Law Clerk

The Organization:

The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. NCLR litigates precedent-setting cases at the trial and appellate court levels; advocates for equitable public policies affecting the LGBT community; provides free legal assistance to LGBT people and their legal advocates; and conducts community education on LGBT legal issues.

NCLR’s projects and practice areas include family (including marriage equality, parenting, and other relationship protections), youth, immigration, elder, transgender, employment, and sports law.

The Position

The National Center for Lesbian Rights is seeking law clerks to assist with all aspects of its national impact litigation, public policy, and educational work. Much of the clerk’s time will be devoted to interacting with members of the community who contact NCLR’s legal information helpline and handling their questions from start to finish under the supervision and training of NCLR staff attorneys. Clerks also conduct case research, update publications, and draft memos on a wide range of issues affecting LGBT people and their families.

Positions are available in NCLR’s National Office in San Francisco, CA. Summer clerks work full time, and semester clerks may work full or part-time (minimum 12 hours per week).

NCLR hires law clerks for the summer as well as the fall and spring semesters.

Ready to live in San Francisco and work for an important organization? Check it out your here on PSJD.

Associate Director, Law Library 

The Organization

University of the District of Columbia – David A. Clarke School of Law is the USA’s most clinically-oriented law school, one of the nation’s most diverse law schools, and is devoted to recruiting and training students who are committed to public service. Its legislatively mandated mission is to to recruit and train as lawyers students from racial, ethnic and other groups traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession and to do so, to the degree feasible, through the representation of low-income people and the public interest in a clinical setting.

The Position

The Associate Director is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Law Library. The incumbent uses independent judgment and demonstrates expertise in the field by recommending policies, procedures, and systems reflecting professional criteria. The Associate Director is responsible for ensuring that the resources allocated to the unit will reflect an efficient level of service.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversees the day-to-day operations of the law library.
• Plans, develops, coordinates, oversees, and participates in the delivery of the law library’s public services, including reference, research, instruction, and access services.
• Supervises and evaluates all employees under his/her administrative supervision.
• Provides vision, oversight, and leadership of public services in the law library, including regular assessment of policies, procedures, and workflows related to the effective delivery of library services and makes recommendations based on those assessments.
• Manages the law library’s hiring, training, and oversight of student and other hourly workers in public services roles.
• Teaches in the law school’s first-year legal research curriculum with the potential to also teach advanced legal research courses.
• Assists in the development of the law library’s budget.
• Participate on the law library’s collection development team and engage in regular evaluation of the law library’s collection priorities.
• Develops performance standards for resource utilization and service based on established professional criteria.
• Prepares reports of the law library’s public services.
• Develops strategies for staff development and implements steps to accomplish them.
• Reviews personnel matters and recommends actions in accordance with established policies.
• Assists with identification of library funding needs and ideas for creative funding sources, including grants for which the law library may be eligible.
• Assists with the planning of facilities to accommodate services and collections.
• Performs reference duties as required, possibly including evening and weekend reference shifts.
• Oversees faculty research support.
• Promotes the services of the law library throughout the academic community and among cooperating institutions.
• Engages in outreach with an eye toward possible partnerships within the larger university and the local legal community.
• Serves on law school and university-wide committees and task forces as appointed.

Ready to make an impact in the world of higher education? Check out the posting on PSJD.

2018 – 2019 PSJD Fellowship

Now known as NALP, The National Association for Law Placement® was founded in 1971, during a period of rapid change in both the legal profession and legal education, in response to a perceived need by many law schools and legal employers for a common forum to discuss issues involving placement and recruitment.

NALP is dedicated to facilitating legal career counseling and planning, recruitment and retention, and the professional development of law students and lawyers.

NALP administers the PSJD (formerly PSLawNet) website.

The Position

The PSJD Fellow is the principal manager and administrator of the PSJD.org website. PSJD, a NALP initiative, catalogues thousands of job announcements for public service legal positions each year and curates a directory of civil society, government, and other public-service-oriented employers. The site also publishes a library of professional development and career search resources to assist jobseekers with legal training pursuing public service careers. Law students and alumni from hundreds of law schools in the United States and Canada rely on these materials to help them discover opportunities and make decisions about their public service careers. In addition, the Fellow gains non-profit management and administration experience and has the opportunity to write for publication, speak publicly, and build relationships with public interest organizations across the country.

The Fellow will work at NALP’s Washington, DC office–with some travel required (varying slightly, year-to-year).

Ready to lead a noble cause? Check out the posting on PSJD.

