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Welcome to the CLSR Weblog.

Please browse around, catch up on our latest public interest law projects, peruse our links (including the one to our home site, New England Law | Boston), and add your comments. Before you start, we encourage you to become familiar with our Terms of Use.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Equal Justice Works Summer Corps: Application Available January 2011

The Summer Corps application will be available in January 2011, but get your application materials ready now!

The Equal Justice Works Summer Corps program engages law students around the country who are expanding the delivery of legal services to those who need it most. Summer Corps members provide critically needed legal assistance in low-income and underserved communities in the United States on a broad range of issue areas.

Summer Corps is an AmeriCorps-funded program that in 2010 provided 577 law students with the opportunity to earn a $1,000 education award voucher for dedicating their summer to a qualifying legal project at a nonprofit public interest organization.

As part of your application, you will need a host organization (any 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or qualifying public defender programs) for your qualifying project. Summer Corps supports projects in which students provide primarily direct legal services to low-income and underserved individuals. Community outreach and education components are also encouraged.

Check back here for updates: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/programs/summercorps/general

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Public Service Internship in the Family Court With Senior Partners for Justice

Senior Partners for Justice, a unique pro bono initiative at the Volunteer Lawyers Project, is pleased to offer an internship program for law students who want to provide critical assistance to low-income clients while gaining hands-on experience in the family court.

ABOUT SENIOR PARTNERS FOR JUSTICE
Founded in 2002 by Hon. Edward M. Ginsburg, a retired justice of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court, Senior Partners for Justice (www.spfj.org) includes practitioners of all levels of experience, from retired attorneys and judges to new bar admittees and law students, who handle family law and other matters pro bono for low-income clients who would otherwise go unrepresented.

ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Interns are placed in the Suffolk, Middlesex, and Norfolk Probate and Family Courts, working directly alongside courthouse staff. This is an unpaid, non-credit internship, but it offers invaluable experience and a flexible schedule that can fit around other commitments.

The program is offered in the summer, fall, and spring semesters and runs for approximately ten weeks. If possible, interns should spend at least one full day (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or two half days, preferably mornings, at their courthouse each week.

The nature of the internship is a little different at each court:
• At Suffolk, interns staff the very busy Register’s office and have the chance to help the Lawyer for the Day and observe court proceedings.
• At Middlesex, interns rotate between different departments, gaining broad exposure to areas including Divorce and Paternity.
• At Norfolk, interns work directly with the court staff members who assist unrepresented litigants, and they have a chance for more one-on-one interaction at a less busy court.

All participants in the internship program will receive support from the Senior Partners staff and invitations to trainings, luncheons, and other events through Senior Partners and VLP.

REGISTRATION
If you have questions or would like to sign up, please contact Dyana Boxley at 617-423-0648 x129 or dboxley@vlpnet.org and indicate which days you are available and which courts you prefer. You may also sign up online at http://vlpspj.wufoo.com/forms/pro-bono-internship-in-the-probate-family-court/.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

International Summer Internships in Refugee and Asylum Law

The Immigration Law Project is now seeking applicants for two summer positions in refugee and asylum law and processing, one in Malta with an international NGO preparing asylum applications and one in Kenya, with an international NGO processing refugees for resettlement. In both instances, the clients will be variously Somali, Sudanese, Chadian, Ethiopian, Congolese, and Rwandan.

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, CV and transcript, detailing: international experience, experience with refugee and asylum law processing, particular proven interest in refugee or asylum law, languages spoken, international experience, and ability to work abroad for at least 8 weeks during the summer of 2011 to martha.s.drane@nesl.edu. Applications must be submitted by 5:00pm on Monday, November 29th.

All students are eligible (including current 1L's and 3L's who will be graduating). The Center for Law and Social Responsibility will offset some of the travel costs associated with the internship, but the remaining travel costs and living expenses are the responsibility of the student. There is no credit associated with this internship. Interviews will be conducted on campus during the first week of December and the ILP will then forward the selected applicants to the NGO's for consideration. For questions, please contact Martha Drane or Professor Haynes at dhaynes@nesl.edu.

