Discovering Justice Information Session October 6th

Discovering Justice

Thursday, October 6^th, from 3-4 pm in Room 301 students are invited to come learn about Discovering Justice and ways to get involved.

http://www.discoveringjustice.org/ Projects include:

· Children Discovering Justice: This program is designed for 1st and 2nd grade students to take a field trip to the courthouse and learn about how the legal system works. They first take a quick tour of the building, and then we bring them to a courtroom where they preside over their own case (usually an issue like a stolen teddy bear). Law students would volunteer to help these students formulate their arguments and generally oversee the case (though we have a staff member who will be leading the program). It typically lasts for about 40 minutes.

· Kids Courts and Citizenship: In this program, the students act as a jury while our volunteers take the roles as defense and prosecutor in a case. After hearing the arguments of the volunteers, the students deliberate and make a decision as a jury would. We are hoping to have attorneys for this since it is helpful for them to talk about what they do as a lawyer, but there may be some room for law students if they are particularly interested.

· Discovering the Bill of Rights: Here we recreate a famous case (typically Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District) and help the kids work through it from a legal perspective. Law students would be helpful in coaching smaller groups of kids to help them understand how trials take place and why the rights provided to us are so important.

New England Law| Boston's NLG and ACS Speaker Event

On Wednesday October 5th New England's National Lawyers Guild and American Constitution Society will be holding a speaker event about what is required of states under the Sixth and Fourteenth amendments in regard to indigent defense services and how states avoid their constitutional responsibilities. The featured speaker is David Carroll, Director of Research for the National Legal Aid & Defender Association The event will take place at 5:30 p.m. in room 506 and food will be served from Boston Kitchen Pizza.


Some background information on this event:

In Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), the United States Supreme Court deemed the right to attorney for those unable to afford one “fundamental and essential” to fair trials. Nearly 50 years later, public defense services in America are plagued by deep-rooted, chronic problems that our nation’s top law enforcement official, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, has called “morally untenable” and “economically unsustainable.” The American Bar Association (ABA) defines the ability of states to guarantee a poor defendant constitutionally-adequate legal representation as being in a perpetual “state of crisis.” And, since upwards of 85% of all people charged with state crimes with potential jail time qualify for a public lawyer, state and local governments daily jeopardize the ability of our courts to produce verdicts that are fair, correct, swift and final.

Volunteer Opportunity for New England Law | Boston Students

The American Irish Law Society (AILS) here at NEL|B takes part in Project No One Leaves, which is dedicated to empowering those living in foreclosed properties through community education. This is a great opportunity for students to get involved in community education, as well as make great contacts. The students over at AILS have passed along the information below about a great opportunity for more students to get involved:


This Saturday (October 1st), 9:45 a.m. at 23 Everett St, Cambridge MA next to the Harvard Campus
Students from AILS and students from other schools will be attending a training session lead by Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. This event is a great way to be introduced to the work being done at the community level. It is also a great way to become familiar with landlord-tenant and foreclosure law, how it applies, how it has evolved, and why a project like No One Leaves is necessary. Although it may be discussed on a less frequent basis, the mortgage crisis is not over and projects such as this have had success against the banks, with national mobilization as it continues to gain momentum.

For more information on No One Leaves and AILS's involvement please contact Joseph O'Sullivan at joseph.m.osullivan@nesl.edu.


Don't forget that work such as this (not for credit and unpaid) is eligible for the Public Service Transcript Notation.

Third Annual Pro Bono Fair

The third annual Pro Bono Fair at Suffolk University (located at 120 Tremont St) will take place Wednesday, October 26th from 5-7 pm. The event is sponsored by the Boston Bar Association and the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service at Suffolk University Law School. This is a great opportunity for students to connect with lawyers about pro bono opportunities.

For more information please visit the Rappaport Center's website.

IMPORTANT: New CORI Initiative at CLSR

CLSR to start CORI Initiative this year

This Friday (9/30) from 3-4 pm the Center for Law and Social Responsibility (CLSR) will be holding an informational meeting on the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) Initiative that will start this year. This is an opportunity for New England Students to get involved in many aspects of this legal process, from client intake, to affidavits, community education, and possible client representation in a hearing. Pizza will be served.


The CORI Initiative to take place at CLSR will include:

• Affidavit work-group: preparation of affidavits for clients to be used by attorneys in representation or by the clients themselves pro se. Work will include gathering information from the clients and then drafting affidavits on their behalf. This will take place Fridays at the Center and will provide students an opportunity to gain further legal writing experience. For those 3Ls who are 3:03 certified there is a possibility to represent clients at these hearings.
• Client Intake: Furthering the initiative of fellow New England students that are already taking part, we will aim to have a continuous New England presence at CORI intake tables at the courts in Dorchester and Roxbury. Here students will meet with clients to go over their CORI records and assist them in determining which offenses can be sealed, or potentially sealed after a hearing. For those 3Ls who are 3:03 certified there is a possibility to represent clients at these hearings.
• Community Outreach and Education: In conjunction with Greater Boston Legal Services, CLSR will assist in educating the community on upcoming changes to CORI law. This will include production of materials to explain the nature of the changes as well as participation in larger CORI intake events at community centers to help inform the community.
  

