Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – Curtin Justice Fund Legal Internship Program

The Curtin Justice Fund Legal Internship Program is managed jointly by the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants.  The Program will pay a $2,500 stipend to three law school students who spend the summer months working for a bar association or legal services program designed to prevent homelessness or assist homeless or indigent clients or their advocates.

The ideal intern will have a demonstrated interest in public interest law and experience working with poor people or on issues affecting them. All law students are eligible and first year law students are encouraged to apply. The intern must commit no less than eight continuous weeks between May 1 and October 1 to the program of his or her choice. For details and application instructions, go here. Deadline to apply is Monday, March 31, 2014.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – Spring Internship at Love 146

Founded in 2002, Love146 is an international human rights organization committed to the end of child trafficking and exploitation. They pursue this by caring for survivors, providing prevention education to at-risk youth, training professionals who work with exploited youth, and empowering an international movement of abolition.

The Love146 Spring Legal Intern will be based out of the Houston, Texas office and will report directly to the General Counsel. The work will provide exposure to a variety of practice areas, including employment, corporate compliance, intellectual property, tort risk management, and international business law. The position may also entail interaction with legislation and policy at the international, national, and state levels.

For more details and application instructions, look for Job ID# 9650 in the Symplicity Job Bank.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

The SEC’s Summer Student Honors Program is a ten-week opportunity for first year law students to become acquainted with the regulation of the securities market. Participants work with SEC Staff members on projects covering a broad range of the Commission’s mission, such as conducting investigations of industry and issuer practices, assisting in the litigation of enforcement actions, and drafting proposed statutes and rules, to name a few responsibilities. The Student Honors Program offers opportunities to students in Washington, D.C. and several regional offices.  

The application deadline is Monday, February 3, 2014. For more information and detailed application instructions, go to: http://www.sec.gov/jobs/jobs_students_honors.shtml.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, located in Houston, handles criminal prosecutions for violations of federal law, civil lawsuits by and against the government, appellate proceedings, and actions to collect judgments and restitution on behalf of victims and taxpayers.

Their law student internship program provides participants with supervised and direct responsibility for criminal, civil, appellate, and post-appellate litigation. This includes conducting research and writing assignments, assisting AUSAs with trial and witness preparation, participating in moot courts prior to appellate arguments, attendance at depositions, mediations, trials, and much more.

Interns are expected to work a minimum of 10 hours per week, beginning in May and ending by the end of August. Positions are unpaid, but they will gladly work with law schools and students to assist in arranging for any available course credit.

Law students must be U.S. citizens and will be required to successfully pass a background investigation adjudicated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The investigation will address a variety of areas such as credit history, drug usage, arrests, and mental health treatment. Applicants who may have issues in these areas must be prepared to provide supporting documentation showing that all matters have been resolved as part of the pre-investigation process.

To apply, send a cover letter, resume, shorting sample (ten pages maximum), and unofficial school transcript via email to interns.usatxs@usdoj.gov. Deadline to apply is January 31, 2014.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – United States Attorney, Southern District of Texas

The United States Attorney’s Office is seeking second- and third-year law students for Spring 2014 Internships. Their internship program provides participants with supervised and direct responsibility for criminal, civil, appellate, and post-appellate litigation. This includes conducting research and writing assignments, assisting attorneys with trial and witness preparation, participating in moot courts prior to appellate oral arguments, attendance at depositions, medications, and trials, and much more.

Interns are expected to work a minimum of 10 hours per week, beginning in early February and ending by the end of May. The position is unpaid, but participants would be eligible to receive course credit through the Externship Program.

Applications are due by November 1, 2013. Students should send a cover letter, resume, shorting sample (10 page maximum), and unofficial transcript via email to interns.usatxs@usdoj.gov.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week - TCRP

The Texas Civil Rights Project Houston office (TCRP) seeks motivated law students for the spring and summer. TCRP fights race, sex, and disability discrimination, along with police brutality, while supporting free speech, prisoner rights, privacy, nd voting rights through cutting edge impact litigation. Our law clerks are involved in all aspects of litigation, including investigation of potential cases; work with clients; preparation of complaints, discovery, and motions; and assistance with depositions, hearings, and trials in federal and state court. We generally give a lot of responsibility to our law clerks and an opportunity to be part of the cases that are changing Texas and the nation.

Students interested in fixed-term internships (either full-time or part-time) during the academic year should email a resume and cover letter to TCRP's Regional Director, Amin Alehashem, at amin@texascivilrightsproject.org. 

Students who work with TCRP are eligible to apply for work study funding. See http://www.law.uh.edu/pil/workstudy.asp for more details.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – International Human Rights Fellowship

Human Rights Watch (New York and Washington, DC) seeks law students and graduate students for a full-time, paid International Human Rights Fellowship beginning in September, 2014. Fellows monitor and draft reports on human rights developments in various countries, conduct on-site investigations, and engage in advocacy and media outreach aimed at publicizing and curtailing human rights violations. 

Deadline to apply is Wednesday, October 1, 2013. For more details and application instructions, log into the Public Policy Handbook (available under “shortcuts” on the right hand side of your Symplicity homepage).

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – 2013 Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair

Equal Justice Works is gearing up for the 2013 Conference and Career Fair, which will be in Arlington, VA October 25 – 26, 2013.  Public interest and government agencies from across the country flock to this conference to recruit students for internship and permanent employment opportunities.  Additionally, the Conference offers a variety of workshops on the latest news and developments in areas of public interest law.  Student registration is open August 13 – September 12, 2013 for students seeking interviews.  Please see the registration site for more information. 

