ESTABLISHED PRO BONO PROJECTS
Below you'll find a selection of public interest employers who are familiar with the Law School's pro bono program and who frequently have projects for students. You may contact employers directly. For a list of all established projects, please see the Social Justice Initiatives database on Lawnet.
Bronx Defenders
Bronx Defenders is a non-profit organization providing free legal representation to Bronx residents. Bronx Defenders works with clients, their families, and their communities to go beyond individualized criminal cases to address the critical issues that circumscribe clients' lives. Using a holistic approach to client representation, the organization staff includes social workers as well as criminal defense and family defense attorneys. Columbia Law School alumna Kara Finke is a family defense attorney at Bronx Defenders and has served as the supervising attorney for many CLS students.
Contact: Kara Finck
Karaf@bronxdefenders.org
(718) 665-0100
Legal Aid Society, Harlem Office
In addition to providing general legal services in the areas of housing, benefits and family law, the office coordinates the city-wide Family/Domestic violence practice and participates in the outreach site-based Single Stop Robin Hood Foundation Initiative to which clients seeking help may be referred for case intake. The office is also the site of the Legal Aid Society’s model Community Technology Center, where clients waiting to see a case handler can access the CTC website for information on their presenting problem.
Contact: Adrienne Holder
aholder@legal-aid.org
(646) 672-2279
The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
Located at 126th Street and Lenox Avenue, The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem is a community-based public defender office providing high-quality legal and social services to residents of upper Manhattan. The organization is committed to strengthening the Upper Manhattan community by assisting residents with the wide range of problems that bring poor people into court. In addition to representation in criminal matters, NDS assists clients and their families in related civil cases, provides social service assistance and conducts a number of youth leadership and crime prevention programs.
Contact: Matt Knecht
mknecht@ndsny.org
(212) 876-5500 x 118
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI)
Founded in 1975, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest is a nonprofit, civil rights law firm that strives for social justice. In partnership with member law firms, corporate law departments and other organizations, NYLPI helps underrepresented people develop legal strategies to serve their vision for themselves and their communities. Advocacy areas include disability rights, health care and the environment.
Contact: Miranda Massie
mmassie@nylpi.org
(212) 244-4664 x322
New York Legal Assistance Group: Total Life Choices Advance Directives Project
NYLAG serves immigrants, seniors, the homebound, persons with disabilities, patients with chronic illness or disease and others in need of free legal services. The Total Life Choices Advance Directives Project provides vital legal information and services for people on completing advance health care directives, including living wills and health care proxies.. This ensures that individuals can have health care wishes complied with even if illness or injury renders them unable to express their wishes directly. TLC staff regularly provides educational workshops and staff trainings throughout New York City; Columbia Law Students work on this project at Mount Sinai Hospital, located on upper Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Contact: Tina Janssen-Spinosa
tjanssenspinosa@nylag.org
(212) 613-5017
New York State Attorney General’s Office
With more than 650 Assistant Attorneys General and over 2,000 employees, the New York State Attorney General serves as the guardian of the legal rights of the citizens of New York, its organizations and its natural resources. Located on lower Broadway, the Manhattan office undertakes litigation on behalf of NYS, including complex trial work, depositions and field work. Located in White Plains (walking distance from Metro North), the Westchester Regional Office has 13 attorneys on staff. Bureaus represented in office include Consumer Frauds and Public Advocacy, Charities and Not-for-Profits, State Counsel and Litigation, and the Sex Offender Management Unit.
Contact (for Manhattan and Westchester offices): Sandra Grannum
Sandra.grannum@oag.state.ny.us
(212) 416-8811
West Harlem Environmental Action Center (attending)
West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT) is a non-profit, community-based, environmental justice organization dedicated to building community power to fight environmental racism and improve environmental health, protection and policy in communities of color. WE ACT accomplishes its mission through community organizing, education and training, advocacy, research and public policy development.
Contact: Anhthu Hoang
anhthu@weact.org
(212) 961-1000
For more information about these and other established pro bono placements, visit Lawnet (click on Student Services, then Public Interest Database then Pro Bono Search).
