CLSMF seeks to sponsor a third-year law student, recent law graduate, or experienced attorney who has a demonstrated commitment to public interest law and who has the relevant skills and initiative to carry out the goals of the project. If approved and funded by Equal Justice Works, the Equal Justice Works public interest law fellowship will start in the fall of 2018.
CLSMF has 9 offices serving 12 counties in Central Florida: Brevard, Citrus, Flagler, Hernando, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Putnam, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia. Nearly one million individuals in our service area qualify for our services. While Central Florida
may immediately bring forth images of beaches, theme parks, and golf courses, surprisingly, the majority of our service area is rural. Indeed, in many of our counties we are the only free civil legal services provider.
To bridge the gap and provide legal assistance to our rural areas, especially those residents who do not have the means to travel to our offices, CLSMF promotes a culture of community-based advocacy, where our attorneys and advocates are not restricted to our brick and mortar offices, but rather, sent out into the community to advocate and educate.
The Rural LGBT Community Project seeks a fellow interested in developing a project providing free legal services as well as community outreach and education to low-income LGBT Central Florida residents in our rural service areas. The fellowship will be designed with a holistic focus on employment discrimination, life planning and elder law issues, public benefits, housing, family law, and other civil law matters. CLSMF is open to fine tuning the project’s parameters as long as it maintains legal assistance to rural LGBT residents at its core.
As this will be a rural fellowship, the fellow will be based in one of our rural offices and should expect substantial travel within our 12 county service area, especially to our outer counties. Developing key contacts and partnerships with local and state governments, social service agencies, and medical/mental health providers will be critical to the success of this project. This fellowship will be a unique, first-of-its-kind endeavor for the Central Florida area and one that we hope develops into a long-lasting program.
Applicants must either be a rising third-year law student, recent law school graduate, or practicing attorney eligible for the Equal Justice Works fellowship program for which they seek CLSMF sponsorship.
Please consult the Equal Justice Works fellowship program website (http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/post-grad/equal-justice-worksfellowship...)
for information on eligibility.
Admission to the Florida Bar in good standing by the beginning of the fellowship is required.
A valid driver's license and access to a motor vehicle will be required. CLSMF reimburses its staff for business-related travel.
Please indicate in your cover letter your experience in public interest law and whether you have any experience working with low-income individuals (especially rural) and/or the LGBT community. We will ask for writing samples and references before interviewing.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with those submitted by July 28, 2017 having priority.
Please email your cover letter and resume in confidence to [email protected]