Current Employment and Volunteer Opportunities at the LAS-ELC

Law Clerk Program for Semester and Summer Clerkships
Volunteer Opportunities
Equal Opportunity Statement for Positions at the LAS-ELC

Law Clerk Program for Semester and Summer Clerkships

Central to the Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center's mission is the education and training of law students interested in the practice of public interest law. Attorneys at the Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center are experienced supervisors who work with law students year-round. Law students willing to work with intensity and focus will find a clerkship at the LAS-ELC a rewarding learning experience.

The Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center's docket covers a wide range of law reform and impact cases in the areas of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, disability, citizenship, sexual orientation, and national origin. The LAS-ELC has been active in fighting anti-affirmative action policies, challenging draconian bilingual and anti-immigrant initiatives passed in California, and in protecting workers who have been harassed, unlawfully terminated, or who have faced other forms of employment discrimination. An active docket in the disability area includes efforts to expand the accessibility of educational institutions to persons with mobility difficulties, and to ensure reasonable accommodations to those with psychiatric disabilities. Our legal staff does trial and appellate work in state and federal courts throughout California and other states. We take cases on behalf of individual and organizational plaintiffs, as well as class actions. The Community Legal Service Program staffs Workers' Rights Clinics in five Bay Area locations, providing practical advice and limited representation on employment matters to low-income workers. Its Unemployment and Wage Claims Project provides direct representation through the administrative process to workers who have been denied wages or unemployment benefits.

Assigned to one or two attorneys, students are primarily responsible for legal research and writing on current and potential cases. Assignments may include litigation memos, pleadings, and collaborative briefs and motions. In addition, tasks related to discovery (deposition preparation, attendance and summarization; witness interviews; propounding and responding to interrogatories) and trial preparation may also be assigned. Students assigned to the Community Legal Services group will participate actively in Workers' Rights Clinics, research legal issues arising in the clinics, and write the clinic manual. All law clerks participate in bi-weekly litigation meetings and are considered part of the litigation team for cases to which they are assigned.

All summer law clerks participate as employment counselors at weekly Workers' Rights Clinics and in lunchtime seminars presented by the LAS-ELC and other public interest law organizations. Additionally, the Unemployment and Wage Claims Project offers law students the opportunity to provide direct representation to workers who have been denied unemployment benefits or wages. The summer calendar is completed by social events, which have included theater outings, participation in SF's Pride Parade events, literary events, outdoor concerts, and barbecues.

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The Application Process

For summer positions, the LAS-ELC gives preference to students who will have completed their second year of law school. Semester clerkships are available to students in their second or third year. Though the LAS-ELC interviews candidates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and Boston during the fall on campus recruitment process organized by law schools, applications from all interested students are welcome. The LAS-ELC actively seeks diversity and welcomes the applications of students from every racial, ethnic and cultural background. Applicants with bi- and multi-lingual capabilities are gladly received. An effort is made to assign each clerk to work in areas of interest to them, and with attorneys whose supervision style will be most effective for the individual. The LAS-ELC values the contribution of law clerks and strives to provide a rewarding experience for each student.

Our law clerks are funded by work/study or other grants, and may also work as externs for clinical credit under programs offered by their law schools. The LAS-ELC will match summer and full time semester program grants in amounts up to $3000. Summer positions are full-time for 10 to 11 weeks.

To apply, include the following:

• Cover letter detailing your interest in the LAS-ELC
• Current resume
• Legal writing sample
• Transcript
• Three references with telephone numbers

Send to:
Human Resources
The Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center
600 Harrison Street, Suite 120
San Francisco, CA 94107

The Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Volunteer Opportunities

The primary volunteer opportunity with the LAS-ELC is through the Bay Area Workers' Rights Clinic. (To read more about the Clinic, click here). The Clinic provides counseling services to clients through its trained law student and paralegal counselors. Though the Clinic is primarily staffed by law students whose schools have a formal relationship with the LAS-ELC, local paralegals who attend weekly training sessions are also sometimes able to volunteer at the Clinic as counselors.

To serve non-native English speakers, the Clinic depends heavily on a corps of volunteer interpreters to assist clinic counselors in interviewing and counseling clients. Presently, the Clinic provides services in Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese. If you are fluent in English and a second language and would be interested in helping us better serve the diverse communities in the Bay Area, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Additionally, the LAS-ELC has occasional administrative and paralegal duties which could be fulfilled by a volunteer.

If you are interested in volunteering with the Bay Area Workers' Rights Clinic, please contact the Community Legal Services Coordinator at: fvalle-miller@las-elc.org, or call (415) 864-8848.

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Equal Opportunity Statement for Positions at the LAS-ELC

The Legal Aid Society-Employment Law center is an equal employment opportunity employer and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex (including pregnancy), gender, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, medical condition including genetic characteristics, mental or physical disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, (including transgender status), weight, height, linguistic characteristics (such as accent and limited English proficiency, where not substantially job-related), citizenship status, or any other basis prohibited by law. The Society also prohibits discrimination based on a perception that an individual has any of the characteristics of the protected classes of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, mental disability, physical disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation, and further prohibits discrimination against an individual who is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics. The LAS-ELC will also make reasonable accommodation for disabled applicants and employees, unless such accommodation would result in undue hardship. Applicants with disabilities may request accommodations by contacting the Vice President for Administration or his/her designee. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, selection, advancement, compensation, training, discipline, and termination.

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