Columbia Law School has a large selection of In-House Pro Bono Projects, as well as relationships with a wide variety of organizations, governmental offices, and law firms who host students to do pro bono work.
The document below shows a sample of the projects available for the 2011-2012 year. This list is not exhaustive, so continue to check your email or visit Social Justice Initiatives to learn about new projects!
SPRING BREAK PRO BONO OPPORTUNITIES
In addition to the many pro bono opportunities posted on our website and distributed through our weekly emails, we have compiled the following list of short-term pro bono projects that can be performed during spring break. Many of the public interest organizations that responded to our call for pro bono opportunities have positions for more than one student. Many of the projects can be done remotely. Please check back periodically as this list will likely be updated.
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance in answering questions about these projects or about the mandatory pro bono requirement by writing to Ryan Kasdin at ryan.kasdin@law.columbia.edu or by calling 212-854-3535.
All pro bono forms for 3Ls are due April 1 by 5 p.m.
Thank you in advance for fulfilling and completing this requirement in a professional and timely manner.
Participating Organizations
ONSITE
1.Domestic Violence Law Project (New York City)
2.Farmworker Legal Services of New York, Inc. (Rochester, NY)
3.New York State Attorney General (New York City – 2 Projects)
4.Southern Center for Human Rights (Atlanta, GA)
REMOTE
1.Advancement Project, Right to Vote Initiative
2.Advocates for Children (2 Projects)
3.American Civil Liberties Union, Voting Rights Project
4.Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
5.Legal Outreach, Inc.
6.Legal Services – Brooklyn Branch
7.Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP (Civil Rights Law Firm)
8.Support Center for Child Advocates
9.Vera Institute of Justice
Onsite Projects
1. Domestic Violence Law Project
Overview: The Domestic Violence Law Project (“DVLP”) was established by Safe Horizon in 1991. Since its inception, DVLP has provided high-quality legal advocacy and representation to thousands of low-income and indigent battered women in family justice proceedings, such as order of protection, custody, support, and divorce proceedings; the DVLP also advocates for clients within the criminal justice system.
Project: We need a student who can do the following under our supervision: motion writing/research, trial preparation, witness preparation, discovery request, cite checking, and court appearances.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: On-Site NYC, 35-40 hours, 1 Student
Qualifications: demonstrated interest in domestic violence, women's issues, public interest law, and/or general issues affecting low income communities. Spanish speakers are preferred.
Supervising Attorneys: Jennifer Kob and Lisa Bagley
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to Jennifer Kob (jkob@safehorizon.org) and Lisa Bagley (lisa.bagley@safehorizon.org)
2. Farmworker Legal Services of New York, Inc.
Overview: Farmworker Legal Services of New York, Inc. (FLSNY) is a not-for-profit corporation providing free legal services and legal education to New York's agricultural workers. FLSNY's lawyers and paralegals provide a wide range of legal advocacy on behalf of migrant and seasonal farmworkers. FLSNY seeks to assure that agricultural employers and housing providers in New York and nationwide comply with the law, that government entities respect farm workers' civil rights, and that the public is educated about farmworker rights under existing laws and the exclusions from labor laws that protect other types of workers.
Project: The student will assist the legal team with legal research and support work on cases focusing on employment, labor, and civil rights law claims. The student will also have the opportunity to accompany FLSNY outreach staff to visit farmworkers in labor camps and other housing in Western New York. (If the student is able to come up early, there is a special outreach event with the Farmworker Women’s Institute Saturday, March 13. If not, there will be other chances throughout the week.) The student will learn about: the rights of farmworkers under state and federal law, exclusions of farmworkers from labor law protections, the state of the H-2A agricultural guestworker program, demographics of farmworkers in New York state, and connecting labor issues into visions of sustainability. This is a unique opportunity to engage with one of the most vulnerable, exploited, and invisible groups of workers in our nation.
Student will also commit to organizing one educational event on campus on farmworker issues upon their return to Columbia.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: This is an onsite project at FLSNY’s office in Rochester, NY. No car needed. Housing will be provided for the week. Student must arrange their own transportation to Rochester. (1 Student)
Qualifications: Multi-cultural awareness and sensitivity, as most farmworkers are from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. A conversational level of Spanish. Open to 1L, 2L, 3L.
