The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is looking for 8-10 dedicated, hard-working, and public-interest minded students to work in four Northeast Ohio offices for our 2010 summer associate program. Summer associates are expected to work for at least 11 weeks and may work up to 13 weeks. Legal Aid is a nonprofit law firm focused on areas of consumer rights, disability, domestic violence, education, employment, family law, health, housing, immigration, public benefits, and tax.

Summer associates work in different areas of the law but all receive the opportunity to learn how to be excellent poverty lawyers. Generally, summer associates will interview clients, draft court pleadings, research relevant legal issues, attend and assist with court hearings and trials and analyze evidence. In addition, all summer associates will participate in weekly trainings on substantive areas of poverty law, observe oral arguments in the 8th District Court of Appeals and meet afterward with the judges involved. Brown bag lunches with current Legal Aid lawyers and community members including judges, politicians, and leaders of local non-profit agencies are also held on a weekly basis.

Summer associate applicants should have completed their first year of law school by the time they commence work in the summer of 2010; however, special consideration is given to students with a demonstrated commitment to serving disadvantaged people and communities. If your resume does not reflect a commitment to public service due to personal financial constraints, please provide an explanation in your cover letter. Law students who speak Spanish are strongly encouraged to apply.

Due to limited financial resources, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is unable to pay summer associates; however, applicants are encouraged to apply for summer funding through the following sources:

• Summer grants/fellowships through your law school

 

• Equal Justice Works, Summer Corps Program - awards $1,000 educational grants which can be applied to educational debt or future education costs. These are awarded on a first come, first served basis so be sure to apply the minute the application is available on line at www.equaljusticeworks.org or e-mail: summercorps [at] equaljusticeworks [dot] org.

 

• Equal Justice America - in 2010 awards up to $4,000 for a summer. Visit www.equaljusticeamerica.org for application details.

 

• Work Study Funding - some universities offer work study funding for summer positions. Please check with your law school financial aid office for particulars at your school. Please note that work-study money may reduce the amount of loans available to you for the following two semesters. Talk with your financial aid office to determine how work-study money may affect you.

These are just a few of the many funding possibilities. For more funding opportunities, visit the "Financing a Career or Summer Job" page under "Career Central" at www.pslawnet.org. Please indicate in your cover letter what funding sources you will be applying for if any.

The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland often supervises students working for externship or other credit. Please indicate in your cover letter if you are working with your law school to receive course credit for your summer associate position.

Qualifying students should forward a cover letter listing their top three program/unit preferences, a resume, a writing sample and a list of three references to Amy Schuster at amy [dot] schuster [at] lasclev [dot] org listing "Summer Associate 2010" in the subject line of the email. Please see pages 3-5 for a full listing of program/unit descriptions. Application materials must be submitted by Friday, January 29, 2010.

Applications will only be accepted via e-mail, or through the CWRU or Cleveland-Marshall resume collect programs (Cleveland school applicants only). You will receive a confirmation email that your application materials have been received within 5 business days of your application.

Because Legal Aid will be interviewing at a number of national and regional career fairs and Ohio law schools, the deadline for submission may be earlier for these interviewing opportunities – please contact your law school’s career services office for more information. We will be conducting telephone interviews with applicants who are not able to participate in these in-person interviews.

January 29, 2010 – 5:00 pm EST Application Deadline

February 1 – February 19, 2010 Interviews

February 22 – February 26, 2010 Offers Extended*

March 5, 2010 2010 Summer Associates Announced

May 18, 2010 – 10:00 am Orientation for 2010 Summer Associates

May 19 – July 30, 2010 2010 Summer Associate Program

*Those offered a position must accept/decline within 72 hours.

Legal Aid’s summer associate program is prestigious and competitive. In previous years, as many as 170 applications were made for the unpaid positions. Legal Aid is a nonprofit law firm providing civil legal assistance to low income people in five northeast Ohio counties. Legal Aid’s mission is to secure justice and resolve fundamental problems for those who are low income and vulnerable by providing high quality legal services and working for systemic solutions. For more information please visit www.lasclev.org.

Northeast Ohio has a rich history of diverse cultures. It is home to the nationally renowned Cleveland Orchestra; the Cleveland Museum of Art; the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; the Cleveland Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers; an award-winning Metroparks system; vineyards; Lake Erie; and many other arts, recreation, and cultural attractions. Northeast Ohio also has a low cost of living. For more information about the region please visit http://www.ercnet.org/neohio/index.htm.

