Manhattan Legal Services (MLS) fights poverty and seeks racial, social and equal justice for low-income residents of Manhattan through the provision of free legal representation, systemic advocacy and community education. Each year we represent and advise thousands of low-income individuals who need help with civil legal problems in the areas of housing, government benefits, Supplemental Security Income/Social Security, unemployment, family, employment, immigration, consumer and education law. For more information, please see: http://www.legalservicesnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=134.
Program: MLS seeks law students to conduct client intake in the area of housing law. Students will interview clients and work with a supervising attorney to assess the merits of the clients’ cases, which may include follow-up research. Proficiency in Spanish or Chinese is helpful, but not required.
Time commitment: Interested students must sign up for a mandatory training session to be held at NYU from 2:00pm to 4:00pm on Friday, January 22, 2016 in FH326. The training session will introduce students to housing law, how to conduct effective client interviews, and the intake system at MLS. After the training session, students must commit to work 3-6 times over the Spring semester on either a Monday or Wednesday morning. The work will be at MLS’s Housing Court Office at 111 Centre Street, or off-site at a neighborhood organization in Chinatown. Although MLS cannot guarantee completion of a full 50 hours through this program, students may supplement their hours by requesting additional work from the supervising attorney. Please note that the hours spent in training will count toward the 50-hour requirement for the New York State Bar, as long as the student completes more hours of actual pro bono work than the hours spent in training.
Application details: Interested students should send an email as soon as possible, and by no later than noon on Wednesday, January 20, to David Glasgow (david.glasgow@nyu.edu), noting any language skills.