Attorney (2 Positions)

The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland’s attorneys represent individual clients in a variety of legal issues that impact shelter, health/safety, and economic security.  Areas of practice include housing, consumer, public benefits, education, family/domestic violence, employment/barriers to employment, and tax.

The Position

In addition to providing legal assistance to individual clients, Legal Aid attorneys engage in broad-based advocacy to impact client groups and communities.  Legal Aid attorneys work in partnership with other service providers to address community issues and engage in community legal education.  For example, Legal Aid is currently building partnerships with schools and other providers to serve the needs of families with small children, with a goal of stabilizing families so that children are able to succeed in school.  Legal Aid attorneys also collaborate with local, state and national colleagues.

One attorney hired during this process will represent clients in a variety of immigration matters, but especially focused on serving those immigrants whose physical safety is at risk – victims of domestic violence, crime, and human trafficking.  The other attorney’s assignment will be determined.

Ready to lead a noble cause? Check out the posting on PSJD.

Legal Extern

Equality Ohio Education Fund and Equality Ohio were founded in 2005 by a group of 65 dedicated lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) activists and allies from all corners of Ohio after voters passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting same sex marriage and civil unions. EOEF continues to advance its vision and mission by working to change the hearts and minds of Ohioans about the LGBTQ community and our civil rights.

The Position

Assist the Managing Legal Director and/or Executive Director with the:

• Creation and implementation of a legal survey to analyze current legal need of the LGBTQ community in Ohio;
• Outreach to LGBTQ & Allied attorneys, legal-serving organizations, and LGBTQ-serving organizations;
• Assist in the creation of LGBTQ Know Your Rights pamphlets and brochures;
• Analysis of legal servicing intake tools and technologies; and
• Other tasks as assigned.

Ready for this new opportunity? Check it out here on PSJD.

Photo: Brenda Gottesman – CC License

Staff Attorney

The Organization: 

Tahirih Justice Center 

By providing holistic legal services and engaging in national public policy advocacy, the Tahirih Justice Center (Tahirih), a national, non-profit organization, protects courageous immigrant women and girls who refuse to be victims of violence. Tahirih elevates the voices of our clients in communities, courts, and Congress to create a world where women and girls enjoy equality and live in safety and with dignity. Tahirih is a Baha’i-inspired nonprofit organization that offers pro bono representation to women and girls seeking protection from such gender-based human rights abuses as domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, female genital cutting, honor crimes, and forced marriage. Winner of the 2007 Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management, Tahirih has offices in Falls Church, VA; Houston, TX; and Baltimore, MD.

The Position:

Tahirih is recruiting for the full-time position of Immigration Staff Attorney to represent immigrant women residing in the Greater Houston area who have suffered sexual assault. This position will be based in the Houston, Texas office. This position is a one-year grant funded position with the possibility of renewal.

Want to make a difference? See the full post on PSJD.

Photo: Brenda Gottesman – CC License

Public Interest Law Fellow

The Organization

The history of the Marquette University Law School dates to the fall of 1892 when students seeking legal education in Milwaukee founded what was to be known as the Milwaukee Law Class. The Law School, which became a part of Marquette University in 1908, is the only law school in the City of Milwaukee. The Law School became a member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1912 and received American Bar Association approval in 1925, shortly after the American Bar Association program of accreditation began. Marquette University enjoys the highest form of accreditation available from the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools: accreditation as a mature doctoral granting institution.

The Position

• Train, supervise, and schedule all volunteer law students and lawyers engaged in work with the estate planning clinic.
• Maintain all client files as required.
• Respond to all client requests for estate planning clinic services.
• Schedule estate planning clinic appointments for clients and communicate relevant details to clients and volunteers.
• Attend all estate planning clinics to ensure support and required technology are properly provided for all volunteers and clients.
• Attend community meetings and gatherings for legal aid providers or prospective clients, including but not limited to the Coalition for Access to Legal Resources (CALR) quarterly meeting and the Wisconsin Department of Human Services Office on Aging work group focused on the legal needs of the elderly.
• Assess and recommend for consideration additional estate planning clinic locations and services.
• Participate in the more general but relevant work of the Law School’s Office of Public Service
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as required, assigned, or requested.

Is this your dream opportunity?  See the full-post on PSJD.

