Are you a law student or recent graduate with an interest in issues affecting childhood obesity in the United States? If so, the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is looking for you! This D.C.-based nonprofit is currently accepting applications for its Legal and Policy Internship.

Photo Credit: Partnership for a Healthier America, ahealthieramerica.org

Committed to ending childhood obesity, PHA brings together public, private, and nonprofit leaders to develop strategies that combat this growing epidemic. Legal and Policy Interns will support PHA by completing projects, drafting research memos, fact-checking, and assisting with basic nonprofit corporate governance, like tax compliance and drafting contracts.

The deadline to apply is September 14th!  Visit PSJD.org to view the full listing (log-in required).

By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday, folks.  The Bulletin went on holiday last week while its author observed the Labor Day weekend and hiked around Harper’s Ferry, WV.   Three noteworthy items before moving to the access-to-justice and public interest news:   

• I was initially attracted to this op-ed because it offers data on state/local government job cuts between 2008 and the present.  But more interesting is its exploration of the importance of community engagement in our government fiscal decisions.  When We The People aren’t engaged and informed, fiscal policy decisions become less factually grounded and more “quixotic and arbitrary.”  If nothing else it’s a testament to why it’s our civic duty to, well, actually engage in civics.  (Here’s the New York Times op-ed.)
• What personal/professional traits drive entrepreneurship and creative action in the legal arena?  There are eight of them, it turns out, and the ABA has collected them for us.  They boil down to: “Be a glass-half-full person and welcome new ideas.”  But the list is worth a read.
• With record-level numbers of food stamp recipients these days, here’s some insight, via The Atlantic, as to whom those recipients are: 
  • Some 43 percent of SNAP recipients live at or below half the poverty line. Only 15 percent can say they live above the poverty line.
  • Children under 18 account for 47 percent of all food stamp recipients. Eight percent are seniors.
  • Forty-one percent of beneficiaries lived in households with partially- or fully-employed workers.  

The public interest news in very short:

• $50 for a public defender in Riverside County, CA?;
• what Alabama is to college football, Vermont Law is to environmental law (with due respect to my Oregonian law-school friends);
• a class of 14 new assistant district attorneys in Massachusetts’s most populous county;
• the American Bar Foundation receives federal grant funding to explore access-to-justice issues;
• appointed counsel or staff public defenders for NYC conflicts cases?;
• Baylor Law School starting up veterans legal aid clinics;
• LSC v. CRLA moves to the federal appellate level;
• a new nonprofit law office in Oklahoma serving low- and moderate-income clients;
• Warren County, NY is re-examining its public defender salaries;
• a federally mandated overhaul of Shelby County’s (Memphis) juvenile court system plods along;
• the strain on Legal Aid of the Bluegrass’s resources;
• experimenting with Civil Gideon in San Diego;
• U. of Memphis School of Law goes to a pro bono graduation requirement;
• report highlights the economic benefit that Iowa Legal Aid provides for the Hawkeye State;
• Kansas lawmakers emphasize importance of indigent defense funding;
• more good news re legal aid funding from national foreclosure class-action settlment funds (IL and WA);
• the dire financial straits of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (FL);
• kudos to the San Fran defender’s Mobilization for Adolescent Growth in our Communities (MAGIC) program;
• Ohio prosecutor moonlights as civil legal aid lawyer;
• pro bono developments stemming from Dewey & LeBoeuf’s downfall;
• DOJ funding will provide loan repayment assistance for some prosecutors and defenders in Vermont;
• Super music history music bonus(!) for those who read all the way to the bottom, and for those rulebreakers who just scroll down.

The summaries:

• 9.6.12 – “Criminal defendants in Riverside County [CA] using public defenders may soon have to pay $50 for the service.  The Board of Supervisors will consider establishing the registration fee at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 11.  County officials suggested the fee to avoid using taxpayer dollars to recoup court costs. As much as $1 million annually could be raised through the fee, according to a county staff report.  The fee would apply to defendants during arraignments who say they can’t afford their own lawyer. Defendants fill out confidential affidavits under penalty of perjury about their finances, which the courts examine to determine their ability to pay toward their defense.  The fee would be waived if the defendants prove they can’t pay it and legal services would not be denied if there’s no payment, the staff report read.”  (Story from the Press-Enterprise.)

