Lawyers for America Partnership Proposal

Transcription

1 Lawyers for America Partnership Proposal LSPC is pleased to solicit applicants from the UC-Hastings College of the Law Class of 2016 for the Lawyers for America (LfA) two-year fellowship. If you have questions about LfA, please contact Prof. Mai Linh Spencer at or for questions specific to LSPC, please contact Jesse Stout at Organization Please provide any information about your organization (mission, history, size, office location(s), etc.) that you think would be helpful to student applicants. Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC) organizes communities impacted by the criminal justice system and advocates to release incarcerated people, to restore human and civil rights and to reunify families and communities. We build public awareness of structural racism in policing, the courts and prison system and we advance racial and gender justice in all our work. Our strategies include legal support, trainings, advocacy, public education, grassroots mobilization and developing community partnerships. LSPC was founded 35 years ago in We currently have 10 fulltime staff members. Our office is centrally located at 1540 Market Street in San Francisco, five blocks from UC-Hastings, and near both BART and MUNI. Workplace If your organization has more than one office location, please note the location to which the fellow would be assigned in the first and second years. For each of the above offices, please note (approximately) how many FTE attorneys and non-attorney staff work in that office. Supervision 2.5 FTE attorneys, 7.5 FTE non-attorneys What is the name and job title of the person you expect to be the fellow s supervisor and the LfA liaison? Will other attorneys be giving the fellow assignments as well? Fellow s supervisor: Carol Strickman, Senior Staff Attorney LfA liaison and other assignments: Jesse Stout, Policy Director What formal training will the fellow be provided by your office? Please describe the duration, nature, and scope of that training Market St., Suite 490 San Francisco, CA Phone: (415) Fax: (415)

2 We will begin with an orientation to office procedures and confidentiality. We will provide formal training in class action litigation, family law, and public benefits advocacy, plus training in non-profit administration, legislative process, legislative analysis, legislative advocacy, and policy implementation outreach. We will also provide training in responding to prisoners requests for legal information in three main areas: conditions of confinement, criminal law, and family law. This involves training both in relevant substantive law and in effective client communication. LfA participants will receive ongoing training in, and work closely with attorneys regarding, a variety of subjects as relevant to specific LSPC projects. LSPC is also a Legal Services Support Center partially funded by the California State Bar to provide legal support and technical assistance to legal aid offices around the state. Thus, this fellowship offers opportunities for travel and networking with Qualified Legal Services Providers (legal aid agencies) across California. What additional training opportunities (regular in-services, conferences, etc.) will be available to the fellow during the two-year fellowship? Numerous CLE opportunities will be available to the fellow during the two-year fellowship, through LSPC s membership in the Legal Aid Association of California and otherwise, with special focus in clean slate and reentry law. For example, LSPC recently hosted two widely attended legal trainings, one in legislative advocacy for formerly incarcerated people and one in custody and visitation rights for recently released parents. Supervisors will be asked to participate in periodic formal written evaluations during the 3L year. What additional evaluation and feedback structures will you implement for the fellow throughout the fellowship? The Fellow will consistently receive informal feedback on individual projects. In addition, the Fellow will receive regular feedback via weekly meetings with Senior Staff Attorney Carol Strickman and/or Policy Director Jesse Stout. Does your office currently employ, or has it recently employed, post-graduate fellows and/or volunteer attorneys? Does your office host externs earning academic credit? Would the LfA fellow(s) supplement or replace other fellows/volunteers? LSPC regularly and currently employs post-graduate fellows and volunteer attorneys, as well as hosting numerous externs earning academic credit. The LfA Fellow would primarily supplement other fellows/volunteers. Currently LSPC hosts one Stanford Law Fellow, and has recently hosted a Soros Justice Fellow and a UC-Hastings Bridge Fellow who were both UC- Hastings alumnae. LSPC also participates in the annual PIPS Day at UC-Hastings. LSPC has a robust externship program, hosting legal externs from Bay Area law schools each spring, summer, and fall, as well as some law students from other states and countries. Fellow s Work and Professional Development