This is a great opportunity for students to get involved, gain experience, and help the community. All hours put into the CORI project are eligible for the Public Service Transcript Notation.

Volunteer Opportunity at the Cambridge Public Schools Office of Legal Counsel

The Cambridge Public Schools Office of Legal Counsel seeks two law school student interns for unpaid internships.

The Office of Legal Counsel is charged with the prosecution and defense of all suits in which the Cambridge Public Schools and/or Cambridge School Committee is a part in state and federal courts and in administrative agencies. The Legal Counsel functions as a full-time office, handling nearly all of CPS' litigation in-house. In addition to this litigation function, the School Committee, Superintendent of Schools, school administrators and school department heads refer to the Legal Counsel for legal opinions on school-related matters. The Legal Counsel regularly attends School Committee meetings, assists in collective bargaining and drafts, reviews and approves a wide range of legal instruments required for the orderly accomplishment of CPS" operations.

Interested students are asked to email a resume, writing sample and cover letter to Legal Counsel Maureen MacFarlane at mmacfarlane@cpsd.us

Remember that public service legal work is eligible for the Public Service Transcript Notation.

Volunteer with the Office of English Learners of Boston Public Schools

Below is information on a volunteer opportunity for students interested in public interest work, and in particular education law. Remember, volunteer work is eligible for the public service transcript notation.

The Office of English Language Learners of the Boston Public Schools seeks an intern to assist legal and policy staff in negotiating a complex Successor Settlement Agreement with the federal government. The new settlement, replacing the current interim Agreement, will govern the current overhaul of service provision for more than 17,000 students who are not English proficient and set permanent educational standards for this group. The intern will also support a multi-disciplinary team of so-called Academic Design and Support Specialists who are charged with assessing the level of compliance with the existing accord and assisting schools in making necessary changes in practice. Some law school education and work study eligibility are preferable but not necessarily required. Tasks will involve legal, factual, and policy research; organizing and indexing factual information for reports to the federal government and internal use; assisting at negotiating sessions, and participating generally in the reform work with a highly diverse, talented, dedicated, and congenial staff. Persons interested should contact Phillip Kassel at pkassel@boston.k12.ma.us or Kim Tsai at ktsai@boston.k12.ma.us.

Join the Judicial Language Project & Sexual Violence Legal News

This Thursday, 4:30 in the Cherry Room
Come and learn about an opportunity to work with Wendy Murphy, a renowned advocate, and make a difference. Pizza and soda will be provided.

The Judicial Language Project (JLP) screens sexual violence cases for inappropriate language and by using sociolinguistic research explains why the language is inappropriate and gives an explanation as well as alternative choices.

Sexual Violence Legal News (SVLN) is a sister project to JLP that runs an e-mail alert system that keeps shelters and rape crisis centers aware of changes in the law.

Students who volunteer on this project are eligible for the Public Service Transcript Notation, which looks great on both resumes and transcripts! If you are unable to attend the meeting, please contact Megan Mitchell, Secretary of New England Law Boston's Women's Law Caucus.

Volunteer Opportunity with LARC

I stumbled upon this volunteer opportunity at Legal Advocacy and Resource Center (LARC) and wanted to pass it along.

LARC has a volunteer opportunity for students to work on its social security or bankruptcy projects. As a volunteer you are trained to counsel clients who have social security benefit or consumer questions. The commitment would be about 8-10 hours per week during the semester. LARC operates a free legal service hot-line in order to assist low-income Massachusetts residents.

This would be a great opportunity and if 25 hours or more are dedicated to this the work is eligible for the Public Service Transcript Notation Program, which looks great on both your resume and transcript. For more information on this program visit the Notation Website.

If you are interested in volunteering email Dan Biagiotti at dbiagiotti@gbls.org

For more information on LARC visit its website.

National Lawyers Guild Street Law Clinic Training

NLG Massachusetts Chapter will be holding their first Street Law Clinic training this Monday September 19th at Northeastern School of Law. This training will be on Tenant/Landlord disputes.

Street Law Clinics are FREE interactive workshops for non-lawyers, aiming to empower participants by providing them with information about law in specific areas and how to assert legal rights in real life situations. Clinics are conducted at community centers, churches, high schools, homeless shelters, union halls, and pre-release centers by law students NLG attorneys. They last generally two hours and conclude with one-on-one Pro Bono advice segment given by the attorney

Click here for more information on the Street Law Clinic.

CORI Training Wednesday September 14th.

Pauline Quiron from Greater Boston Legal Services will be at New England to discuss CORI research from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Weds., Sept. 14 in NESL Room 303. This is a highly recommended training for anyone who is looking to volunteer with the CORI Project over the next year. Pauline is involved with a similar CORI Project as well that is looking for student volunteers. She will be available to discuss that further for any students who are interested.

The CORI Project is an ongoing partnership between law students and pro bono attorneys to assist employment seekers with charges that are eligible to be sealed on their CORI report.