• 9.6.12 – Vermont Law School has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. State Department to support a three-year project designed to improve environmental and public health in China.  The U.S.-China Partnership will work with Southwest Forestry University in Kunming, Yunnan Province, to create a “legal ecosystem” that includes an environmental and biodiversity law clinic to serve nongovernmental organizations, communities and underserved citizens. The school will host workshops to educate environmental leaders, lawyers and citizens on legal avenues to address environmental and public health issues.”  (Story from the VTDigger.com website.)

• 9.6.12 – real, actual, good hiring news on the public interest front – 14 new prosecutors in Middlesex County, MA: “District Attorney Gerry Leone announced today that eighteen new Assistant District Attorneys have been hired as part of the 2012 Fall Class of ADAs. Fourteen of the new ADAs will be assigned to the district courts throughout Middlesex County, located in Ayer, Lowell, Concord, Framingham, Woburn, Cambridge, Malden, Somerville, and Waltham. Additionally, four of the new ADAs will be assigned to the Appeals and Training Bureau.”  Of the fourteen new ADA’s, all but one went to law school in Boston.  (Full announcement on Boston.com.) 

• 9.5.12 – bringing some analytical precision to the quest for equal access to justice.  From Richard Zorza’s blog: “On December 7 and 8, in Chicago, the American Bar Foundation, with [Nat’l. Science Foundation] funding, will be conducting a two day event on research into access to justice. The scheduling is planed [sic] to facilitate attendance by those going to the NLADA Conference.   On Friday December 7, in the afternoon, there will be an open event — a poster session and town hall meeting, bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore issues of research into access to justice.  On Saturday Dec 8, there will be an all day invitational meeting to explore the possibilities further and move the agenda ahead.  Moreover, while the Saturday meeting is by invitation, it is possible to apply to be asked.  The application to attend is here.  The application is due Sept 28, 2012.  Additional information is available from A2JWorkshop(at)abfn.org.”

• 9.5.12 – appointed counsel or staff public defenders?  Indigent defense controversy in NYC:  “New York City’s plan to shift tens of thousands of criminal cases involving indigent defendants from private attorneys to the Legal Aid Society and other groups is illegal and an attempt to usurp judicial authority, attorneys for a group of bar associations told the Court of Appeals on Wednesday.  Six bar groups are challenging the plan, which was adopted in 2010 and would only affect cases in which the initial legal aid group assigned to a defendant cannot provide representation due to a conflict.  Before 2010, cases in which aid groups had a conflict were reassigned to approximately 1,100 private attorneys, known as 18-B lawyers, who were identified by the county bars. But the city decided to solicit contracts from aid groups to handle conflict cases instead of continuing to rely solely on 18-B lawyers.”  (Article from Thomson Reuters.)

• 9.4.12 – “Baylor Law School will host free legal aid clinics each month to help local veterans with a variety of civil issues.  Law Professor Bridget Fuselier, who is coordinating the program, said veterans will meet one-on-one with a local attorney for help with anything from estate planning and help filing for disability benefits to filing for divorce or pursuing a civil suit.  The law school is recruiting local attorneys to provide pro bono legal counsel and case-management services. The attorneys also will be paired with law students who will assist in preparing legal documents or law research.  The initiative is supported by a $22,500 grant the law school received from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation. The funds will help purchase laptops lawyers will use to complete transactions at the clinics, as well as purchase legal forms, and cover filing and administrative costs.”  (Article from the Waco Tribune.)
  • Here’s a little more from a Baylor Law School press release: Baylor Law School is one of 11 Texas nonprofits which are splitting over $400K in Texas Access-to-Justice Foundation grant funding to provide legal services to veterans.  “The Texas Access to Justice Commission – through its Champions of Justice Gala – raised more than $413,000 in 2012. TAJF will use the money raised to provide the grants to the selected nonprofit organizations. Now in its third year, the Champions of Justice Gala has raised more than $1 million for veterans’ legal services since its inception.” 

