Volunteer Opportunities for Law Students

Law students, if you're still putting together a plan for the coming summer, please keep in mind that many local legal service organizations utilize law student volunteers. Contact the following non-profits about summer opportunities:

Benefits Law Center

Eastside Legal Assistance Program

Housing Justice Project

Kitsap County Legal Services

King County Bar Association Neighborhood Legal Clinics (Clinic Assistants and Intake Referral Interns)

Northwest Consumer Law Project

QLaw Foundation

Tacomaprobono

Unemployment Law Project

The Access to Justice Institute can also help you identify pro bono opportunities. And remember to take the Pro Bono Pledge!

Tacoma Pro Bono Night

Vacating Records CLE

Vacating Records: A Primer for Beginners | Tuesday, July 31st | 12:00-1:30 pm

Volunteer Legal Services (VLS) is now seeking mentee attorneys for its Records Project. Brand new attorneys (or attorneys new to this area of law) are encouraged to take part in this mentorship program.

Criminal histories are a huge barrier for low-income King County residents seeking employment and housing. Mentee attorneys will represent clients in vacating their adult convictions to reduce these barriers and help increase their chances of being hired or securing stable housing. All cases/clients are pre-screened by staff attorneys and mentorship is available.

For attorneys interested in volunteering for the Records Project, we have an upcoming CLE specifically for vacating records that goes over the procedural and substantive law on Tuesday, July 31st, 12:00-1:30 pm. The presenter is Vitaliy Kertchen, a private attorney from Tacoma that almost exclusively handles these types of cases. VLS is offering the CLE both in person at KCBA (limited seating available) and via webcast.

More info can be found here. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Paige Hardy directly.

Save the Date: King County Bar Foundation Breakfast with Champions

2018 Breakfast With Champions MARCH 20, 2018 7:30 – 8:45 A.M. REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 1 KEYNOTE SPEAKER Dahlia Lithwick Dahlia Lithwick, considered one of the best Supreme Court journalists in the country, is a senior editor at Slate, where she writes the "Supreme Court Dispatches" and "Jurisprudence" columns. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Commentary, among other places. She has appeared on CNN, ABC, The Colbert Report, and is a frequent guest on The Rachel Maddow Show.

SAVE THE DATE! ──── Westin Hotel 1900 5th Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 ──── Support Pro Bono Services & Minority Law Student Scholarships ──── Sponsorships Available Visit the 2018 Breakfast With Champions website www.kcbf.org/bwc

Volunteer Opportunities for Recent Grads

Public Law Library of King County: Legal Help Center

The Law Library is looking for volunteer attorneys to help staff the Legal Help Center in Seattle from now through October 13th. This is a clinic that provides free, limited legal help to pro se patrons. Volunteer attorneys assist clients by explaining legal issues and helping to draft pleadings to either initiate or respond to legal proceedings. If you are interested, please email services@pllkc.org. For more information refer to the volunteer position description.

Become a Content Editor for the Washington Lawyers Practice Manual

Use your expertise to strengthen the best reference work on Washington Law.  The King County Bar Association is seeking content editors to oversee its volunteer authors work for Civil Trial Practice, Domestic Relations Practice, State Administrative Law, and Public Entitlement Law chapters. Content editors learn new areas of law while interacting with recognized experts.  This is an ideal position for new lawyers eager to make contacts and increase their knowledge.  Please click here to learn more about the practice manual. Interested attorneys may also contact Kathleen Jensen (206-267-7053) to learn more. 

Evening with Equal Justice

Please join Seattle University’s Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) and Access to Justice Institute (ATJI) for the annual Evening With Equal Justice. The event provides the opportunity for law students to learn from attorneys practicing in a wide range of public interest and pro bono areas. 

This year’s Evening with Equal Justice will begin at 5:00 p.m. with a keynote address by Jorge Barón, Executive Director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Mr. Baron will speak about the importance of public interest lawyering in the current political climate.  

Attorneys are encouraged to attend the keynote address or join the program at 6:00 p.m. for networking with students.

Please RSVP by September 28.

Co-sponsored by the Public Interest Law Foundation, Access to Justice Institute, Center for Professional Development, Dean's Offices, and Student Bar Association.

Registration opens TODAY for the LARGEST PUBLIC INTEREST CONFERENCE and CAREER FAIR IN THE COUNTRY!

The Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair will be held on October 24 & 25 in Washington, D.C.  More than 1,200 students and 125 public interest employers will participate in this year’s conference.  Public interest employers conduct interviews (for 2Ls and 3Ls) for internship and full-time positions and meet with students (including 1Ls) in informal “table talk” settings to discuss public interest legal opportunities. The Conference and Career Fair also features workshops on various public interest careers and job search advice, resume and cover letter review, mock interviews, and much more! Check out the EJW website for more details and to register. 

KCBA Young Lawyers Division Bridging the Gap CLE

BRIDGING THE GAP

Presented by KCBA Young Lawyers Division

 

March 7, 2014

Rainier Square Conference Center, 1301 Fifth Avenue, 3^rd Floor Atrium, Seattle

 Low-cost practical skills to help prepare new lawyers for success in their legal careers, regardless of practice area

6.00 General CLE Credits; 1.00 Ethics CLE Credit

Click here for Registration

• Registration fee is only $95.00
• Lunch is provided – sponsored by Principal Financial Group
• Enter the drawing for a chance to win a set of Bose Wireless Speakers – sponsored by LawPay
• Opportunity to network
• And more!