Photo: Brenda Gottesman – CC License

Emergency Response Staff Attorney

The Organization: 

Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST)  is the first organization in the country dedicated exclusively to serving survivors of human trafficking, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (www.castla.org) assists persons trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and slavery-like practices and to work toward ending all instances of such human rights violations. CAST was established in 1998 in the wake of the El Monte sweatshop case where 72 Thai garment workers were kept for eight years in slavery and debt bondage. Following a community outcry for an organization to respond to surfacing cases of human trafficking, CAST was and remains one of a handful of providers nationally that provide comprehensive services to survivors of slavery and trafficking. CAST is amongst the few organizations that carry the mission of both serving victims while also conducting advocacy to promote change that will better protect victims and prevent future cases of trafficking.

CAST serves a growing community of trafficking victims who are brought to the United States and suffer unspeakable violence at the hands of traffickers. They have an enormous array of needs, ranging from urgent medical and mental health services to complex legal issues. CAST has served hundreds of victims and their family members through both direct service delivery as well as technical consult to service providers across the country. CAST alone has secured nearly 100 T Visas for survivors of trafficking, constituting almost 1/6 of the total number of T Visas issued nationwide. Our accomplishments are due, in part, because CAST’s Client Services staff works closely together to partner with clients in setting goals, monitoring progress, advocating for access to services, and cooperating with law enforcement agencies to access long-term immigration benefits that keep victims safe from their traffickers.

CAST’s legal department provides innovative direct legal services to survivors of trafficking, and also provides technical assistance to survivors of trafficking, law enforcement agencies, and service providers to inspire creative and appropriate responses to the problem of human trafficking in the United States.

The Position:

The Emergency Response Attorney (ERA) will be responsible for responding to urgent calls from law enforcement, agencies, and survivors themselves for legal assistance and advice. The ER Staff Attorney will also provide ongoing comprehensive legal services to survivors of human trafficking including assisting clients seek immigration, criminal and civil relief, with an emphasis on criminal victim-witnesses advocacy and United States citizen survivors. This is a full- time, exempt position.

Essential Duties:

• Respond to all ER breaking cases during normal business hours, coordinate rotation with staff attorneys for ER on-call during nonbusiness hours
• Assume caseload of trafficked clients
• Develop and implement creative, alternate legal strategies to assist trafficked persons
• Work collaboratively with social services and shelter staff
• Provide outreach and training to legal aid organizations, law firms, and law enforcement to assist trafficked clients
• Participate in LAPD task force for human trafficking victims
• Coordinate ongoing legal emergency response protocol and safety efforts.
• Support CAST’s involvement with DA diversion program and LA county wide protocol
• Participate in legal emergency response efforts; and
• Respond to Emergency Response breaking cases in rotation with legal team in support of CAST’s 24-hour ER services.

Want to make a difference? See the full post on PSJD.

Photo: Brenda Gottesman – CC License

Anti-Corruption Fellowship

The Organization

The Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (CAPI) aims to improve the capacity of public offices and practitioners to deter, identify, and combat corruption. We work to:

Build and support a vibrant community of leaders in the public integrity field.

Develop tools and resources to help governments and practitioners fight corruption.

Promote research and scholarship on important public integrity issues.

The Position

The Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity at Columbia Law School invites talented law school students from the Class of 2018 to apply for a post-graduate one-year fellowship at CAPI.

We are looking for a fellow for a one-year posting, starting in August 2018. Those interested in the substantive areas of political corruption, public ethics, criminal justice, and related fields who have strong legal research and writing skills, are welcome to apply.

The CAPI fellow will primarily work on CAPI’s research projects and written publications. He or she will spearhead various projects, working with anti-corruption scholars and practitioners, law students, and others to conceive appropriate topics, conduct necessary research, and draft and/or edit original CAPI work products such as reports, best practices issue briefs, longer form articles from community members, practitioner toolkits, and material for our website.

Is this your dream opportunity?  See the full-post on PSJD.

Photo: Brenda Gottesman – CC License

Internship

Legal Services of Southern Piedmont

The Organization

Legal Services of Southern Piedmont (LSSP) is a non-profit agency that provides legal assistance in civil matters to low-income persons in Charlotte and mid-western North Carolina.

LSSP provides an intense, practical, and worthwhile internship for students interested in providing legal services to low-income people. LSSP has a long tradition of aggressive and effective advocacy, including individual cases, complex litigation and other advocacy projects. Our interns work with staff attorneys on routine cases, handle administrative cases as the primary advocate under the supervision of an attorney, and participate in significant client advocacy projects, as described in the job description below. You can find more information about our organization and our work on our website at www.lssp.org.

The Position

Ready to make a difference?  Check out the full-post on PSJD.