Supervising Attorney: Molly Graver
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to Molly Graver (mgraver@wnylc.com) or Lew Papenfuse (lpapenfuse@wnylc.com)
3. New York State Attorney General
Overview: As head of the Department of Law, the Attorney General is both the “People's Lawyer” and the State's chief legal officer. As the “People's Lawyer,” the Attorney General serves as the guardian of the legal rights of the citizens of New York, its organizations and its natural resources. In his role as the State's chief legal counsel, the Attorney General not only advises the Executive branch of State government, but also defends actions and proceedings on behalf of the State.
Project 1: Students will be assisting in the preparation of memos, briefs, deposition digests and exhibits in 6 actions where the Attorney General is representing Governor Pataki and other defendants in an action challenging the Governor’s Sexually Violent Predators (“SVP”) Initiative. The SVP Initiative began on September 13, 2005, and ended when the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act (“SOMTA”) became effective on April 14, 2007. Under the SVP Initiative, the governor’s staff directed the Department of Correctional Services (“DOCS”) and the Office of Mental Health (“OMH”) to arrange for the examination by physicians of sex offenders whose DOCS sentences were expiring, or who were being released, to see if the sex offenders met the standard for the psychiatric commitment.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Manhattan, 40 hours, 2 students.
Qualifications: Federal practice or evidence background. 3Ls preferred but 2Ls may apply
Supervising Attorneys: Assistant Attorneys General Ed Curtis and Jane Goldberg
To apply: Submit cover letter, resume, writing sample, transcript (unofficial is ok) and three references (including email addresses) to Sandra Jefferson Grannum at recruitment@ag.ny.gov.
Project 2: Preparation for a federal court trial. We need a student to compile a guide to the trial judge’s decisions in which he has issued rulings on various evidentiary issues. The student would prepare a brief summary of those decisions. Time permitting, the assignment would be expanded to cover relevant Circuit Court cases.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Manhattan, Up to 40 hours, 1 student
Qualifications: Must have completed evidence course
Supervising Attorney: Assistant Attorney General Jacob Hollinger
To apply: Submit cover letter, resume, writing sample, transcript (unofficial is ok) and three references (including email addresses) to Sandra Jefferson Grannum at recruitment@ag.ny.gov.
4.Southern Center for Human Rights
Overview: Since 1988, ILP has provided free or low-cost legal services to low- and moderate- income immigrant victims of crime, torture, abuse and domestic violence. ILP, an accredited program of the Board of Immigration Appeals, has nationally recognized staff attorneys who specialize in all areas of immigration law.
Project: Research and writing assignments about one of our litigation cases (either capital litigation or impact litigation challenging institutional failures in the criminal justice system). Will depend on students’ interests.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Onsite in Atlanta, 32-40 hours, 2-3 students.
Qualifications: Prefer 2L and 3L students with demonstrated interest in the criminal justice system; will consider 1Ls.
Supervising Attorney: Amanda Parks
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to aparks@schr.org
Remote Projects
1. Advancement Project, Right to Vote Initiative
Overview: Advancement Project's Right to Vote initiative is an extension of U.S. Representative Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.'s pioneering work, which spearheaded the most recent movement to enshrine the right to vote into the U.S. Constitution by amendment. No such right is explicitly guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the 1965 Voting Rights Act or any other federal legislation. They prohibit discrimination, but the states decide in the first instance who is qualified to vote and whether and when elections should even be held. Without a federal guarantee of the right to vote, states use their control over this basic citizenship right in a patchwork quilt of arbitrary rules with vast consequences for close elections.
Project: Assist in research for a report which will examine how the constitutional amendment language should be framed and discuss the ramifications of language options. The student(s) will be asked to conduct research into state constitutional provisions enshrining the right to vote and review the impact of the language in the states. Additionally, students will be asked to review “free and equal” clauses in state constitutions and assess the impact of these clauses on voting rights in the states.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Remote, 40-60 hours, 1-2 Students
Qualifications: 2L or 3L
Supervising Attorneys: Eddie Hailes, General Counsel and Managing Director of Advancement Project, and Malik Bhalotra, Staff Attorney
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to Eddie Hailes (ehailes@advancementproject.org) and Malik Bhalotra (cbhalotra@advancementproject.org)
2.Advocates for Children
Overview: AFC promotes access to the best education New York can provide for all students, especially students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. We use uniquely integrated strategies to advance systemic reform, empower families and communities, and advocate for the educational rights of individual students.
