Corporate Fellowship Program (CFP) and Corporate Internship Program (CIP)

The University of Houston Law Center (UHLC) is on the cutting edge when it comes to educating law students about the multifaceted in-house practice of law. Through a combination of innovative class instruction, real-world legal experience, and essential professional development training, our business law-focused students have a knowledge and skillset of complex, client-centered in-house legal services unmatched by their similarly situated peers.

UHLC’s Corporate Fellowship Program (CFP) and Corporate Internship Program (CIP) offer the exceptional legal services of recent UHLC graduates (CFP Fellows) and current JD students (CIP Interns) to in-house corporate legal departments while helping these corporations provide legal services to their clients in a more cost-efficient manner. With increasing restrictions on departmental budgets, corporate legal departments are seeking innovative ways to minimize costs while continuing to provide clients with top-notch legal services. UHLC created these innovative programs as a unique solution to this pervasive challenge in the legal market.

CFP Program Description

The CFP is specifically designed to offer transferable legal skills to recent law school graduates with while providing corporations the flexibility to create a fellowship program that meets their unique needs:

• CFP Fellows provide legal services and create work product, including legal research and analysis, document drafting, discovery, project management, document review, due diligence, etc., through projects and assignments provided by a supervising attorney;
• CFP Fellows work full-time (minimum of 40 hours/week), from mid-August or mid-November for 12 months following the year of their graduation; and
• CFP employers provide CFP Fellows a one-year salary commitment of at least $65,000 to $75,000.

CFP Participation

If you are a 3L interested in participating in the CFP, please upload your application to Symplicity following the instructions detailed below. Your application should consist of two documents: 1) a generic cover letter (addressed to the Career Development Office; attention Kourtney James) that speaks to your interest in the program and 2) a resume. Please make sure the cover letter does not exceed one page. Combine these documents into one file and either upload it to your Symplicity profile or save it to your computer files.

• Login to Symplicity.
• Click “Documents” on the left-hand menu.
• Click “Opt-in Books” underneath “Documents.”
• Find “2020 Corporate Fellowship Program Resume Book” among the list of resume books.
• If you uploaded your application to Symplicity, simply select it from the drop down menu next to “Submit Resume.” Your application will be automatically submitted to the resume book.
• If you have not uploaded your application to Symplicity and you have the document saved to your computer files, click the “Add Resume” button. You will be taken to a “Create New Document” screen where you will be able to label the new document and select it from your computer. Once you have selected the document from your computer click the “Upload” button.

The Career Development Office (CDO) will process your application pursuant to the timeline detailed below.

Date	Activity	Details
CFP Timeline (Round 1)
Dec. 7, 2020	Send invitation to companies to register	Companies interested in participating in the program will be able to sign up and submit a registration form with basic information about the fellowship opportunity.
Dec. 18, 2020	Application for students opens	Students will prepare a resume and cover letter which will be general (i.e., not tailored to a particular company) and submit the 2 documents as an application.
Feb. 22, 2021	Application for students closes	The application process will close for all students.
Feb. 22, 2021	Registration form from interested companies due	Companies interested in participating in the program must submit their registration form by this date.
Mar. 1, 2021	Resume books created and distributed to companies	The CDO will distribute a resume book to each employer based on an employer’s specific needs and requirements as well as resume book with all candidates.
Mar. 1-19, 2021	Companies conduct interviews	Companies will conduct in-person interviews with candidates of their choice. Companies must conduct at least 3 in-person interviews.* Companies may make offers on a rolling basis once interviews have started. *Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all 2020-2021 interviews will be conducted virtually.
Apr. 1, 2021	Final date for companies to make offers	Companies must make all offers by this date. The companies are invited to be in direct contact with the students regarding any offers. Companies will report offers and acceptances to UHLC. Students have 14 days from the date of the offer to respond.
CFP Timeline (Round 2)
Aug. 6, 2021	Send invitation to companies to register	Companies interested in participating in the program will be able to sign up and submit a registration form with basic information about the fellowship opportunity.
Aug. 16, 2021	Application for students opens	Students will prepare a resume and cover letter which will be general (i.e., not tailored to a particular company) and submit the 2 documents as an application.
Sept. 29, 2021	Application for students closes	The application process will close for all students.
Sept. 29, 2021	Registration form from interested companies due	Companies interested in participating in the program must submit their registration form by this date.
Oct. 8, 2021	Resume books created and distributed to companies	The CDO will distribute a resume book to each employer based on an employer’s specific needs and requirements as well as resume book with all candidates.
Oct. 8-29, 2021	Companies conduct interviews	Companies will conduct in-person interviews with candidates of their choice. Companies must conduct at least 3 in-person interviews.* Companies may make offers on a rolling basis once interviews have started. *Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all 2020-2021 interviews will be conducted virtually.
Nov. 8, 2021	Final date for companies to make offers	Companies must make all offers by this date. The companies are invited to be in direct contact with the students regarding any offers. Companies will report offers and acceptances to UHLC. Students have 14 days from the date of the offer to respond.