• 9.3.12 – “For more than six years, federal officials have pressed for client information and internal policy documents from [California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA)].  The inspector general for the Legal Services Corp. (LSC), which funds organizations that offer civil legal services to low-income families and individuals, is investigating whether…CRLA has abused its receipt of grant money — potentially violating federal law.  [CRLA’s] lawyers have resisted complying with an administrative subpoena, pushing the U.S. Justice Department to ask a judge in Washington’s federal trial court to force the organization to obey the demand for documents. CRLA lost at the trial level last year, and now the…dispute is unfolding in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  The case spotlights a clash between government oversight of federally funded legal service groups and state-based professional rules of responsibility that govern attorney[s].  Lawyers for CRLA contend disclosure of the information the government has demanded will violate attorney-client confidentiality and intrude on protected work-product documents.”  (Full story from the National Law Journal.)

• 9.3.12 – a new nonprofit law office in Oklahoma serving low- and moderate-income clients: Oklahoma Attorney Resources (OAR) is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides family law legal assistance for low- to middle-income working public who need help with legal issues, according to a media release. Some of those issues are divorce, child custody, child support, paternity, guardianship and adoptions. The group also assists with Chapter 7 bankruptcies.  The program is designed to meet the need for access to the justice system by low-income residents whose resources are insufficient to pay prevailing rates for private attorneys. The attorneys working with the organization are all licensed in Oklahoma and experienced in family law. They have agreed to work at reduced rates to provide legal services to families in need who would otherwise be without representation. (Article from the Muskegee Phoenix.)

• 9.3.12 – Warren County, NY is looking at its public defender salaries, in part because, well, defender salaries are low, but also because a new state law will have the defenders providing counsel in some divorce matters (in addition to the more traditional criminal docket.) The county “…Public Defender John Wappett told county supervisors last week his two top assistant public defenders are searching for new jobs because of their stagnant salaries and a change in law that has assigned some of them to cases of divorce, in which most of the assistants do not have significant experience. Assigned counsel for the indigent has typically only been available in criminal and Family Court cases.”  (Article from the Post Star.) 

• 9.2.12 – “The federally mandated overhaul of Shelby County Juvenile Court is expected to cost millions — even if the county can avoid a federal lawsuit.  That’s because the proposed changes would create new positions, including full-time juvenile public defenders and a court-based Disproportionate Minority Contact coordinator who would work to reduce the number of black youths brought to court, held in jail and transferred to adult court.” (Article in the Commercial Appeal.)

• 8.31.12 – “Legal Aid of the Bluegrass (LABG) expects to provide legal assistance to nearly 20,000 individuals this year in 33 northern and central Kentucky counties.  LABG will be financing its operations with $1.1 million less than it had to work with the previous year.  Richard Cullison, executive director and program director for Rowan and 11 other area counties, said the Morehead office is working with the fewest number of attorneys it has had since its inception…. The Covington-based LABG said they already turn away 7,063 people annually who are eligible for services.”  (Story from The Morehead News.)

• 8.31.12 – experimenting with Civil Gideon in San Diego: “Courts around the state are in the middle of adjusting to budget cuts that have led to courtroom closures, reduced hours at clerk’s offices and concern the reductions will limit access to the justice system for state residents.  But a groundbreaking program in San Diego that began this year goes against that grain, providing legal representation to a select group of people in cases involving landlord-tenant disputes and child custody matters.  With a $2 million in annual funding from the state under legislation passed in 2010, the San Diego Legal Aid Society and the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program have been providing lawyers for free to indigent people in some civil law cases.”  (Story from the San Diego Union-Tribune.)

