The Skadden Foundation (also known as the Skadden Fellowship Foundation) is a New York City-based left-of-center foundation that provides legal fellowships for law school graduates to work for legal advocacy organizations. Many of the organizations for which it supplies law school graduates are left-of-center and left-wing. ¹

The foundation has provided money to various left-of-center organizations to pay for the salaries and benefits of Skadden Foundation fellows. The foundation has supported fellowships with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation and many of its state affiliates; the Campaign Legal Center, an anti-free speech and pro-campaign finance regulation organization; the center-left Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; the pro-abortion National Women’s Law Center; and the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), among many other groups. ²

The Skadden Foundation has also placed fellows with the left-of-center National Immigration Law Center (NILC). NILC is part of the left-wing “Check the Sheriff” coalition, which seeks to remove Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva (D) from office to advance left-of-center criminal justice policy. ³

Overview

The Skadden Foundation was launched in 1988 by the New York City law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom. The foundation was established to place law school graduates into organizations that work in public interest law and political advocacy. It has been called the “legal Peace Corps” by the Los Angeles Times. ⁴

As of 2021, the foundation has awarded 906 fellowships. The goal of the fellowships is to increase and improve the legal services available to economically disadvantaged groups. It awards 28 fellowships every year unless there is funding for extra fellowships. ⁵

Skadden Fellowships are awarded for two years. As a part of the fellowship, the foundation pays the fellow’s salary and fringe benefits that are already awarded by the organization at which the fellow is placed. The Skadden Foundation also pays any outstanding law school debt for fellowship recipients. In exchange for the benefits provided by the foundation, the fellows must work for the organization at which they are placed on a full-time basis for the duration of the two-year fellowship. ⁶

The Skadden Foundation continues to provide services for its fellows after the end of the fellowship, hosting regional reunion events and providing a monthly newsletter and webinars for the fellows. ⁷

In 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation awarded a series of grants called Flom Incubator Grants worth $10,000 for the those working in legal issues related to the pandemic. One of the grants was awarded to the left-progressive Mississippi Worker’s Center for Human Rights, which conducted phone canvassing campaigns to notify workers of their rights and provide COVID-19 information in Mississippi. Overall, the foundation distributed grants to 28 recipients. ⁸

Leadership

Kathleen Rubenstein is the executive director of the Skadden Foundation. She was previously the associate director of the foundation, succeeding its founding executive director Susan Plum. Plum remains a senior advisor of the foundation. ⁹

Finances

According to the Skadden Foundation’s 2018 tax return, the foundation awarded over $3.9 million in grants and had total expenses of just over $4.5 million. The foundation received over $6.6 million in grant funding and reported total assets worth approximately $12.7 million. ¹⁰ Then-executive director Susan Plum had a salary and benefits package worth $384,000 a year with the foundation. ¹¹

While many of the organizations to which the Skadden Foundation sent fellows were noncontroversial legal aid clinics, the foundation also funded fellowships at some left-of-center and left-wing organizations. These included American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation and many of its state affiliates, the anti-free speech Campaign Legal Center, left-wing agitation group the Advancement Project, the pro-affirmative action group Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), the left-of-center identity politics group Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the pro-immigration organization International Refugee Assistance Project, the center-left Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the left-of-center NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the pro-abortion National Women’s Law Center, and the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), among other groups. ¹²

The Skadden Foundation also funded a fellowship with the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). NILC is a member of the radical-left “Check the Sheriff” coalition which seeks to remove Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva (D) from office. ¹³

1. “About The Foundation”. 2021. Skadden Foundation. Accessed August 9. https://www.skaddenfellowships.org/aboutthefoundation.
2. “Skadden Foundation, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer”. 2021. Propublica. Accessed August 9. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133455231/201933179349101523/full.
3. “About”. 2021. Check The Sheriff Coalition. Accessed August 9. https://www.checkthesheriff.com/about.
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7. “About The Foundation”. 2021. Skadden Foundation. Accessed August 9. https://www.skaddenfellowships.org/aboutthefoundation.
8. Olson, Elizabeth. 2020. “Skadden Foundation Tackles Covid Legal Issues Impacting Poor”. East Bay Community Law Center. https://ebclc.org/in-the-news/skadden-foundation-tackles-covid-legal-issues-impacting-poor/.
9. Lat, David. 2018. “Congratulations To The 2019 Skadden Fellows”. Above The Law. https://abovethelaw.com/2018/11/congratulations-to-the-2019-skadden-fellows/?rf=1.
10. “Skadden Foundation, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer”. 2021. Propublica. Accessed August 9. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133455231/201933179349101523/full.
11. “Skadden Foundation, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer”. 2021. Propublica. Accessed August 9. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133455231/201933179349101523/full.
12. “Skadden Foundation, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer”. 2021. Propublica. Accessed August 9. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133455231/201933179349101523/full.
13. “About”. 2021. Check The Sheriff Coalition. Accessed August 9. https://www.checkthesheriff.com/about.