Legal Aid of Wyoming, Inc. is seeking to host law students or recent graduates for a two-year Equal Justice Works Fellowship beginning in September 2019. This is an exciting opportunity for individuals interested in improving access to justice in rural communities, the strategic and innovative use of technology in improving legal aid service delivery, and the development of innovative legal-community partnerships to address community-wide issues.
Background: Legal Aid of Wyoming Inc. is a federally-funded, non-profit law firm. We maintain six offices across Wyoming. The administrative office is located in Cheyenne and satellite offices are located in Casper, Cody, Lander, Rock Springs and Gillette. We partner closely with several other nonprofit legal aid providers, including, but not limited to: Equal Justice Wyoming, Laramie County Community Partnership’s Medical-Legal Partnership and the Wyoming Children’s Law Center.
We are looking for an energetic and enthusiastic Equal Justice Works Fellow (or Fellows) to help us make a difference helping us implement technology that will improve and expedite access to justice, such as an online intake system to supplement our phone intake system and additional self-help legal resources on our website.
This opportunity would provide an EJW fellow ample opportunities in public interest law practice, program design and implementation, and partnership development.
Potential Responsibilities:
Equal Justice Works, the sponsor of the nationwide fellowship program, expects Fellowship Candidates and organizations with which they wish to serve (such as Legal Aid of Wyoming) to jointly write and submit a 2019 Fellowship application. Therefore, the first step is for our organization to identify and interview potential candidates interested in working with us as a Fellow. If we decide to move forward with a Fellowship Candidate, we would work hand-in-hand to design the potential two-year Fellowship role in with our organization, and subsequent job responsibilities.
In line with our preferred issue area detailed above, we envision that sample responsibilities might be similar to the following:
• Project managing the implementation of an online intake system, and soft testing said system for accuracy.
• Surveying clients/potential clients on their experience with the online intake system and making adjustments as necessary.
• Researching, and writing “self-help”/informational content on Legal Aid’s website, to supplement our in-person advisory and legal intake.
• Providing outreach awareness and training to legal and non-legal community partners (such as libraries) regarding Legal Aid’s new online intake services
Benefits:
• Equal Justice Works Fellows working with Legal Aid of Wyoming will gain first hand experience working with public interest law clients and designing/implementing programs/services that improve legal service delivery. This is a perfect opportunity for recent law school graduates or others with public interest backgrounds who have yet to practice.
• Participants will work full-time at Legal Aid of Wyoming, under the oversight of the Executive Director and will receive the same salary, health insurance, and fringe benefits as a similarly qualified attorney during their two-year term.
• Equal Justice Works offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program to all Fellows, based upon their monthly Income-Based Repayment (IBR) rate.
• Fellows attend a three-day intensive Leadership Development Training in Washington, DC, with travel, lodging, and meals provided.
• Fellows receive access to the Equal Justice Works alumni network, which includes job listings, networking opportunities, and more.
Additional Information: Please visit Equal Justice Work’s Fellowship Information page to learn more about the program, application process and benefits.
Application Instructions & Deadline: Equal Justice Works Fellowships are competitive and applicants will need time to work with our organization in late spring to develop a full project proposal and complete the application before the final Equal Justice Works deadline in June.
Candidate Requirements: Candidates should have an interest in one or a combination of the following: providing legal services to rural communities, community partnerships, use of technology in improving legal aid service delivery, and legal aid program design. Candidates should be self-directed and comfortable taking a planning and leadership role in the design of yet-undeveloped projects/programs. Candidates should also be technology literate and comfortable communicating with developers or other technology consultants.
• Candidates must not have held a full-time, permanent public interest attorney position previously. (Candidates with previous law school or other bridge fellowships are eligible, as these are not permanently funded positions.) Candidates transitioning from the public sector are encouraged to apply, as are those in the midst of finishing clerkships.
• In order to become a Fellow, Candidates must be a graduate of an Equal Justice Works Law School by the start of their Fellowship.
• With the exception of the Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps fellowship program, candidates may not have participated in any other major fellowship program.
Interested candidates are encouraged to indicate their interest in this opportunity via a pre-application submitted to our organization as early as possible, with a final deadline of April 1, 2018. To pre-apply, please submit a cover letter, resume, and a list of three references to [email protected] with the Subject Line: EJW Fellowship. Within the body of the letter, please let us know why this opportunity appeals to you and detail any experience you may have working with technology, homeless/low-income individuals and/or project planning/management.