Please note that due to NALP guidelines, 1L students are not eligible to interview with employers during the Equal Justice Works Career Fair. However, 1L students may informally talk to employers during "Table Talk" on Friday and Saturday.

PILO members may be able to seek reimbursement for travel expenses to the EJW Conference and Career Fair. Contact current PILO president, Lauren Fischer, for more details. 

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Legal Honors Open House – Entry-level attorneys at HUD are hired exclusively through their Legal Honors Program. Applications will be accepted until September 20, 2013, but before you apply join HUD at their Houston office (1301 Fannin Street, Suite 2200) for their Legal Honors Open House on September 4, 2013 at noon. Students will learn more about the Legal Honors Program and externship opportunities in their office. RSVP to attend by calling HUD at 713-718-3126. Don’t miss this opportunity to get insider information on the application process and what they may be looking for in candidates. 

Career Counselors in the Commons – Gloria Aldridge, Associate Regional Counsel of HUD, will be joining the CDO in the Commons on September 3, 2013 at noon. All students are welcome to stop by to introduce themselves and discuss externship opportunities for the spring or summer.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week #2 - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights in Denver, CO

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in Denver has internship openings for the summer 2013.  OCR enforces a variety of Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination and ensure the privacy and security of health information.  Specifically, OCR has jurisdiction over programs and entities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in instances of alleged discrimination based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, and in certain limited circumstances, sex and religion.

Additionally, under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, OCR has jurisdiction over disability discrimination claims lodged against public entities, as regards such entities’ operation of health and human services programs.  To ensure the privacy and security of health information, OCR has jurisdiction over health plans, health clearinghouses and health care providers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.  More information about OCR is available on our website:  www.hhs.gov/ocr.

The deadline to apply is April 15, 2013. Although this position is unpaid, students would be eligible to receive academic credit. For more details and application instructions log into the Symplicity Job Bank and look for Job ID #8717. See your counselor in the CDO for questions.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week #1 – Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics

The Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics at South Texas College of Law seeks a litigation intern for a summer internship in its Civil Practice Clinics. The Civil Practice Clinics handle family law, probate, estate planning, guardianship, child welfare and social security cases for low-income and disadvantaged clients. This internship will be a 10 week full-time paid position focused on the development of litigation skills.

As an intern with the Civil Practice Clinics, the selected applicant will have the opportunity to work in all practice areas, though much of the litigation practice is in family law. The intern will work with attorneys at all different stages of the litigation process while also being exposed to the public service setting.

Intern duties include interviewing clients, conducting factual investigations in preparation for hearings, discovery, and drafting pleadings and documents for family, guardianship and PMC cases.

The litigation intern will receive a $4,000 sponsored by the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas. The deadline to apply is April 15, 2013. For application instructions log into the Symplicity Job Bank and look for Job ID# 8701. See your counselor in the CDO for questions.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – Metro Law Clerk

The Legal Department of Houston Metro is accepting applications for a summer law clerk to work up to 15 hours per week. Students engage in a variety of tasks, such as: (1) Performing litigation support by  responding to discovery, scheduling and arranging for depositions, ordering records, gathering materials related to pending claims, locating witnesses, and acting as a liaison with outside legal support services. (2) Performing research and locating case law, statutory authority, administrative regulations and other pertinent legal resources; and (3)Drafting pleadings, memos, correspondence and other materials.

The deadline to apply is April 19, 2013. For more information about the position and application instructions, go to http://www.ridemetro.org/opportunities/jobs/. Register as a first-time visitor and then search for the “law clerk” position. Please see your counselor in the CDO with any questions.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – Future Appointed Counsel Training Program

The Harris County Public Defender’s Office received a grant from the Department of Justice to establish the Future Appointed Counsel Training Program (FACT) for new lawyers committed to representing indigent defendants in Harris County. The training includes a 14-day “boot camp” this summer, and 2 weekend follow-up trainings next year,  all provided by Gideon’s Promise, formerly the Southern Public Defender Training Center (online at: http://gideonspromise.org). The grant covers travel, lodging, and the training. There will also be a 2-day training on Harris County courts and Texas law, and a year of paid mentoring to be provided by top notch criminal defense lawyers.

This year they will be accepting a class of 10 lawyers, licensed for 0-3 years. Students who graduate this May and take the bar this summer are eligible to apply. Applications are due on April 1, 2013 and can be found here: http://harriscountypublicdefender.org/FACT-ReqforApps-v2-Form.pdf. 

Check out the video presentation on the FACT program and Gideon's Promise training program.

Public Interest Opportunity of the Week – Texas Governor’s Fellowship Program

The Office of the Governor is seeking 1Ls and 2Ls for its volunteer Fellowship Program. Four Fellows are chosen each semester. The Summer 2013 Program runs from June to August, with flexible dates, and split summers are permitted. Fellows have the option to work in one of many divisions, including Aerospace and Aviation, Budget, Planning and Policy, Economic Development, Human Resources, Legislative Office, and Women’s Commission, among several others. 

Applicants for Summer 2013 are due on April 15, 2013. For more details and application instructions, log in to the Government Honors & Internship Handbook (accessible via your Symplicity homepage, under “shortcuts”). Please see your counselor in the CDO with any questions.