rural Summer Legal Corps

About RSLC

LSC’s Rural Summer Legal Corps (RLSC) launched in 2016 as a way to bring much needed legal support to rural areas that lack attorneys. In partnership with Equal Justice Works, LSC selects fifty of the nation’s top law students to spend their summers working at LSC-grantee offices across the United States. The students get hands-on experience by providing direct legal services, engaging in community outreach and education and researching for cases.

“Before this fellowship, I had no experience navigating many of the concrete, day-to-day tasks in the life of a public interest lawyer. I had no idea how to communicate with court clerks, interview clients, or help lead a legal clinic. This fellowship allowed me to gain the ability to do all these things, and to do them well, while also making a difference in the lives of clients.”

RSLC 2025 Fellow

Reach and Impact

Since 2016, over 300 law students have helped rural communities in 42 states and territories; across the United States as part of the Rural Summer Legal Corps. Students have worked on a diverse array of projects, including:

Working alongside health providers in medical-legal partnerships in New Hampshire
Developing a model self-help divorce clinic in Oklahoma
Organizing expungement clinics in Florida
Assisting unrepresented individuals in the Code of Federal Regulations Court on an Indian Reservation

Between 2016 and 2024, RSLC fellows have served over 12,000 rural community members. Through this work, legal aid organizations get much-needed capacity to serve rural communities, law students gain valuable hands-on experience, and communities get the legal support they need.

Support this Work

RSLC is funded through LSC’s private fundraising initiatives. Learn more and give today.

Give to LSC

Host a Fellow

Host site applications open in October each year and are limited to LSC-funded civil legal aid organizations (grantees). LSC-funded civil legal aid organizations are invited to submit a project proposal that will leverage the talent and enthusiasm of a law student in support of your direct legal services, outreach, education, and capacity-building initiatives.

Host a Fellow

Become a Fellow

RLSC is open to law students who have completed their first or second year by the start of summer at one of almost 200 Equal Justice Works member law schools. Students spend 8 to 10 weeks (a minimum of 300 hours) working at an LSC grantee host site on projects that improve access to justice in rural communities. Each student receives a $7,000 stipend for their summer of service.

Apply for a Fellowship

“The most important thing I got from my RSLC experience was learning how to employ trauma-informed lawyering to client and community partner interactions. Law school does not really provide many opportunities in which to practice those skills, so this was an exceptional opportunity to practice skills and learn about a topic that is now a fixture in my legal work.”

RSLC 2025 Fellow