The Ashtabula Office of The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, located in Jefferson, provides a full range of civil legal services to diverse poverty populations both rural and urban. The summer associate will assist the

attorneys in the office with client interviews, witness interviews, research, investigation and follow-up, pleading and document preparation, and discovery. The summer associate will work in the areas of

housing, public benefits, consumer and family law. He or she will have an opportunity to observe hearings and depositions. The ideal candidate will have excellent research and writing skills.

Legal Aid’s Consumer Law Unit (CLU) promotes the economic stability of low-income consumers who have been victimized by fraudulent or abusive business practices. CLU attorneys defend homeowners against foreclosures and litigate cases involving home improvement scams, predatory loans, deceptive sales, and unlawful repossessions. CLU attorneys also assist consumers with obtaining and maintaining necessary utility services, weatherization, and energy efficiency for low income families. The CLU summer associate will work on a variety of consumer issues with particular focus upon foreclosures and predatory lending. Tasks will include interviewing clients, managing the foreclosure mediation docket, performing legal research, drafting pleadings, and attending mediation and court proceedings. The summer associate may also have opportunities to develop educational materials for use in the community, will work closely with attorneys in the CLU and will be supervised by the CLU’s managing attorney.

Legal Aid’s Family Law Unit provides victims of domestic violence with representation in civil protection orders and divorces as a way to promote safety and economic self-sufficiency and empower these survivors to break the cycle of violence for themselves and their children. The summer associate will interview eligible clients, evaluate available client options, draft pleadings, gather documentary evidence for hearings, research relevant issues, attend court proceedings and accompany clients to obtain civil protection orders. The summer associate will also redesign application and develop a specialized domestic violence intake questionnaire for use by intake specialists. The ideal candidate will have good communication and writing skills, an interest in domestic violence and family law and must be organized and reliable. This is an intense summer associate position and may require some evening hours.

The Family Law Unit provides assistance to clients, their families and children who are experiencing safety, financial, and educational issues impacting their daily stability. The Unit provides assistance in matters such as divorce, domestic violence, custody, and child support. The Family Law Unit’s summer associate will assist the attorneys, paralegals, and staff by conducting client interviews, compiling and assembling detailed client histories, drafting pleadings and motions, preparing correspondence, attending hearings, preparing pretrial and discovery materials, and conducting research as needed.

The Community Advocacy Program (CAP) brings together law and medicine to seek solutions to community problems by providing proactive legal services in community health care settings. A partnership of Legal Aid and The MetroHealth System, CAP seeks to improve health outcomes of low-income children, elderly, immigrants and formerly incarcerated people. CAP is part of a growing national movement of medical-legal partnerships (MLPs). Primary areas of representation include special education, public benefits, disability, housing, and immigration. The summer associate will interview clients, evaluate the merit of potential cases,

engage in legal research, develop medical evidence, counsel clients on case options, and write a hearing memo in a disability (SSI) case.

Additionally, the summer associate will conduct a training with medical providers on a legal issue impacting patients. She or he will also engage in the advocacy efforts of a statewide MLP task force. Applicants should be interested in the intersection of law and public health and be comfortable working with individuals with mental health issues. Spanish language skills are a plus.

Legal Aid’s immigration practice promotes lawful residence and basic human rights protection for the low income immigrant community. The immigration practice provides legal services to detainees and individuals who are vulnerable and whose immigration status, if not addressed, would (i) affect family stability, employment, public benefits, or health care, or (ii) place them at risk of removal to a country where health or safety is life threatening. The LSC restrictions apply. The summer associate will assist in all aspects of the immigration program, including the detention project, from initial client interview and document preparation through adjudication and appeal process. The associate will conduct research on developing immigration issues and also may prepare written materials and/or organize workshops on specific aspects of immigration law for the detention project and our client community at large. The ideal candidate will have good research and writing skills, an interest in immigration law, and a willingness to work with a diverse immigrant population. Bilingual abilities are a plus, but not mandatory.

The summer associate will assist with Legal Aid’s Wage Project. The Wage Project is aimed at addressing workplace abuses suffered by low-wage workers in Northeast Ohio. The project engages in rights education and outreach in low-wage worker communities and engages in litigation on behalf of workers facing wage theft. The summer associate’s duties will include developing and presenting know your rights presentations to low-wage workers; drafting correspondence and pleadings in employment law cases; researching employment law/policy issues; conducting preliminary interviews of clients and doing an initial work-up of cases. The summer associate will also assist attorneys in preparing for hearings and/or court proceedings, legal research, and attending hearings and/or court proceedings. The ideal candidate will speak Spanish, have good public speaking skills, be able to write well, and be passionate about using his or her legal training to advocate for low-wage workers. Prior employment law experience is a plus, but is not required.

