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Legal Services of the Hudson Valley Announces 2023 Paid Summer Fellowship in Housing Law

WHITE PLAINS, NY –Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV) announces that its inaugural paid summer fellowship in housing law will be awarded to ten law students in March 2023.

Thousands of Hudson Valley tenants are in dire need of legal representation each year as they navigate the complexities of eviction and other emergency housing proceedings.  LSHV attorneys represent low-income tenants facing eviction in housing court or confronted with the possibility of losing valuable housing subsidies in administrative proceedings, with a focus on preserving protected and affordable housing. We strive to improve the reach, quality, and effectiveness of eviction and homelessness prevention through legal representation. In 2022, our housing attorneys have handled over 6,900 cases impacting over 14,400 individual family members in the Hudson Valley region.

To help bridge the housing justice gap, LSHV will provide ten law student fellows with training, mentorship, and support in developing critical skills in housing law practice. The fellowship will allow law students to assist with representing clients as we continue the fight to maintain the fundamental human and legal right to live in habitable housing.  The fellows will be an essential support in building tenant power, challenging landlord intimidation and harassment, and supporting the fight against gentrification and displacement.

LSHV Chief Executive Office Rachel Halperin states “we are thrilled to launch our Summer Housing Law Fellowship Program to give law students interested in eviction defense a paid opportunity to be immersed in tenant defense, which is the intersection of racial equity, human rights, and environmental justice.  We look forward to training and developing a diverse and zealous cohort of the next generation of public interest attorneys.”

Christopher Oldi, LSHV Pro Bono Director is “looking forward to providing a comprehensive summer experience.  The fellows will not only be exposed to the intricacies of housing law but will be given the opportunity to comprehend the legal and social challenges our clients face.  We hope to arm the fellows with legal tools necessary to be champions of justice for those who cannot advocate fully for themselves, and to bring this summer experience back to their law schools and communities.”

Details

  • 10 fellowships to be awarded in March 2023
  • 10-week summer fellowship; 35 hours per work week
  • $8,000 summer stipend
  • Fellows will be placed in LSHV offices throughout our service area, including White Plains, Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Peekskill, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Goshen, Nanuet, Monticello, and Kingston.
  • Housing, transportation, work-related, and other fellowship expenses will be the law student’s responsibility. LSHV will provide office parking where applicable.
  • At the conclusion of the Fellowship, the recipient may be required to produce a summary that may be reproduced in full or part in LSHV materials.

Eligibility

  • Open to current enrolled law students who will have completed at least one semester of law school by May 2023
  • Must be enrolled in a U.S. law school
  • Must be able to work several days per week in-person in the office where placed (our offices are hybrid), subject to disability-related reasonable accommodations.
  • Ability to travel to the office where placed and other locations such as courts as needed.

Deadline

  • All materials must be submitted 11:59pm (ET) on Friday, January 13, 2023

Required Submissions

Applications will be evaluated based upon review of the following:

  • Unofficial Law School Transcript
  • Current Resume
  • Two References (names and contact information)
  • One legal writing sample on any topic
  • Statement of Interest (typed, double-spaced)
  • Describe your commitment to public interest law and/or direct legal services, and what you hope to gain from LSHV’s summer fellowship program.
  • You may include information such as personal experience, prior jobs, volunteer experience or internships and what you learned from them, as well as future career plans and professional goals. (750-word max)

Please apply by following this link:

LSHV 2023 Summer Fellowship in Housing Law- White Plains, NY

Legal Services of Hudson Valley is a proud equal opportunity employer. People of all races, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, and veteran status, are strongly encouraged to apply.

About Legal Services of the Hudson Valley

For more than 50 years, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV) has been providing free, high-quality legal counsel in civil matters when basic human needs are at stake including: eviction and foreclosure prevention, domestic violence, disability, elder law, healthcare, consumer fraud and more. With the gap separating those who can and cannot afford legal representation widening each day, we work to ensure that everyone has equal access to justice, regardless of their ability to pay. As the only provider of comprehensive civil legal services in the lower and mid-Hudson Valley (Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan), LSHV is proud to have handled 12,000 cases impacting over 27,000 household members including over 9,000 children last year.

For more information about Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, contribute or volunteer, please visit lshv.org, or contact Jazmine Leon at 914-949-1305 x270 or jleon@lshv.org.

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