CIP Program Description

The CIP is specifically designed to offer transferable legal skills to current JD students with while providing corporations the flexibility to create an internship program that meets their unique needs:

• CIP Interns provide legal services and create work product, including legal research and analysis, document drafting, discovery, project management, document review, due diligence, etc., through projects and assignments provided by a supervising attorney;
• CIP Interns work for the employer’s in-house legal department full-time (minimum of 40 hours/week) for 8 to 10 weeks during the summer; and
• CIP employers provide CIP Interns with a weekly salary commitment of at least $720.00 ($18.00/hour).

CIP Participation

If you are a 2L interested in participating in the CIP, please upload your application to Symplicity following the instructions detailed below. Your application should consist of two documents: 1) a generic cover letter (addressed to the Career Development Office; attention Kourtney James) that speaks to your interest in the program and 2) a resume. Please make sure the cover letter does not exceed one page. Combine these documents into one file and either upload it to your Symplicity profile or save it to your computer files.

• Login to Symplicity.
• Click “Documents” on the left-hand menu.
• Click “Opt-in Books” underneath “Documents.”
• Find “2020 Corporate Internship Program Resume Book” among the list of resume books.
• If you uploaded your application to Symplicity, simply select it from the drop down menu next to “Submit Resume.” Your application will be automatically submitted to the resume book.
• If you have not uploaded your application to Symplicity and you have the document saved to your computer files, click the “Add Resume” button. You will be taken to a “Create New Document” screen where you will be able to label the new document and select it from your computer. Once you have selected the document from your computer click the “Upload” button.

The Career Development Office (CDO) will process your application pursuant to the timeline detailed below.

Date	Activity	Details
CIP Timeline
Dec. 18, 2020	Send invitation to companies to register	Companies interested in participating in the program will be able to sign up and submit a registration form with basic information about the fellowship or summer internship opportunity.
Jan. 18, 2021	Application for students opens	Students will prepare a resume and cover letter which will be general (i.e., not tailored to a particular company) and submit the 2 documents as an application.
Feb. 22, 2021	Application for students closes	The application process will close for all students.
Feb. 22, 2021	Registration form from interested companies due	Companies interested in participating in the program must submit their registration form by this date.
Mar. 1, 2021	Resume books created and distributed to companies	The CDO will distribute a resume book to each employer based on an employer’s specific needs and requirements as well as resume book with all candidates.
Mar. 1 - 19, 2021	Companies conduct interviews	Companies will conduct in-person interviews with candidates of their choice. Companies must conduct at least 3 in-person interviews.* Companies may make offers on a rolling basis once interviews have started. *Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all 2020-2021 interviews will be conducted virtually.
Apr. 1, 2021	Final date for companies to make offers	Companies must make all offers by this date. The companies are invited to be in direct contact with the students regarding any offers. Companies will report offers and acceptances to UHLC. Students have 14 days from the date of the offer to respond.

Current JD students interested in participating in the CFP/CIP should contact:
Kourtney James, Director of Employer Relations and Development
Career Development Office, University of Houston Law Center
713.743.5622/kljames3@central.uh.edu