Commission on Homelessness and Poverty
John J. Curtin, Jr. Fellowship
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The ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty announces the recipients of the
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ABA JOHN J. CURTIN, JR. JUSTICE FUND
2009 SUMMER LEGAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
The Curtin Justice Fund Legal Internship Program is seeking motivated law student interns to apply for stipends available for the Summer 2009 Program. These students should have a position offered, contingent on funding, from a qualified organization.
Internship:
The Curtin Justice Fund Legal Internship Program is managed jointly by the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants. The Program will pay a $2,500 stipend to students who spend the summer months working for a bar association or legal services program designed to prevent homelessness or assist homeless or indigent clients or their advocates. The Legal Internship Program will provide much-needed legal assistance to organizations serving the under-represented and give students direct experience in a public interest forum. Through this, it aims both to help homeless clients and to encourage careers in the law which further the goals of social justice.
Background:
The John J. Curtin, Jr. Justice Fund, a permanent endowment in the American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education, was created to honor Jack Curtin, ABA President from 1990-91. In acknowledgment of his outstanding achievements, as well as the affection ABA members and staff have for Jack, his colleagues in the Association collected over $100,000 within a year of his leaving office to establish the fund. Jack's long-standing dedication to issues of social justice and civil rights led to approval by the ABA Board of Governors to use the income from the Justice Fund to provide stipends to law students working to help homeless and indigent people.
Intern Requirements:
The ideal intern will have a demonstrated interest in public interest law and experience working with poor people or on issues affecting them. All law students are eligible, and first year law students are encouraged to apply. The intern must commit no less than eight continuous weeks between May 1 and October 1 to the program of his or her choice. Applicants must submit the attached application to the Curtin Internship Program, American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, 740 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005-1022.
Applications must be received by Monday, March 23, 2009.
We welcome early submissions.
Program Requirements:
Qualified organizations include bar association programs, legal services programs and nonprofit organizations which have programs dedicated to meeting the legal needs and concerns of homeless and indigent people and their advocates. To be considered, programs must have been operational for at least one year and must have an attorney on staff or easily available to supervise the intern.
A lawyer in the program (either a volunteer or paid attorney) must supervise the intern, and the program must assure the ABA that it will give the intern substantive law experiences with clients or with advocacy programs and with preparing legal documents and so forth.
Application Process:
Each applicant shall submit a cover letter, resume, application form (attached; also available on-line, click here) and a prospective program's supporting statement (attached). Please be specific about the issues on which you plan to focus and what you hope to accomplish.
Evaluation Process:
Both the intern and the program will be expected to submit to the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants reports on the summer internship experience. These evaluations are due within four weeks of the conclusion of the internship or by October 1, 2009, at the latest. The intern should assess the quality of the supervision received, describe whether the written work assigned was challenging, discuss the opportunities to work with clients, and include a summary of what the student learned from the experience. The program supervisor should describe the student’s contributions to the program and provide feedback as to what skills and abilities the Curtin Justice Fund Legal Internship Program should look for in future interns.
For More Information:
Please contact the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty at 202/662-1694 or via e-mail at homeless@abanet.org, or
click here to visit the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty’s web site to obtain an application.
