Originally from Pleasanton, California, James Cheney is a force of will and ambition with a deep desire to be a more conscious and conscious member of our society. James, who is currently in his third year of law school at Notre Dame Law School, hopes to use his experience at BayLegal this summer to explore a career in the public interest to “help the people who need it most.” Legal Barriers to Employment Project (LBEP) (San Francisco): Articling students help remove legal barriers to employment, such as criminal records, suspended driver`s licenses, impending evictions, and credit issues, with a range of remedies. LBEP provides comprehensive legal services to social assistance recipients who face legal barriers that prevent them from finding employment and escaping poverty. Family Law Advocacy for Survivors of Domestic Violence (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Mateo): Articling students participate in BayLegal`s comprehensive family law legal representation for low-income domestic violence survivors by providing legal support on a range of family law issues, including divorce; custody and visitation of the child; child and spousal support; and injunctions. BayLegal selects approximately 20 to 30 law students to work in our offices during the academic year and approximately 40 students in the summer. Under the supervision of BayLegal`s lawyers, social workers have the opportunity to build cases from scratch, including: conducting client interviews and initial case assessments; obtaining discoveries and other evidence; Prepare clients for testing; drafting briefs and other legal notes; support for self-represented litigants; participation in public relations and education; and client representation at administrative and state court hearings/trials. Law clerks may also participate in the drafting of writs of mandamus before California superior courts and appellate courts, and participate in litigation with broader implications. Articling students often work on projects and cases that have a profound and lasting impact on our client communities. Health Access Advocacy (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, San Francisco, Santa Clara): Articling students have the opportunity to consult, negotiate with agencies and organizations that provide health care services, and represent BayLegal`s clients at government administrative hearings (no certification required) on various legal issues related to the use of health services, including the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”).

This summer, we have another group of large articling students and articling students for a period of 10 weeks. We are pleased to work with 33 talented and competent young people, all interested in the legal field. Our clerks and interns come from 16 different law schools in five states. They were selected from a large number of candidates, and their work speaks for itself. Join us in welcoming our summer employees and interns to BayLegal and get to know some of them better. At BayLegal, we hope you all have a great summer. We have worked continuously to ensure that our clients have a stress-free summer. Every summer, a number of law students and students volunteer with us and gain significant experience in the legal field. This program was already part of BayLegal before BayLegal was BayLegal. Beginning in 2000, BayLegal was formed as a result of a massive merger of various legal aid organizations serving different parts of the Bay Area. Each of these organizations had its own articling students, and the merger also combined forensic programs. Since then, BayLegal has welcomed a maximum of 35 articling students per summer.

Advocacy for Housing Preservation (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Santa Clara): Law articling students work on homelessness prevention, housing discrimination issues using the Fair Housing Administrative Complaints Laws (HUD and DFEH), maintaining affordable housing, and combating illegal evictions. Clerks interview clients, prepare legal pleadings, and support them for a short period of time (including a possible jury trial) in a full civil trial. For all volunteer opportunities, please complete the volunteer application and send it with your cover letter and CV as well as (only for articling students) a writing sample to Andrea Del-Pan, Pro Bono Director, at probono@baylegal.org. Please send probono@baylegal.org an email with questions. Immigration Advocacy for Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Survivors (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara): As part of BayLegal`s comprehensive legal advice for low-income immigrants who have survived domestic violence and sexual assault, legal interns have the opportunity to assist with VAWA self-petitions and U-Visa nonimmigrant applications. These immigration measures offer relief to survivors who are either immediate family members of violent Americans. Citizens or permanent residents who are legal or who cooperate in the investigation and/or prosecution of offences committed against them. Articling students learn how to assess eligibility, prepare immigration applications, and work directly with surviving immigrants. As the largest provider of free civilian services in the San Francisco Bay Area, we rely on the support of hundreds of volunteers each year to help us fulfill our mission. We welcome a variety of individuals with diverse educational and professional backgrounds, including high school and college students, graduates, active paralegals and paralegals, law school graduates, and all civic-minded individuals who are dedicated to helping. During the school year, Legal Aid at Work generally only accepts outpatients who receive clinical loans under programs offered by their law schools.

During the summer, Legal Aid works ensures that all articling students receive a total of at least $7,000 for our 10-week legal clerkship program. Since legal aid in the workplace operates with limited resources, students must apply for external sources of funding, including funding from their law school, if they are eligible for such funding. Legal Aid works will supplement this summer funding or provide the full $7,000 as required. Interested applicants should also consider applying for Legal Aid at Work through the Peggy Browning Scholarship Program. Legal aid in the workplace will also take into account other equitable arrangements; Feel free to submit suggestions in your application documents. This summer, Zainab is working with BayLegal`s Impact Litigation team to provide direct services to clients, an important combination that she believes should be integrated into all legal organizations. “I want to understand how and why lawyers zoom out on their individual cases and find institutional problems in the system. How the discovery of these issues can affect and inform the entire system,” she says. As his first formal experience in the legal world, James is ready to learn the ropes and find ways to shape both BayLegal and the legal world as a whole. Join us in our mission to provide high-quality legal advice, advice and advocacy services to thousands of low-income residents of the Bay Area.