The Center for WorkLife Law (WLL) is looking for a Summer Law Clerk! WLL is a nonprofit research and advocacy group based at U.C. Hastings College of the Law that works on issues of employment discrimination based family caregiving responsibilities and workplace flexibility.

WLL has a unique “six stakeholder” model, reflecting our belief that many different stakeholders have a role to play in social and organizational change around work-life issues. WLL works with employees, employers, plaintiff-side employment lawyers, management-side employment lawyers, unions, and public policymakers. WLL also works with social scientists to spark interdisciplinary studies of bias against caregivers, and works extensively with the press.

Under the supervision of and reporting to the Director and the Managing Director of WLL, the Law Clerk is responsible for assisting in the work of WLL, and will conduct legal research and writing on topics related to WLL’s work, including in the substantive areas of employment discrimination, labor law, and the legal profession and help develop public education and training materials for WLL’s website and presentations.

To apply, check out the listing at PSLawNet!

Vermont Legal Aid is looking for a full-time, one-year contract attorney in their Burlington office to assist in carrying out their anti-discrimination work.

Responsibilities for this position include representing individual and organizational housing discrimination victims in federal and State courts and in administrative hearings; testifying before State and municipal planning and zoning entities; and limited community legal education and committee work.

Vermont’s most common forms of housing discrimination occur on the prohibited bases of race/color, national origin, ethnicity, families with children, and disability. Help Vermont fight housing discrimination!

If you’re interested, check out the listing at PSLawNet!

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) is seeking applications for a staff attorney position in its Disability Justice (DJ) Program. NYLPI is a not-for-profit civil rights law firm that focuses on issues of racial equality and disability rights. NYLPI pioneered the practice of community lawyering in the five boroughs of New York City.

NYLPI breaks important new ground by drawing on a range of strengths: community trust; proficient organizing; media savvy; established lobbying channels, effective individual representation; and bold, creative approaches to litigation. The work of the DJ Program is founded on principles of equality of opportunity, self-determination, and independence for people with disabilities.

In partnership with individuals and community organizations, NYLPI uses organizing, legislative advocacy and litigation to assert the rights of New Yorkers with disabilities to equal access to a range of programs and services, including education, health care, housing, and police protection.

The DJ staff attorney position will include both systemic advocacy and individual representation, and will focus on the areas of housing, social security benefits, and vocational rehabilitation, among others.

If you’re interested, check out the listing at PSLawNet!

I’ve got another twofer for ya! Happy Friday!

In partnership with Pfizer Inc, Beveridge & Diamond PC, and the American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, the Environmental Law Institute is looking for law school applicants for two Diversity Program Law Clerk positions for the summer of 2012.

The program’s goal is to encourage additional participation by minority students and students from disadvantaged households in environmental law, policy, and management.

Law clerks work on projects involving both domestic and international environmental law. Subject areas include, among others, wetlands and watershed policy, sustainable land use, biodiversity, environmental enforcement, long-term management of hazardous waste sites, public participation, and international environmental policy.

Law clerks conduct legal and policy research, conduct interviews, attend and report on events, and prepare written materials and scholarly work for publication. Part of a law clerk’s experience includes opportunities to attend ELI seminars on emerging issues in environmental law.

Law clerks may also assist with the editing and production of ELI’s publications, the Environmental Law Reporter (ELR), the National Wetlands Newsletter (NWN), and The Environmental Forum (TEF), as well as various books. Law clerks support editors of these periodicals by conducting research, bluebooking, monitoring and writing summaries of current events, and engaging in various tasks and special projects on an as-needed basis.

If environmental law is your thing, find out more at PSLawNet!

The Legal Department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (“AFL-CIO”) is offering a one-year fellowship beginning in September 2012. The fellowship offers an excellent opportunity for recent law school graduates to work with experienced union-side lawyers on a wide variety of issues.

The AFL-CIO is a voluntary federation of 55 national and international unions which represent 12.2 million working women and men in the United States. The AFL-CIO works on a variety of fronts to improve the lives of working families, to secure social and economic justice in the United States, and to protect the interests of working people in the global economy.

The Legal Department works on a wide range of litigation, policy, regulatory and legislative matters, and assists with organizing campaigns, corporate governance issues, and other AFL-CIO initiatives. The Legal Department also administers the Lawyers Coordinating Committee, a national organization of union-side attorneys, which issues various publications and holds educational conferences on a regular basis.

The AFL-CIO Fellow will work with lawyers in the AFL-CIO Legal Department and with other union lawyers around the country on a wide range of activities. The Fellow will assist experienced lawyers working on cases and regulatory matters that affect the labor movement and the rights of workers.

The AFL-CIO’s litigation caseload includes cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the NLRB and a small number of state appellate suits. In addition, the AFL-CIO Legal Department frequently presents the views of the labor movement on federal regulatory initiatives affecting workers. The AFL-CIO Fellow will also participate in Lawyers Coordinating Committee activities, including preparation for attorney conferences, outreach to new labor lawyers and law students, and regular opportunities to attend LCC meetings and conferences.

If you’re interested, check out the listing at PSLawNet!