Project 1: the project would involve verifying the accuracy and formatting of citations in a policy paper on immigrant English Language Learner students who have interrupted formal education (called Students with Interrupted Formal Education or SIFE). Depending on the student’s skills or interests, he or she could also assist with formatting, creating appendices, graphics, and, if the timing was appropriate, preparing for the report’s release. We anticipate release of the paper in about a month. If it only involves Bluebooking and checking citations, the project could be done either on- or off-site. If he or she were to assist with other aspects of the paper, the project would have to involve some time on-site.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Offsite and Manhattan, approx. 6-10 hours, 1 student.
Qualifications: Law Student
Supervising Attorney: Gisela Alvarez
To apply: Contact Gisela Alvarez, galvarez@advocatesforchildren.org
Project 2: Research and prepare a brief memo on the legislative history behind the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, specifically any history dealing with the education provisions of the law. This law is the first major federal child welfare legislation since 1997’s Adoption and Safe Families Act, and it creates a number of major reforms in national child welfare practice, including an assurance that local social service districts will ensure educational stability for children entering foster care.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Offsite and Manhattan, 10-15+ hours, 1 student
Qualifications: Familiarity and interest in foster care issues
Supervising Attorney: Erika Palmer
To apply: Contact Erika Palmer, epalmer@advocatesforchildren.org
3. American Civil Liberties Union, Voting Rights Project
Overview: Established in 1965, the ACLU Voting Rights Project has worked to protect the gains in political participation won by racial and language minorities since passage of the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) that same year. The Project has filed more than 300 lawsuits to enforce the provisions of the VRA and the U.S. Constitution.
Project: Research regarding: state restrictions on who may circulate nominating petitions and any relevant case law; African nations that allow prisoners to vote and any relevant case law.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Remote, Up to 4 Students
Qualifications: Law Student
Supervising Attorney: Bryan Sells
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to Bryan Sells, bsells@aclu.org
4. Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
Overview: New England's leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression.
Project: We are seeking a thorough examination of certain types of cases arising under the Maine constitution’s equal protection and due process clauses, with particular attention to those that cite/discuss cases of importance to LGBT litigation such as Roemer, Cleburne, or that intersect with questions of family and/or marriage. There are some more specifically detailed research questions within this, but this is the broad categorization. More details will be given to students who contact us about this project. The end product will be a legal memo.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Remote, 30-40 hours, 2 students
Qualifications: Must have completed Constitutional Law course
Supervising Attorneys: Mary Bonauto and Nima Eshghi
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to Nima Eshghi, neshghi@glad.org
5. Legal Outreach, Inc.
Overview: Legal Outreach prepares urban youth from underserved communities to compete at high levels by using intensive legal and educational programs as tools for fostering vision, developing skills, enhancing confidence, and facilitating the pursuit of higher education.
Project: Write constitutional law debate fact patterns and put together mock trial materials.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Remote, 40 hours, 4 students
Qualifications: Familiarity with constitutional law/criminal law, or ability to research relevant law (e.g. Search & Seizure for a debate on that issue)
Supervising Attorneys: Stephanie Feingold, Director of Legal Education
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to Stephanie Feingold, sfeingold@legaloutreach.org
6. Legal Services – Brooklyn Branch
Overview: For more than 40 years, our staff of talented attorneys, paralegals, social workers and clerical workers have helped low-income New Yorkers with nowhere else to turn navigate the civil legal system. Each year, through our efforts, we have helped more than 10,000 families avoid homelessness and more than 25,000 poor and low-income New Yorkers with a full range of their legal needs.