Monday, November 15, 2010

CLSR Fellow’s Project Focuses on Education Law

Martha Drane, the 2010-2011 CLSR Fellow, assists the center in all of its areas of public interest law, while her substantive work focuses on education law. Handling the education cases at the Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston (MLP | Boston), her work encompasses special education issues, particularly for those who suffer from autism; transitional services for children either entering public schools from early intervention programs or aging out of the public school system; and disciplinary issues for children with disabilities. As MLP | Boston collaborates with various law firms, she has developed a project to produce an Education Law Toolkit to assist those pro bono lawyers working on education matters. She is also working closely with MA Appleseed in exploring the issues low-income children with autism face in the school system and how such issues affect a child’s health and well-being. Additionally, she has joined the Education Law Task Force—a group dedicated to addressing the important education issues low-income children face.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Indigent Defense Fellowship Program

Equal Justice Works (EJW) and the Southern Public Defender Center have partnered to develop the Public Defender Corps, a pilot project that will provide fellowships for top students to engage in indigent defense with a strong training and support structure. These will be three year fellowships inside select public defender offices. This initiative addresses the ongoing national crisis of failing to provide quality representation to accused persons who cannot afford counsel.

Applicants to Public Defender Corps will undergo a rigorous selection process. Once selected, they will receive expert advocacy training and mentoring, and be integrated into a community of defenders to help them develop the skills needed to provide the highest quality of representation to clients and imbue them with a commitment to indigent defense reform.

Public Defender Corps is scheduled to launch as a pilot program in the fall of 2011 and EJW is currently accepting applications for approximately 20 Fellowship positions. Application and supporting documents are due by 5:00 PM on December 17, 2010.

Application instructions and additional information about the Public Defender Corps Fellowships are available online at www.equaljusticeworks.org under the Programs tab.

If you have any further questions please contact the Public Defender Corps at publicdefendercorps@equaljusticeworks.org.

Work Study Position: Law Clerk for the Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy

Hours: Part-time (10-20 hours/week)
Pay: $10.00/hour

The Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy (Center) at New England Law | Boston’s Center for Law and Social Responsibility is seeking current day or evening students who have completed their first full year to work part-time during the spring semester.

The Center works with the New York State Department of Health and communities around New York to develop policies to reduce the availability of tobacco products, protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke, and minimize or remove tobacco advertising. The Center is directed by Professor Berman.

Duties:
• Assist with legal and policy research projects by conducting research, drafting memoranda, creating fact sheets, and working on policy reports.
• Assist with workshop preparation and logistics.
• Other items as assigned by the Center’s director, assistant director, or center administrator.

Preference will be given to those students showing a sincere interest in public health law or public interest law.

Please contact Financial Aid to determine work-study eligibility.

Interested students should e-mail a resume, writing sample, (unofficial) transcript, and a cover letter explaining their interest in working at the Center to tobacco@nesl.edu. Deadline for applications is Monday, November 15, 2010.

Any students who would be interested in volunteering with the Center for at least 5 hours a week are encouraged to send an email to tobacco@nesl.edu expressing their interest and availability. Students who volunteer with the Center are eligible for the Public Service Transcript Notation Program.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

CLSR Open House

The Center for Law and Social Responsibility (CLSR) is holding its annual Open House on Thursday, November 4th at 4:00 p.m. in the Cherry Room. Through the CLSR faculty, students and alumni support socially responsible opportunities and goals. The diverse nature of the CLSR's projects reflect the varied interests of its members, as well as the breadth of issues facing public service lawyers today.

At the Open House, CLSR Faculty Professors Russell Engler, Dina Haynes, Monica Teixeira de Sousa and David Siegel will be available to discuss their work. Their projects deal with substantive areas such as criminal justice, education, immigration, and public service. There will also be students present to discuss the recent work of Professor Peter Manus, Victor Hansen and Micah Berman.

Come, enjoy some light refreshments, and learn about the CLSR projects, faculty, and ways to get involved!