• 8.30.12 – the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law has implemented “a new pro bono requirement that will affect students this fall. Students entering the law school at that time will be among the first class that will have to perform…pro bono legal work to graduate.  Students entering this fall and thereafter will be required to complete 40 hours of supervised pro bono work. (Story from the Memphis Daily News.) 

•  Iowa Legal Aid has released a study reviewing the economic impact that its work on behalf of low-income Iowans has on the state economy and Iowans more broadly: “All told, Iowa Legal Aid’s financial impact on the Iowa economy in 2011 totaled $28,729,291.29. This represents a return of $5.71 for every single dollar invested in Iowa Legal Aid by sources within Iowa. Investing in Iowa Legal Aid is important because Iowa Legal Aid works to provide hope, dignity, and justice to Iowa’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens. But clearly, investing in Iowa Legal Aid also makes good economic sense.”  

• 8.29.12 – Here we are in Kansas: “A Senate committee grilled appointees to a board that oversees the state’s public defenders Wednesday, asking repeatedly if they will fight to ensure the program is properly funded.  Sen. Tim Owens, R-Overland Park, said the state could be “in dire trouble” if it doesn’t provide more money for public defenders for defendants who can’t afford them. Owens, a lawyer, suggested that the state could face lawsuits if it fails to do so…. Owens wasn’t the only member [senator] to express concern. Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, said she believed the indigent defense program had been “underserved and underfunded” throughout her 12 years in the Legislature and warned Beck to gird himself for further cuts.  Sen. Jay Emler, R-McPherson, the committee chairman and a lawyer, said his colleagues’ concerns about public defense are valid.”  (Article from the Topeka Capital-Journal.)

• 8.29.12 – a couple of good-news items regarding legal services funding:
  • From Illinois: “A legal aid group in Chicago is getting $4.7 million from a national foreclosure settlement to help homeowners hit by the mortgage crisis.   Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced on August 28 that the Legal Assistance Foundation in Chicago would receive the money from her state’s portion of the $25 billion settlement reached with five banks in March. Illinois received about $1 billion from the settlement, and Madigan has said that $20 million would go to legal aid.  Illinois joins other states that have committed proceeds from the settlement to legal aid.”  (Article from the National Law Journal.) 
  • Washington State: “Thirteen…non-profit organizations will split the $43.8 million the state received to fund foreclosure relief as part of the landmark $25 billion national settlement with the country’s five largest mortgage servicers….  The Legal Foundation of Washington’s Home Justice project will receive…roughly $13 million to provide legal representation for the more than 30,000 low and moderate income people who are expected to face foreclosure in the coming years or who are among the more than 135,000 households whose homes were foreclosed upon in the last four years.”  (Article from the Seattle Medium)

• 8.28.12 – a Florida Times-Union editorial laments the dire financial straits of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.

• 8.27.12 -in Michigan, the Jackson County Legal News takes note of the state’s indigent defense woes: “The plight of the public defender in Michigan has come under scrutiny since a state report said the Michigan wasn’t doing enough to represent indigent people.  The Michigan Advisory Commission on Indigent Defense released a report in June that found the state wasn’t meeting minimum standards for indigent defense as set forth by the American Bar Association.  In 2008, the National Legal Aide & Defense Association’s report found Michigan ranked 44th in the nation on per-capita spending on indigent defense.”  

• 8.27.12 – “The San Francisco Public Defender’s MAGIC program will be honored by public school officials Tuesday for its service to tens of thousands of low-income San Francisco children… .Mobilization for Adolescent Growth in our Communities (MAGIC) was initiated by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office in 2004 in Bayview-Hunters Point and in the Western Addition in 2006. The program convenes more than 100 community organizations and concerned citizens who work to reduce the number of kids who fall through social service gaps by efficiently coordinating opportunities, support and resources.” (View full press release.)

• 8.25.12 – public service times two.  In addition to his day job, an Ohio city prosecutor moonlights by running a civil legal aid clinic through his church.  (Article from the Toledo Blade.) 