The agenda includes presentations on immigration, trust and estates, contracts, pro bono opportunities, tradmark law, litigation for small business clients, social media for legal marketing, key elements of a successful practice, and more!

LBAW & SGB Legal Clinic Volunteers Needed

The Latina/o Bar Association of Washington and Schroeter Goldmark & Bender invite you to volunteer at an upcoming free bilingual legal clinic.

Attorney volunteers are needed to provide consultations in the following areas of law:

• Immigration
• Family Law
• Consumer & Finance Law (includes creditor/debtor issues)
• Landlord-Tenant Law
• Property/Real Estate
• Criminal Law

Law student volunteers are needed for intake. Law students may also choose to shadow attorneys upon advanced request.

If you are able to volunteer, please contact LBAW Community Service Committee Chairs, M. Lorena González and Fé Lopez, at clinics@sgb-law.com.

Individuals interested in volunteering as Spanish interpreters should email Josh Stromberg at volunteer@elcentrodelaraza.org.

DETAILS:

• Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
• El Centro de la Raza, Third Floor
• 2524 16th Ave. South, Seattle, WA 98144

ProBonoWA.org

The WSBA's online directory of pro bono opportunities is a great resource for attorneys looking to give back and also build experience. Please visit ProBonoWA.org.

Are you on the AtJI listserv?

Did you hear about that great public interest law lecture last week? No? If you'd been on AtJI's listserv you would have! Each newsletter details upcoming internship opportunities, events, trainings, fellowships - and much more. To be added to the listserv, email James Tan!

Have you logged your public interest volunteer work recently?

Public Interest Interns! Have you logged your public interest volunteer work recently?

CPD and ATJI host the Public Interest Log on Symplicity, and we'd love to see your dedication to pro bono work represented! We encourage you to utilize this tool to not only keep track of the great public interest work you have been doing, but also because we want to honor you for your volunteer work at the year-end Celebration of Social Justice event.

The public interest log is now available for all students to use on Symplicity. Students who enter their information via Symplicity will be recognized for their volunteer public interest hours in the categories of 20 hours, 60 hours, and 100 hours for the 2009 – 2010 academic year at the Celebration of Social Justice. Please email Stacey Lara-Kerr or James Tan in AtJI for instructions on using the Symplicity Public Interest Log tool.

Pro Bono Workshops: Hope & Help in Hard Times

Pro Bono Workshops: Hope and Help in Hard Times
Friday, October 30, 2009
Seattle University School of Law

Calling all lawyers, paralegals, and law students interested in making a difference in your community!
Join us October 30 for a day of pro bono workshops on:
- Information on how to get involved in local pro bono activities.
- The basics of setting up a pro bono practice and working with pro bono clients.
- Pro bono incentives and ethics.
- 6.0 CLE Credits, including up to 1.75 Ethics Credits,
The reception will honor Bill Gates, Sr., winner of the prestigious ABA Medal, and include featured speakers Washington State Bar President Salvador "Sal" Mungia and Perkins Coie partner Harry Schneider, Jr.

Register Now at www.regonline.com/OCT3009

Are you on the AtJI Opportunities and Events Listserv?

If not, you're missing a great resource that features short and long term volunteer opportunities, trainings, events - all in the public interest arena. Included in this week's newsletter were opportunities to volunteer with AILA, the ACLU of Southern California, staff attorney job postings, and information on attending local workshops and conferences on equitable community development and serving LEP clients.

To sign up to receive the weekly newsletter, please email James Tan at tanj@seattleu.edu.

Public Interest Law and the Recession

Jonathan Smith (Legal Aid Society of DC), Paul Igasaki (Equal Justice Works), Susan Hoffman (Crowell & Moring) and Matthew Pascocello (Washington College of Law) discuss trends affecting the legal services community.

Taproot Study: Pro Bono: An Emerging Trend in American Professional Schools

In mid-2008, the Taproot Foundation’s research team set out to uncover what professional
schools were doing to promote the pro bono ethic in their respective fields. Pro Bono: An Emerging Trend in American Professional Schools outlines their findings.

The beauty that is PSLawNet

Have you been searching the fellowship and job database on PSLawNet? If you're a student interested in public interest and are going to bookmark only one site this year, PSLawNet is the one to tag. SU is a member school, which gives you access to job and fellowships databases, international resources, a public interest career fair calendar, summer public interest funding opportunities and much more. Check the site often for intern, attorney, and fellowship opportunities.

Evaluating a Large Firm's Commitment to Pro Bono

Deciding which firms to apply to during OCI can be a difficult process. One factor you may want to consider is the firm's commitment to providing pro bono legal services. Two resources may be of assistance to you in assessment:
The Pro Bono Institute's Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge lists large firms (over 50 attorneys) that devote three or five percent of their billable hours or 60 or 100 hours per attorney annually to the provision of pro bono legal services to individuals and organizations in need. Signatories to challenge can be found here.
If you are researching law firms (particularly if you are looking outside the Seattle area), the Stanford law student-driven nonprofit to assess hours, committment to pro bono and diversity, and layoff information is Building a Better Legal Profession.