Project: Research regarding challenging a law guardian's fee as excessive and a draft motion regarding same; Research supporting the enforcement of an arbitration decision before a Beth Din regarding maintenance and equitable distribution and a memo re same.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Remote, 20 hours, 1 student
Qualifications: Completion of family law course is preferred
Supervising Attorney: Angela Barker
To apply: Email Angela Barker, abarker@bb.ls-nyc.org
7. Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP (Civil Rights Law Firm)
Overview: The Firm currently represents those who have been victims of police, prison and other forms of official misconduct, as well as those who have been wrongfully convicted. In addition to its core civil rights practice, the Firm is involved in discrimination and other constitutional litigation. NSB routinely collaborates with top civil rights and trial lawyers nationwide in cases outside of New York.
Project: Pretrial research on in limine matters in wrongful conviction civil rights case against the City of New York and various current and former NYPD officers, including former “mob cop” Louis Eppolito
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Remote, hours tbd, 1 student. Trial is set for June 7 in the EDNY, student will be invited to watch trial. Additional opportunities may arise throughout the semester if student is interested and pro bono work is satisfactory.
Qualifications: Must have completed Evidence course. Section 1983 course or experience also desirable. 3Ls preferable, 2Ls okay.
Supervising Attorneys: Emma Freudenberger
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to Emma Freudenberger, emma@nsbcivilrights.com
8.Support Center for Child Advocates
Overview: The Support Center for Child Advocates, founded in 1977, is the country's oldest and largest pro bono legal and social services agency for children. Our mission is to advocate for abused and neglected children in Philadelphia, with the goal of securing a permanent, nurturing environment for every child.
Project: This project is for an article or other publication on the permanency barriers involved in the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in the dependency system. Sexual orientation as a barrier to permanency is a relatively new concept. The article will explore the issues faced by LGBTQ youth (i.e. homelessness, increased risk for suicide and drug use, bullying, etc.) and examine how their cases differ from their “straight” counterparts in the dependency system. The research should focus on statistics of the LGBTQ youth population, as well as the Juvenile Act and how dependency laws interact/intersect with the needs of the LGBTQ population. Ultimately, the goal of the article will be to illustrate the challenges of working with LGBTQ youth and their families within a system that does not necessarily recognize sexual orientation as a cause of abuse/neglect or as a barrier to permanency.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Remote, 10+ hours, 1+ student.
Qualifications: Familiarity with family law and/or LGBTQ youth would be helpful, but is not a requirement.
Supervising Attorney: Rebecca Mainor
To apply: Email Rebecca Mainor, rmainor@advokid.org (resume and cover letter not necessary)
9.Vera Institute of Justice
Overview: Over the past few years, a group of senior black professionals in the financial and legal world have gathered (in an unincorporated manner) as “the Pipeline Project”, to address some of the problems experienced by young black men. Pipeline was founded and is led by two Sullivan and Cromwell partners. The Vera Institute of Justice (www.vera.org), a 49-year-old nonprofit with experience in creating and spinning off new organizations, is serving as the fiscal sponsor of Pipeline. Pipeline’s recently-hired first executive director is a Vera employee.
Project: One of the projects that Pipeline wants to implement is a scholarship project for black students who are applying for the selective NYC public high schools. The scholarships would pay for test preparation, with the goal of increasing the number of black male students who score well on the admission exam. (More black students are taking this test than took it in the past, but few are doing well.) Citibank has agreed to fund this; Kaplan has agreed to accept students who are selected by the principals at the schools they attend.
Legal and programmatic questions to be researched
•Does Pipeline have the legal right to target scholarships at young black men? (Amarah has done some preliminary research on this, but we need more.)
•Do the non-discrimination clauses or any other provisions in Vera contracts prohibit Vera, as fiscal sponsor and the employer of Pipeline’s CEO, from allowing this scholarship program to take place as envisioned?
•If there are legal or Vera (contract or nonprofit) problems, is there some way to legally create the program that Pipeline wants to implement—a scholarship program targeted at young black men.
Location, Estimated Time, Number of Students: Remote, hours tbd
Qualifications: Law Student
Supervising Attorneys: Karen Goldstein and Amarah Sedreddine
To apply: Send resume and letter of interest to Susan Rai, srai@Vera.org