• 8.24.12 – some pro bono developments in the wake of law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf’s downfall.
  • First, an American Lawyer article entitled, “Dewey’s Former Pro Bono Clients Feel Strain of Firm’s Closure”: “Although other law firm collapses—including those of Coudert Brothers, Heller Ehrman, Howrey, and Thelen——have left organizations scrambling to reassign pro bono work, Dewey’s disappearance has struck a particularly significant blow given the extent of its contributions. In 2011 The American Lawyer ranked the firm fifth among the nation’s largest law firms for its commitment to pro bono.  That’s not to say all pro bono work died when Dewey did. In fact, many Dewey lawyers took ongoing matters with them to their new professional homes, and several still sit on the boards of the organizations the firm once served.”
  • Second, the firm’s former pro bono director has launched a consultancy, offering support services for law firms that don’t have internal pro bono infrastructure.  I’m surprised that I’ve never heard of such an undertaking before. 

• 8.23.12 – “Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) has received a grant of $51,515 from the U.S. Department of Justice to go toward student loan forgiveness for attorneys who work as state prosecutors or state or federal public defenders in Vermont.  This is the third year VSAC has received the funding, although federal cuts resulted in a grant amount this year that is half that awarded each of the prior two years. VSAC administers the program at no charge so that all of the funding can go to eligible recipients. By law, half the dollars must go to prosecutors and half to public defenders.  VSAC works with the state’s Office of the Defender General, its Department of State’s Attorneys, and the Federal Public Defender for the District of Vermont to identify eligible applicants and award funding.”  (Press release hosted at VTDigger.org.)    

Music!  It’s September.  September used to be one of my favorite months because the summertime humidity would abate.  Now August seems to stretch and stretch, ever defiant.  September may be corrupted beyond salvage.  I accept it.  Nevertheless, it’s worth paying tribute to the ninth month with Big Star’s “September Gurls” (goofy spelling theirs).  Big Star, while not achieving commercial success during their active period in the 1970s, later emerged as a powerful influence on indie-rock bands.  (Here’s NPR’s take on the band’s history.)  Alex Chilton, Big Star’s major creative force, had already felt some 1960s fame as a member of the Box Tops.  Their song “The Letter” was a hit single back when my parents were young and hip.  Then came Big Star.  After Big Star ceased to be, bands from the Replacements (their song “Alex Chilton” is an unapologetic tribute, and the video displays the band’s contempt for MTV culture) to Counting Crows (who aspired to be “big stars” in their mega-hit “Mr. Jones”) praised Chilton loudly and proudly.  Though Chilton continued making music, the influence he had on rock & roll far outsized the little bit of money he made.  Later in life he spent time washing dishes in a New Orleans restaurant.   Chilton died in 2010 without the trappings of (big) stardom.  But not without a legacy.

So we’ve gotten a little far afield from plain old September.  Anyway, enjoy the September weekend.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) is currently accepting applications for Policy Interns in its Washington, DC Liaison Office. Headquartered in Rome, Italy,  the WFP is the United Nation’s food assistance agency and feeds an average of 100 million people in 80 countries each year. In addition, WFP provides critical emergency relief to a wide spectrum of people, including victims of natural disasters and conflicts, refugees, and those living with HIV/AIDS.

The WFP prefers currently enrolled applicants with a background in international development, public policy, or business administration. The intern will be able to gain hands-on experience in global development policy within a well-established international organization. Duties will include tracking developments related to priority international organizations and NGOs; reviewing leading news, opinion, and research publications, and any other policy related duties that may arise.

For helpful tips and more information on working for the United Nations, check out PSJD’s “Jobs with the UN & International Organizations: A Brief Guide“.

The deadline to apply is next week, on 09/12/2012. Visit PSJD.org to view the full listing (log-in required).

For many recent law graduates, the six-month grace period for student loan repayment is getting closer and closer. If you’re looking for guidance on educational debt management, Equal Justice Works is hosting a series of webinars on managing loan repayment while pursuing a career in public service.

