Skadden Foundation

Name

Skadden Foundation

Legal name

Skadden Fellowship Foundation

Website

https://skaddenfellowships.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Interest Legal Fellowships

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

Keywords

• Public interest law
• Legal fellowship program
• Pro bono fellowships
• Civil legal aid
• Nonprofit legal services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Skadden Fellowship Foundation provides two-year fellowships to recent law graduates and judicial clerks, placing them at nonprofit public interest host organizations to address unmet civil legal needs of people living in poverty in the United States. Fellows design their own public interest legal projects and receive comprehensive financial support including base salary ($68,000/year), FICA, full medical/dental/life/disability benefits for the Fellow and dependents, professional development funds, bar exam reimbursement, relocation expenses, and law school loan repayment assistance. The Foundation supplements the core fellowship with the Flom Incubator Grants for alumni projects, the Fellows to Fellows training initiative, and the On-site Learning Initiative.

Product overview

The Skadden Fellowship Foundation operates a single unified fellowship program — the two-year Skadden Fellowship — which places law graduates at public interest organizations. The Foundation provides comprehensive support including full salary funding ($68,000/year base plus FICA), benefits coverage (medical, dental, life insurance, disability for Fellows and dependents), professional development funds ($2,000), and bar exam and loan repayment assistance. Supplemental programs include Flom Incubator Grants ($15,000 for former Fellows' innovative projects), the Fellows to Fellows training initiative, and the On-site Learning Initiative connecting current and former Fellows. The Foundation also facilitates a lifelong alumni network offering regional reunions, networking, and ongoing programming.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Skadden Fellowship Program A two-year fellowship that places recent law graduates and judicial clerks at nonprofit public interest host organizations (standalone 501(c)(3) organizations with at least two full-time civil legal advocacy attorneys) to address unmet civil legal needs of people living in poverty in the United States. Fellows design their own projects and receive comprehensive financial support including base salary ($68,000/year), FICA, full benefits for Fellow and dependents, professional development funds, bar exam reimbursement, relocation expenses, and law school loan repayment assistance.
• Flom Incubator Grants (FIGs) A grant program providing $15,000 to former Skadden Fellows to support novel legal projects undertaken in the public interest. Established in 2011, the program has made 185 grants to support innovative legal projects by Skadden alumni.
• Fellows to Fellows (F2F) Initiative A program providing $2,500 honoraria to former Fellows (practicing in public interest for at least 10 years) to deliver training sessions to current and recent Skadden Fellows, facilitating cross-generational knowledge transfer within the alumni network.
• On-site Learning Initiative (OLI) A program that enables current Fellows to visit and learn from experienced former Fellows at their organizations, with the Foundation reimbursing up to $1,500 in travel expenses to facilitate in-person cross-organizational learning.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of Fellows continue in public interest law careers after Fellowship completion
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ford Foundation: One of the largest private foundations in the U.S., with major grantmaking programs supporting civil legal aid, social justice, and economic inequality initiatives. Comparable as a large-scale grantmaking institution funding many of the same issue areas and host organizations.
• Mertz Gilmore Foundation: A private foundation funding arts, education, and human rights and justice initiatives, including support for civil legal aid and advocacy organizations. Comparable as a grantmaking foundation operating in adjacent philanthropic space.
• Open Society Foundations: Major private foundation with extensive grantmaking in civil rights, immigrants' rights, criminal justice reform, and democratic governance. Comparable as a funder of many of the same host organizations and issue areas Skadden Fellows serve.
• Public Welfare Foundation: A private foundation that funds advocacy, organizing, and litigation efforts to advance justice and opportunity for people in need. Comparable as a grantmaking institution supporting many of the same civil legal aid and justice reform efforts.
• Blue Meridian Partners: A philanthropic funding collaborative that invests in innovative, evidence-based organizations serving low-income children and youth. Comparable as a venture-style grantmaker supporting large-scale nonprofit capacity, though focused on a different beneficiary population.

Direct peers

• Justice Catalyst: Runs fellowship and incubator programs that place early-career lawyers into public interest and social justice litigation and organizing roles. Direct peer in the public interest law fellowship category with similar applicant demographics and host organization partnerships.
• Equal Justice Works: The largest public interest law fellowship program in the United States, offering two-year fellowships to law graduates. Directly comparable to Skadden as the most prominent alternative fellowship in the same applicant pool and host organization network.

Emerging players

• AmeriCorps: Federal public service fellowship program that places young professionals in nonprofits and government agencies. Comparable as a structured fellowship model that pays modest stipends in exchange for public service work, though broader in scope beyond legal services.

Regional players

• Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI): A Chicago-based public interest law fellowship program that places law students and graduates at nonprofit and government agencies in Illinois. Comparable fellowship model but with a regional focus rather than national scope.

Others

• National Association for Public Interest Law (now Equal Justice Works): Historically operated as a standalone public interest law advocacy organization (now merged with Equal Justice Works). Adjacent peer organization that historically recruited and trained public interest lawyers and coordinated with the fellowship ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/skaddenfellows
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/skadden-foundation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Skadden Foundation