The Safety Net Project (SNP) of the Veterans Legal Clinic seeks an undergraduate to assist with the legal representation of low-income disabled individuals who are appealing denials of their applications for safety net income and nutrition programs such as Social Security, SNAP, Chapter 115 Veterans Benefits, etc. All of the clients we represent have serious health issues. Some clients are older and in failing physical health, others are younger and have mental health or intellectual disorders. Many clients are disabled veterans.

For the one in three adults that have a criminal record, ordinary essentials such as finding a well-paying job, renting safe and affordable housing, getting a student loan, or purchasing a decent car can be all but impossible to obtain. These barriers are compounded for individuals with disabilities, whom SNP represents in criminal record sealing and expungement. Interns have frequent opportunities to interact with medical providers and medical experts and to work on cases at the intersection of civil rights, criminal justice reform, disability rights, disability access, mental health and the law.

Student responsibilities may include:

– Conduct potential client interviews for intake purposes.

– Extensive client contact and counseling through in-person meetings, phone calls, letters and email communications.

– Drafting medical records requests, letters to clients, agency personnel and medical experts, memoranda of law and other documents on behalf of clients.

– Assisting with advocacy on behalf clients in SSA and DTA appeals.

– Creating self-help guides and virtual education and information opportunities for veterans, disabled individuals and their families.

– Research and writing, and additional tasks as needed to support the case docket.

For more information, please visit our website at:

Start Date:

Hiring for Spring 2021 and Summer 2021, the Project is flexible on start and end dates.

Compensation:

Unpaid

How to Apply:

Please send the following documents to project director Julie McCormack at jmccorma@law.harvard.edu:

– Resume

– Cover Letter

– Writing Sample

About Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School

Located at the crossroads of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury in the City of Boston, we are a community-based clinical law program of Harvard Law School. Through five clinical offerings—Family Law/Domestic Violence Clinic, Predatory Lending/Consumer Protection Clinic, Housing Clinic, Veterans Legal Clinic, and Federal Tax Clinic—and numerous pro bono initiatives we provide essential legal services to low-income residents of Greater Boston and in some instances, where cases present important law reform opportunities, to clients outside our service area. Our longstanding mission is to educate law students for practice and professional service while simultaneously meeting the critical needs of the community. Since 1979, we have engaged in cutting-edge litigation and legal strategies to improve the lives of individual clients, to seek systemic change for the communities we serve, and to provide law students with a singular opportunity to develop fundamental lawyering skills within a public interest law setting. To these ends, we actively partner with a diverse array of organizations, including healthcare and social service providers and advocacy groups, and continually adapt our practice areas to meet the changing legal needs of our client communities. We encourage diversity, value unique voices, and pursue with passion our twin goals of teaching law students and advocating for clients. To learn more, please visit www.legalservicescenter.org/.

Location

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, United States of America

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