The summer associate will assist with unemployment compensation cases. Duties will include conducting preliminary interviews of clients and doing an initial work-up of cases. The summer associate will do legal research and assist attorneys in preparing for unemployment hearings and attending unemployment hearings. In addition, the summer associate will investigate systemic problems with the state agencies involved in unemployment and job training and strategize as to potential remedies for these problems. The associate may also assist with pro bono clinics to help unemployment claimant who cannot otherwise be assisted by Legal Aid.

Legal Aid’s Housing Unit (HU) litigation and advocacy seeks (i) to preserve and increase the supply of decent, affordable housing for low income persons, (ii) to help low income persons secure and retain rental subsidies and decent, affordable housing, and (iii) to secure reasonable policies and practices in the subsidized housing programs. The summer associate will work on at least one non-case project, which may include work on (i) implementing the housing plan of the Cleveland Reentry Strategy or (ii) securing compliance with Limited English Proficiency requirements in HUD-assisted rental housing programs. The summer associate will also work on HU cases – principally eviction and termination of subsidy cases. The summer associate will

represent clients in housing authority administrative hearings in termination of rental subsidy (voucher) cases. The summer associate will also assist HU attorneys in their cases. This assistance will include: legal and factual research; drafting pleadings, motions, briefs, and written discovery; interviewing clients and witnesses; attending depositions, hearings, and trials; and other miscellaneous assistance. The summer associate will be supervised by a HU supervising attorney.

The Intake & Referral Unit for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, located in Cleveland, performs intake services for applicants in Cuyahoga County and throughout our five-county service area. Legal Aid handles a wide range of civil matters for low-income residents including divorces, protection orders, evictions, foreclosures, tort defense cases, unemployment claims, public benefits, Social Security matters, probate, and transactional work such as wills, deeds, powers of attorney and health care directives. The summer associate will assist the Intake attorneys in further implementing the use of information, advice and other pro se materials at intake. Summer associate duties will include drafting, editing and revising letters, forms, motions and pleadings by working with the Intake attorneys, other substantive attorneys who began development of such materials, and the CMS document assembly technician who helps format written materials for staff in all five counties. Additionally, the summer associate will help determine how such information, advice and pro se materials (used by staff in intake) would need to be packaged for use at clinics and in substantive practice groups. Applicants should be organized and have good writing skills.

The Lake-Geauga Office of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, located in Painesville, handles a wide variety of civil matters for a diverse poverty population in a rural-suburban area. The office handles a wide range

of civil matters for low-income residents in both counties, including housing, public benefits such as unemployment and social security matters, family law, and consumer law. There may be an opportunity to assist with transactional work such as wills, deeds, powers of attorney and health care directives. The summer associate will assist the office with interviewing clients, evaluating cases, research, developing evidence, summarizing records, and drafting pleadings. He or she will have the opportunity to attend hearings and depositions. The ability to speak Spanish would be helpful but is not required.

The Lorain County office of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, located in Elyria, handles a wide range of civil matters for low-income residents in Lorain County, including divorces, protection orders, evictions, foreclosures, tort defense cases, unemployment claims, public benefits, Social Security matters, probate, and transactional work such as wills, deeds, powers of attorney and health care directives. Summer associate duties will include interviewing clients, evaluating cases, performing legal research, developing evidence, summarizing records, drafting pleadings, and attending hearings, under the supervision of the managing attorney.

The Volunteer Lawyers Program (VLP) works to mobilize the private bar to assist in making legal services more accessible to low income persons and families. Summer associate will assist in creating special focus pro bono projects by client group (such as an elder law clinic at a senior site or a clinic for a particular immigrant community) or by issue area (for example, know your tenant rights program). Substantively, the summer associate will conduct research and draft "Know Your Legal Rights" guides and community legal education curriculum. The summer associate will interview clients and meet regularly with local law firms and local bar associations. Additionally, the summer associate will assist with ongoing pro bono clinics and work with intake attorneys. Applicants should be organized and have good communication skills. Good research and writing skills are a must. The summer associate should also able to work on Saturdays.