The first webinar, titled “How to Pay Your Bills AND Your Student Loans: Utilizing Income-Based Repayment,”  is Thursday, September 13. For the full schedule, check out the message below from Equal Justice Works!

Educational debt has become a crippling burden for far too many, and especially for those who want to pursue careers in public service. Equal Justice Works provides in depth information on loan repayment assistance programs and relief programs like Income-Based Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness to help everyone pursue the career of their dreams.

As part of this continuing work, we’ve created a free manual that details how these programs work and covers the basics of student loans and repayment options. Click here to download your free copy.

 As always, our weekly U.S. News blog the Student Loan Range was full of in-depth and timely information. Among other things, we took a look at the report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s report on private student loans, reviewed law professor Brian Tamanaha’s controversial new book Failing Law Schools and warned students about campus debit cards.

 Every month, our free, live webinars also provide a comprehensive overview of the debt relief options available for students and graduates – including Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Income-Based Repayment – and provide viewers with the opportunity to ask questions. Click here to view a schedule of our webinars and to register for an upcoming session.

 Our current sessions include:

How to Pay Your Bills AND Your Student Loans: Utilizing Income-Based Repayment

Thursday, September 13, 3-4 p.m. EDT

Saddled with high student debt? This webinar reviews Income-Based Repayment, a powerful provision of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that allows anyone with high debt relative to their income to reduce their federal student loan payments.

This interactive webinar will teach you:

• How to understand your federal loans
• How Income-Based Repayment works and if it is right for you
• How to sign up for Income-Based Repayment

 Get Your Educational Loans Forgiven: Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Thursday, September 20, 3-4 p.m. EDT

For recent graduates with jobs in government or at a nonprofit, this webinar explains how to make sure you immediately begin fulfilling requirements to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness so that your educational debt will be forgiven as soon as possible.

You will learn about:

• The importance of having the right kind of Federal Loans
• What you need to do to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
• How long it will take to have your educational debt forgiven

 Drowning in Debt? Learn How Government and Nonprofit Workers Can Earn Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Thursday, September 27, 3-4 p.m. EDT

A must attend for anyone with educational debt planning to work or currently working for the government or a nonprofit, this webinar explains how you can benefit from the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the most significant law affecting public service in a generation.

This webinar will teach you how to:

• Understand your federal loans
• Manage your monthly payments using income-driven repayment plans like Income-Based Repayment plan
•  How to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness

[Editor’s note: “Expert Opinion” is a weekly feature which offers insight , opinion, and career advice from attorneys in a broad array of public interest positions.  This week’s post is an interview with Alejandro Reyes that was conducted by PSJD’s Summer Publications Coordinator, Maria Hibbard.  In the interest of full disclosure, Alejandro has bought your PSJD blog editor some great Thai lunches over the years.  Next one’s on me.  Thanks for sharing your experience and wisdom, Alejandro!] 

An Interview with Alejandro Reyes….

Alejandro Reyes is counsel at the Laywers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C., where as a member of the Legal Mobilization Project he works on civil rights issues related to fair housing, voting, and immigrant rights. After hearing him speak on a panel at the Washington Council of Lawyers’ annual Summer Forum, I sat down to talk with him more about his path to becoming a public interest lawyer.  After graduating from the Howard University School of Law, he went on to complete an Equal Justice Works fellowship with Gulfcoast Legal Services and then worked as an attorney with Florida Legal Services.

**********

Can you give us a brief outline of how you advanced to the job you are in today? Was this position what you originally planned on doing, or was your career trajectory part of an evolving process?

No career is a straight line–although I started law school wanting to be a public interest lawyer, and specifically an immigration lawyer. I was teaching ESL classes in D.C., and one of the main problems that I saw among the individuals I worked with was that they were paying huge sums of money to firms to solve their immigration issues, even when they didn’t have cases. That’s when I started thinking about going to law school and getting more serious about the process. In law school, I did two summer internships that were immigration related and one civil rights policy internship, and they really solidified my interests. When I was getting close to graduating law school, I was pretty sure I wanted to pursue a fellowship–specifically an Equal Justice Works fellowship–and I started talking to my internship host at the time (Gulfcoast Legal Services) about the possibility of being a fellowship sponsor.

