A Rare Thing in Dallas: A Paid Federal Civil Rights Fellowship

Ben Crump and S. Lee Merritt teach at UNT Dallas College of Law tomorrow.

DALLAS, July 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- While the world watches France and Spain train for the pitch at Dallas Stadium on Tuesday, Dallas is also training the next generation of federal civil rights trial lawyers. Both are pipeline stories.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14, at UNT Dallas College of Law, Benjamin Crump and S. Lee Merritt teach the current cohort of Merritt Civil Rights Fellows in a live federal trial demonstration. The Hon. Renée Harris Toliver, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Texas, presides. Dallas is home to one of the country's few paid summer fellowships training federal civil rights trial lawyers.

What the Fellowship is. The Merritt Civil Rights Fellowship is a five-week, paid summer program that trains law students and recent graduates in federal civil rights trial practice under practicing litigators. It is open to law students nationwide, and culminates in an on-site week at the National Bar Association Convention. Applications for the next cohort open in September at leemerrittesq.com/internship.

Why it is rare. The Fellowship is the only paid summer civil rights fellowship of its kind in the American South. It combines four things almost never found together: paid summer compensation for law students, a live federal trial demonstration led by practicing civil rights litigators, an institutional coalition spanning a law school, a historically Black college, and the national bar association, and open eligibility for law students nationwide.

The coalition. The Fellowship is staged in partnership with UNT Dallas College of Law, which provides the courtroom and the federal-court faculty; Morehouse College, which feeds the pipeline of undergraduate advocates into the program; and the National Bar Association, which opens the door to the bench and bar the Fellows will eventually join.

A coalition, not a class.
Merritt Law Firm   •   UNT Dallas College of Law   •   Morehouse College   •   National Bar Association

FACULTY AND BENCH
S. Lee Merritt is a Dallas-based federal civil rights trial attorney whose work has produced some of the most consequential police accountability verdicts in modern Texas history. He represented the family of Jordan Edwards in the 2018 murder conviction of former Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver — the first Texas police officer convicted of murder for an on-duty shooting in roughly four decades. He represented the family of Botham Jean in the 2019 murder conviction of former Dallas officer Amber Guyger — the first Dallas officer convicted of murder in 46 years. And he represented the family of Atatiana Jefferson in the 2022 manslaughter conviction of former Fort Worth officer Aaron Dean, one of the only officers ever convicted for an on-duty killing in Tarrant County. His practice spans federal Section 1983 actions across Texas, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He founded the Merritt Civil Rights Fellowship in 2025.

Benjamin Crump is one of the most prominent civil rights trial lawyers in the United States, representing the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, among others. Time named him one of its 100 Most Influential People.

The Hon. Renée Harris Toliver is the first African American appointed as U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Texas, a bench she has held since 2010 and to which she was reappointed to a new eight-year term effective June 25, 2026. Before taking the bench, Judge Toliver tried more than 60 state and federal cases to jury verdict as an Assistant United States Attorney and Tarrant County prosecutor, and authored more than 140 appellate briefs argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Professor Cheryl Wattley of UNT Dallas College of Law — former Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas and director of the Joyce Ann Brown Innocence Clinic — coaches the Fellows as trial faculty.

TOMORROW   •   TUESDAY, JULY 14

Where   •   UNT Dallas College of Law, 106 S. Harwood Street, Dallas, TX 75201   •   Indoors, climate-controlled
When   •   Trial opens 9:00 AM CDT   •   Closing arguments 3:30 to 5:00 PM window
Press availability   •   Room 124, 5:00 to 6:00 PM CDT. Interviews with S. Lee Merritt, Benjamin Crump, Prof. Cheryl Wattley, Judge Toliver, and the current cohort of Fellows.
CLE   •   State Bar of Texas MCLE approved. Course #174327411. 6.75 hours (5.75 substantive + 1.00 ethics). Sponsor #A18598.
RSVP for reserved press seating   •   [email protected] 

Press kit   •   Photos and video for July 14 coverage
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aolQJIEEL5FmBiu3fCpwWkyQoguEMLxB   •   Photo credit: Merritt Civil Rights Fellowship

ABOUT THE MERRITT CIVIL RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP
The Merritt Civil Rights Fellowship is a Dallas-based, paid summer fellowship training the next generation of federal civil rights trial lawyers. Founded by S. Lee Merritt in 2025 and staged in partnership with UNT Dallas College of Law, Morehouse College, and the National Bar Association, the Fellowship pairs law students and recent graduates with practicing civil rights litigators for a five-week program culminating in an on-site week at the National Bar Association Convention. Applications for the next cohort open in September at leemerrittesq.com/internship.

Media contact: Chrys Merritt, [email protected], 949-394-2099

SOURCE S. Lee Merritt