Our goal is to recruit and retain the best law students, lawyers, paralegals, social workers, investigators and administrative staff who share a vision – that no New Yorker is denied access to justice because of poverty. Scholarships can be a direct way to start your career in legal aid after graduation. What is a scholarship? A scholarship is a postgraduate position within a public benefit organization funded by the financial support of another entity, such as a non-profit organization, law firm, or law school. LAAC offers the Dan Bradley Scholarship. Some law schools offer scholarships for legal work in the public interest, including in legal aid firms. For more information, see PSJD.org. You can also find out more about scholarships through Equal Justice Works and Skadden to get an idea of what public benefit organisations are looking for in grantees. We strive to make this site accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us about the accessibility of our website or need assistance with the application process, please contact us at: JobPostQuestions@legal-aid.org, Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Internal candidates/current LAS employees: If you are interested in applying for a job, please log in to our internal careers page to apply.
If you are unable to log in, please contact jobpostquestions@legal-aid.org for assistance. No. This rumor begins with the fact that U.S. prosecutors and impact litigation organizations like the ACLU almost never hire directly at law school. They require at least two years of experience, with some offices requiring more. Obviously, there are many other public interest jobs and most will consider new lawyers. The DOJ hires many new lawyers in its honor program, as are many other federal agencies. Government agencies, legal aid societies, public defenders and other public interest employers do the same.
However, there are highly sought-after public interest jobs, usually in high-profile national non-profit organizations, where competition is so fierce that a new graduate may have an almost impossible task. However, scholarships offer graduates the opportunity to work for a non-profit organization right after graduation. Scholarships are a great way to do the job you dream of or find a position in an organization that doesn`t have the funds to hire you. The first turning point was the exit from legal aid in the early 1980s. There were huge funding cuts, and we all worked too hard to compensate for the fact that our staff had been cut. I didn`t know how to move and I had a new baby. Financial insecurity and long hours were not what a young mother needed. I worked at Legal Aid in Cleveland as a student and then as a full-time articling student. When I moved to a new community after the bar exam, the local legal aid office made room for me because I had experience in legal aid work.
Sara E. Strattan is the Executive Director of Community Legal Aid Services, Inc. (@CommLegalAid) in Akron, Ohio. Contact them at sstrattan@communitylegalaid.org. We will be happy to answer your questions. Requests can be sent to our e-mail box at jobpostquestions@legal-aid.org. I think this work would be good for me because it would give me a lot of intense experience, whereas the work I am doing now is in a fairly narrow area of law that may not be easily transferable to the private sector. I also have a general interest in work that provides legal assistance in terms of legal aid to disadvantaged people (I currently work a bit of a volunteer in similar areas). I think what I want to know is how the legal aid experience is perceived when I apply for work in the private sector. I`ve heard several things, good and bad, and I just want to make sure I don`t create a wand for my own back by gaining work experience that isn`t appreciated or maybe even despised when I end up applying for a job in private practice. Articling during law school can be a useful way to show your commitment to legal aid and social justice while meeting colleagues in the field. It can also be a way to get references and write samples for future applications.
Many law schools have public funding for summer internships with legal aid agencies. Articling with a legal aid agency can be a good place to start. I realize that there are many opportunities for someone in my position to make this transition, and I have considered them all. But recently, a job for a junior legal aid lawyer in my area of responsibility arose, for which I would like to apply. In addition to applying for scholarships, the other main way to get a job is to apply for the list of lawyers of the legal aid organization you want to work for. Staff lawyers are often the entry-level position offered to graduates of legal aid organizations. In terms of scholarships, a scholarship can become a staff lawyer position if it is successful and there are sufficient funds. Getting a permanent job in the public interest is harder than getting a job at a large company. However, if you want to work in a small business in a small town, the effort is similar. This is because public benefit organizations (and small businesses), with the exception of large state-owned employers, sometimes have vacancies (compared to 50 new employees per year in a large private sector law firm) and have limited resources. These two facts often mean they don`t hire recruiters, don`t join the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), don`t attend law school job fairs, and can`t send notifications about their vacancies. That doesn`t mean they don`t want you, it just means you have to go to them.
Compared to the active recruitment cycle of large companies in the fall, the hiring process may seem more difficult in the public interest. However, this is exactly what a normal job search looks like when you`re no longer a law student. Technology is essential to your practice. Clients are unwilling or unable to afford legal fees. EDIT: I want to leave this beautiful autocorrect visible to all – legs any help should be legal aid. All of this can be overcome by ensuring that we do a lot of pro bono work during private practice, maintain and maintain contacts in the public interest community, and continue to live a simple life. Make sure you have an exit strategy: know when you`re ready to leave the company. This could be if you have repaid a predetermined amount of your loans, if you have acquired a certain skill, or another quantifiable benchmark. Try to volunteer as much as possible in the company.
If you are unable to do so, try to maintain your public interests by volunteering in a non-legal context, serving on the board of directors of an organization that is important to you, or joining relevant bar committees. Yes, although the ease of transition depends on the type of public interest job you have held and how long you have held it. It`s obviously easier to get a job in a private practice if you can prove that your public interest job has given you skills and/or knowledge useful to the business. Public interest litigators often make a smooth transition to private practice. Similarly, lawyers who have developed knowledge of government regulation in an area of interest to a law firm often make lucrative career changes. Since your experience has nothing to do with your next desired job and you have been in that position for a while, you will have to work harder to change jobs. The problem isn`t really private versus public, but moving into areas where the skills, knowledge, and contacts you`ve gained in your work experience aren`t relevant. Only you know. Can people survive on a salary in the public interest and live happy lives? Sure. They do it all the time. Not only does this question depend so much on what you think is essential in life, whether you have a work partner, your geographic location, and whether you plan to raise children, but it also depends on the type of public interest work you are pursuing.