3 To maximize her/his professional development, the fellow should be assigned lawyering tasks of increasing complexity and responsibility during the course of the entire fellowship. The second semester should build on the first, and the post-graduate year should include tasks typical of an entry-level attorney. Below, please describe as concretely and specifically as possible the work that the fellow will perform in her/his first semester. In keeping with LSPC s commitment to promoting personal and professional development, as well as individual leadership skills, we encourage the Fellow to identify areas of particular interest s/he wants to work on. LSPC will attempt to accommodate those interests during the fellowship, to the extent consistent with our work load. We will also ask the Fellow to take on significant leadership within LSPC s Family Unity Project, including researching proposed legislation, and organizing regular coalition meetings to improve treatment of and services for incarcerated pregnant women. Other tasks will include: Updating existing legal information manuals for California prisoners; document review for class action litigation (tagging and labeling documents); writing letters responding to prisoners correspondence requesting legal information; assisting staff attorney in updating curriculum for family law classes in jails and prisons; prison visiting; learning to track bills progress in the state legislative process; researching outreach opportunities and contacts for implementing statutes prohibiting shackling of pregnant prisoners. Please briefly describe what additional skills and experiences you anticipate that the second semester will offer. Supporting staff attorney in drafting new legal informational manuals for prisoners; client correspondence and class client database management for class action litigation; revising and writing templates for interns to respond to prisoner correspondence requesting legal information; teaching family law classes in jails and prisons; tracking legislation and writing letters of support and opposition arguing organization s positions; contacting community leaders and relevant professionals to promote implementation of anti-shackling law and other organizational campaigns. Finally, describe the fellow s responsibilities during the post-graduate year. During the post-graduate year, the Fellow will be invited to develop her/his own project related to criminal justice reform with the support of LSPC staff, according to the Fellow s own interests in advocacy and research. Other tasks will include: Writing and distributing new legal information manuals for prisoners (guardianship law, pregnancy rights in prison, etc.); trial preparation for class action litigation; supervising interns and volunteers in using templates to respond to prison correspondence; teaching and designing new curricula for family law classes in jails and prisons; tracking bills, writing and sending position letters to legislators, and coordinating grassroots advocacy efforts; representing the organization in grassroots advocacy coalitions; building community and institutional support networks for implementation of anti-shackling law and other organizational campaigns.

4 Preferred pre- and co-requisites What, if any, classes must a fellow take before starting work at your organization? Include both substantive/doctrinal classes, as well as skills classes. None. What classes would you prefer that candidates take before starting? Please note whether fellows could take these classes during the fellowship. These classes would be helpful and could be taken during the fellowship: Administrative Law Criminal Procedure Legislation, Statutory Interpretation, and the Administrative State Civil Procedure II Constitutional Law II Family Law and/or Dependency Court Law Legislative Process Statutory Interpretation and Bill Drafting Advanced Legislative Process Corrections and Criminal Justice Criminal Law & Theory Critical Race Theory Public Policy Advocacy Social Justice Lawyering CJC Community Group Advocacy Clinic If there are other requirements or preferences (e.g., prior experience in a particular field or language ability), please note them here. Spanish language skills desired, but are not required. In addition to eight units of fieldwork credit, LfA fellows will earn four units through accompanying classroom work each semester. If there is an area of substantive law or professional skills that would ideally be covered in the classroom portion, please note that here. Criminal law, criminal procedure, family law, bill drafting, statutory interpretation, legislative advocacy, legislative analysis, case planning, pretrial practice. LfA fellows are expected to work a minimum of 32 hours/week at the partner site. To earn the four units/semester of classroom credit, they will need to take a very limited course load on campus. What days/times would the fellow need

5 to be consistently available, e.g. for weekly staff meetings or a particular court calendar? We will try to accommodate those scheduling needs to the extent possible. None. Finally, please feel free to tell us anything else you think might be useful for the LfA program or student applicants. LSPC Vision Statement: We believe in fighting racism and economic injustice as a means to ending mass incarceration. We believe in the human dignity of people in prison and recognize that they come from and are part of our communities. We believe in the right and responsibility of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people to speak and be heard in our own voices, transform our lives and communities, and fully participate in all aspects of society. We believe in public safety, and that it is achieved when all people have voice, communities thrive and our society is just. We believe in the equality of all people, regardless of race, sex, gender, sexual identity, national origin, religion, physical or mental ability, and age. We believe in and fight for the leadership of people most impacted by the prison industry. We believe in maintaining our core principles in our work and relationships. We believe in living the change we want to see in the world.