Legal Priorities Summer Institute

The Legal Priorities Summer Institute (LPSI) is an intensive, week-long program with the goal of introducing altruistically-minded law and policy students to projects, theories, and tools relevant to tackling critical issues affecting the long-term future. Its mission is simple:

• Convene: Bring together talented law and policy students from across the globe committed to making the largest possible impact through their careers.
• Prioritize: Provide an overview of “legal priorities research” and discuss its implications for using the law to improve the long-term future and mitigate key existential risks.
• Examine: Lead discussions between participants, subject-matter experts, and advocates using law and policy to address problems like runaway climate change, pandemics, and transformative artificial intelligence, among others.
• Prepare: Provide participants with the practical guidance and professional networks needed to identify and act upon some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Institute Overview

Location: Oxford, UK

Dates: September 3–8, 2022

# of Participants: Up to 40

Funding and Financial Support: Participant Stipend of $2,500

Travel + Lodging + Food: Provided

What to Expect

The Institute will consist of daily presentations, discussion groups, debates, and workshops led by

• Global leaders in government and international relations, including organizations working with the United Nations
• Academics and researchers contributing to our understanding of global governance, prioritization of global public goods, and sources of catastrophic and existential risks (with a focus on transformative artificial intelligence, biosecurity & pandemic preparedness, nuclear war, and climate change)
• Legal practitioners developing novel theories to protect future generations in domestic and international courts
• Philanthropists funding projects to protect future generations; and
• Members of the judiciary with insight on relevant paradigms in international and domestic law

The purpose of these workshops is to introduce students to key issues affecting the long-term future, provide a space to examine and discuss the ethical and empirical claims underlying these focus areas, and introduce participants to new opportunities to use their legal career for the common good.

Participants will have frequent opportunities to discuss these topics in the classroom, in one-on-one meetings, over meals, and in social gatherings.

This programming will be complemented by practical career advising to help law students explore job opportunities and network with potential employers and partners.

What to Expect after the Summer Institute

Following the Summer Institute, participants will be connected to a network of global lawyers, policymakers, and researchers working to improve our collective future. Participants will be invited to join follow-up reading groups, apply for career coaching, and be directed to promising research and employment opportunities in high-impact fields.

Stipend & Travel Funding

Each summer fellow who participates in the Legal Priorities Summer Institute is awarded a $2,500 stipend. In order to receive the stipend, participants must attend the entirety of the Institute programming and submit a post-program evaluation (that will take no longer than 30 minutes).

In addition to the above stipend, participants will be provided food and lodging for the duration of the Institute and receive reimbursement for airfare or other travel expenses.

Eligibility

Applicants in the following categories are eligible to apply:

1. Current law student: Enrolled in a legal degree program at the undergraduate or graduate level (such as an LLB, JD, LLM, PhD, or equivalent program)
2. Recent law graduate: Work in the legal profession (including clerkships, apprenticeships, post-doctoral programs, or other trainee positions) at the time of their application and have received a legal degree between May 2020 and June 2022
3. Applicants from other degree programs, like MPPs (including recent graduates), will be considered where the applicant has demonstrated a particular knowledge of legal or policy paradigms related to the themes of the conference

We welcome applicants from anywhere in the world (and can provide visa assistance). We will aim to have a group of people with highly diverse backgrounds and views represented at the Institute.