Job o’ the Day: Disaster Legal Response Program Fellow with Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ), based in Newark, New Jersey, provides comprehensive legal services to economically-disadvantaged adults, children, and families in New Jersey through volunteer attorneys recruited and trained by VLJ. Programs include free legal counsel and advice, educational seminars on various legal matters, and direct representation for at-risk individuals facing critical civil legal issues.
VLJ currently has a vacancy for a 6-month Disaster Legal Response Program Fellowship. From the PSJD job listing:
The Disaster Legal Response Program Fellow position is funded for six months, with the possibility of extension with additional funding. The Fellow will work with a lead attorney for this program and together, both will coordinate all phases of the direct referral pro bono program. Duties will include conducting intake with clients, recruiting, training and supporting pro bono attorneys, placing cases with volunteer attorneys, managing attorney and client data and files and conducting outreach in the community. The Fellow may also work with the lead attorney on developing a coordinated legal response to future disasters. The legal issues that are currently being addressed by this program include FEMA appeals, storm-related unemployment compensation, insurance issues, and landlord/tenant issues and may change due to client needs. While the Fellow will work primarily on the Disaster Response/ Preparedness Program, the staff attorney will also be expected to assist on other VLJ programming when necessary. Those programs serve clients in the areas of family law, consumer law, bankruptcy, criminal re-entry and education law.
Successful applicants will have a commitment to public interest law and 1-5 years of experience, among other qualifications. For more information, view the full job listing at PSJD.org (log-in required).