How did your contacts with previous employers, professors, and colleagues influence your job search, if any?

Talking to my supervisor at Gulfcoast Legal Services and others that I met through the organization helped define what my fellowship project would look like. Even though they had just secured another immigration-focused Equal Justice Works fellow and didn’t think they could sponsor another one, I was eventually introduced to the idea of doing a fellowship proposal based on farm worker and migrant rights.  Even though it was not what I was originally focused on, it was related, and it allowed me to do a fellowship at an organization where I wanted to be.

Generally, if you try hard enough, and you care about your work, you will succeed in public interest. The most important part, though, is to have advocates who have seen your work product, who care about you, and want you to succeed. Someone once told me to “walk away with powerful advocates” at every chance you get–so you need to find ways to have meaningful, continuing contact with your previous supervisors, professors or colleagues. Since the public interest law world is so small, you can’t do it alone–you need the support of others.

What experiences or internships did you complete in law school that helped prepare you for your work today?

Although I came to law school knowing what I wanted to do, I was inspired by studying the work of Thurgood Marshall and Charles Hamilton Houston in school. My internships in law school during both the summer and the school year shaped me more than anything else, though–there I was able to really see the work that I wanted to do in action and develop relationships. Going to law school, passing the bar, etc. were just requirements that were part of the path for me. 

Would you change your preparation for this position in any way if you had the chance?

If I had the chance to go back, I wish I would have known how important it is to build quality professional relationships. The advantage of reaching out to someone who works in an area in which you want to work is that they’ve done this before, and they therefore have years of experience in the area, so that they know how things work.

I also wish I would have better understood how legal services funding works. Where the funding is coming from, and how much is there, can really affect your ability to do your job–determine if your job even exists. Because of this funding uncertainty, there really is a lack of job security that is not there in private practice or in the federal government. You have to have very good reasons for going into this type of work–otherwise, there’s too many unknowns.

What advice would you offer to law students seeking a position in your area of practice?

There’s many schools of thought on this: the first says that you should develop a practice-specific resume, focusing intensely on one area so that you are the clearly the best candidate for a job. The second says that you should diversify and gain a wide variety of experiences. I’ve seen that a person who diversifies has to be a lot better at articulating a compelling story as to their motivations and goals, especially in interviews–otherwise, the individual who has focused on one area may come across as the better candidate.

 [Ed. note: Alejandro mentions the importance of professional networking as well as the value that his Equal Justice Works fellowship had in helping him carve out a career path.  Don’t miss PSJD’s resources on professional networking and postgraduate fellowships.  And email us at psjd@nalp.org with suggestions on how we can be most helpful to you.]

The National Housing Law Project is looking for Spring and Summer 2013 interns!

In the past, spring intern projects have included preparing congressional testimony, preparing extensive research memos on state and local housing laws, and drafting amendments to federal housing legislation. Summer work projects typically include drafting amicus briefs, researching the impact of proposed housing legislation and regulations, drafting portions of advocacy guides used by housing advocates across the country, and writing articles for NHLP’s monthly Housing Law Bulletin.

The National Housing Law Project has successfully sponsored several student interns for post-graduate fellowships, so this is a great way to get your foot in the door while gaining much-needed experience!

 Check out the full listings on PSJD by selecting “Current Job Postings” on the National Housing Law Project’s employer profile (log-in required)!.

by: Ashley Matthews

Note: Click on the screenshot for a larger view.

During the job hunt, promising opportunities can easily get lost in the sea of available job openings. PSJD.org lets you to keep tabs – literally – on favorite finds during your job search, so you can access them at any time.

Your Favorites can be found on your personal homepage, under the heading “My Account”.

Just click on “My Favorites” to see your job listings, dream employers, saved searches, and most helpful resources.