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, founded in 1976, is firmly established as an international and national leader in legal education. Within the school, the Office of Career Services (OCS) is dedicated to helping law students and alumni develop their individual interests, explore the range of career options and access opportunities that will further their professional goals.  

The OCS is currently seeking an Assistant Dean. The Assistant Dean will be responsible for long term strategic planning, monitoring and anticipating employment trends, assessing needs of students and alumni, setting goals for OCS, and devising innovative programming to maximize success of students and alumni.

The Assistant Dean will conduct outreach to potential employers, engage professional organizations, and work with alumni groups. Furthermore, the Assistant Dean will work closely with JD and LLM students along with other departments and student groups to purport job search strategies and career development.

Not sure what your days may look like as Assistant Dean of Cardozo Law’s career services office? Check out A Day in the Life of a Law School Career Counselor!

Interested? See the listing at PSLawnet!

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), New England’s lgbt and HIV public interest legal organization, is looking for a full-time Attorney for its work in the six New England states.

GLAD is particularly interested in expanding its ability to address the needs of lgbtq youth in a variety of settings. Therefore, along with litigation, this attorney will be also be responsible for community, coalition, policy, education and legislative work devoted to lgbtq youth.

If you have litigation and legal research and writing experience along with a commitment to working with and on behalf of lgbtq youth, and knowledge of issues that particularly affect lgbtq youth of color, APPLY!

To read more about this position or to apply, see the listing at PSLawNet!

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in DC is looking for two bright and creative attorneys with organizing skills to serve as an Associate Counsels for the Voting Rights Project.

The attorneys will work with the Voting Rights and Legal Mobilization Projects in implementing the Election Protection Program – the nation’s largest, non-partisan voter protection program which works year round to address barriers to the ballot box for traditionally disenfranchised voters. The ideal candidates must be able to balance traditional legal with some organizing responsibilities.
Ideal candidates will be licensed attorneys in their first 4 years of practice. The positions requires candidates who can work well under the pressure of a campaign-type environment, handle significant responsibility and make thoughtful decisions in short time periods. Candidates will become proficient in identifying and addressing obstacles to the ballot box and work with pro bono legal networks in to identify legal issues and develop and implement solutions. Additionally the positions will assist in legislative advocacy efforts on the state and federal level.

Fluency in Spanish is a plus and extensive travel will be required. The positions are temporary and will last from January 2012 to December 2012 with a possibility of continued employment based on performance and available funding.

The Peter Cicchino Youth Project (PCYP) in the Urban Justice Center is a legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education project that focuses on the legal needs of homeless and street-involved lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) young people (up through age 24) in New York City. PYCP is looking for experienced attorneys for its Project Director position.

PCYP works to interrupt the cycles of poverty and criminalization that prevent LGBTQQ youth from living fulfilling, enriching lives. We advocate for LGBTQQ young people living in poverty on a wide range of issues, including safe and affirming access to shelter, obtaining lawful immigration status, public benefits, accurate identification documents, and discrimination.

The Project Director is responsible for fundraising and managing a $400,000 annual budget, and will represent PCYP to the broader Urban Justice Center, the media, and the public. The Project Director works with program staff to coordinate PCYP’s legal services, to ensure that our clients receive high quality legal representation. The Project Director, along with program staff, will continue to identify systemic priorities and to develop PCYP’s capacity to take direction from the communities we serve.

If you’re interested, see the listing at PSLawNet!

by Kristen Pavón

If you are a staff attorney/law clerk/intern for a legal services organization or public interest law firm, you know that interviewing clients is an important part of what you do. It’s a critical skill that can always use honing.

I came across a great interviewing tip sheet focused on interviewing low-income clients in my inbox and thought it could be helpful for you!

Here are a few of the highlights:

1. Be Prepared

Have copies of all forms your client may need to fill out or take home with them. Find out ahead of time whether they anticipate coming to the office with anyone and make adjustments (ex. kids, relatives). If there are special parking arrangements, make sure you let the client know.

2. Introductions

Start with small talk. This may be the first time your client is in a law office and a) may be nervous and b) may not know what’s going to happen next. Also, depending on your practice area, the client’s issues may be emotionally trying for them — so ease them into it.

3. Lay out the Agenda

First, explain your role in his or her case (direct representation, no relationship just yet, intern, etc.). Next, give the client a roadmap of how the meeting will go so they know what to expect — you’ll ask them to tell you why he or she came in, explain that you’ll occasionally jot down notes, you’ll interrupt him or her with more specific questions, etc. Also, talk about confidentiality.

4. Start with open-ended questions.

This allows you to get a lot of information right at the beginning and you can choose what issues to focus on next.

5. Listen!

Actively listen. Give the clients nonverbal and verbal cues that you’re listening and you understand what they’re saying.

6. Follow-up.

Make sure you clarify any lingering issues. You want a full picture of what’s going on.

7. Summarize.

Before you let the client go, summarize the information they’ve given you to make sure you’ve gotten the whole story.

8. Is there anything else?

Ask this question. Always. You never know.

9. Future Communication

Talk to the client about how you will communicate with them — email, phone, work phone, etc. Also, set up your next date, time and place for next contact.

For more helpful tips about interviewing, check out this great slideshow from the Legal Aid Association of California.

What are your tried-and-true interviewing tips?