If you see an employer that stands out among your search results, simply click the plus sign under the “Favorite” column. The color will change from gray to green, and it will immediately appear under “Favorite Employers”. If that employer has current job openings, there will be a green star next to the name of the organization.

To favorite that job as well, just click the plus sign under the “Favorite” column.

To add searches to your Favorites, click “Save this Search,” located above your results. A dialogue box will appear, with a request to create a Search Title.

After creating an easily recognizable name, this search can be found at any time under “Favorite Searches”.

PSJD.org’s Resource Center is a great place to look for information to aid your public interest job search. Divided into six categories for easy browsing, the library contains calendars, fellowship guides, information on funding opportunities, and more.

Let’s say you find “Project-based Fellowships: Tips From Those Who Know” to be particularly helpful while browsing the library. Just click the small gray banner symbol above the title, located directly next to “Printer Friendly Version”.

When you go to your Favorites page, the resource will be listed under “Favorite Resources”.

With all this information at your fingertips on your ‘My Favorites’ page, it would be a good idea to compile your favorites into a Jobs Spreadsheet. Check out this spreadsheet, created by last year’s PSJD Fellow Kristen Pavón, for guidance on keeping track of your job search using Microsoft Excel. Don’t forget to also set up email alerts to automatically keep track of job openings that may interest you.

Happy job hunting!

Hot off the presses is our 2012-13 Federal Legal Employment Opportunities Guide!  (It goes by the unfortunate acronym FLEOG; that’s why we tend to write it all out.)  The Guide offers a broad-based review of different career opportunities and paths to employment for law students and graduates who are interested in federal legal careers.  The Guide is a distillation of the key content from PSJD’s more extensive Federal Govenment Careers page.  We hope you find both the guide and online content useful. 

Hello, readers.  We know it’s a busy time of year. So we’re extending the nomination deadline for our 2012 PSJD (formerly PSLawNet) Pro Bono Publico Award by one week.  The new deadline is Friday, 9/14.  Take advantage of this opportunity to shine the spotlight on a law student who deserves national recognition for her public interest and pro bono work.  Here’s what you need to know:

Do you know a law student who’s a public interest/pro bono rock star?  NALP is seeking nominations for the 2012 PSLawNet/PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award. 

Download the Nomination Form Here!

Purpose: To recognize the significant contributions that law students make to underserved populations, the public interest community, and legal education by performing pro bono or public service work.

Eligibility: The Pro Bono Publico Award is available to any second- or third-year law student at a PSJD Subscriber School. The recipient will be honored during an Award Luncheon at NALP’s Public Service Mini-Conference on Thursday, October 25, 2012 at the Washington, DC office of Crowell & Moring, LLP. The award recipient will receive transportation to Washington, a one-night stay in an area hotel, a commemorative plaque, and a small monetary award.

Award Criteria: Law students are judged by the extracurricular commitment they have made to law-related public service projects or organizations; the quality of work they performed; and the impact of their work on the community, their fellow students, and the school. Though a student’s involvement in law school-based public interest organizing and fundraising is relevant; actual pro bono and public interest legal work will be the primary consideration. 

Nomination Deadline & Packet Contents: Nominations must be received by Friday, September 7, 2012 at 5pm Eastern Time, by fax, mail, or email (see contact information at bottom). Along with the nomination form and a résumé, nomination packets may include any materials which support a nominee’s candidacy; such as letters of recommendation, statements detailing a nominee’s work, and media articles. 

By: Steve Grumm

The ABA’s An Employer and Employee Guide to Public Service Loan Forgiveness, authored by student-debt experts (and public interest lawyers) Kelly Carmody and Heather Jarvis,  is now available.  The Guide contains the information needed to help public service attorneys and other employees with high educational debt take the steps to have their debt forgiven after ten years as a public service worker. Executive Directors  and HR staff are encouraged to take the steps listed on the first page of the Guide.  Those with high educational debt are encouraged to review the Guide and use the tools to put their federal loans in a position to be forgiven.