Americorps Veterans Legal Corps Fellow
Equal Justice Works - Americorps Veterans Legal Corps Fellow
For more than 50 years LAF has provided people living in poverty in metropolitan Chicago with comprehensive, free legal services to resolve non-criminal issues. Each year LAF’s more than 80 full-time attorneys and staff help resolve civil legal problems, including domestic violence, consumer fraud, unfair evictions and improper benefit denials and terminations. Our work impacts more than 30,000 people each year. Position: LAF was selected in a competitive application process to be a host site for an Equal Justice Works-AmeriCorps Fellow in the Veterans Legal Corps program. The Fellow will provide legal assistance to veterans in the areas of veterans’ benefits and other public benefits. For more information on this program, go to http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/post-grad/americorps-legal-fellowships.
Responsibilities:
The Fellow will be responsible for:
• Representing clients in administrative proceedings with state and federal agencies, primarily in the areas of veterans’ benefits and other public benefits;
• Pursuing appeals of administrative decisions and affirmative and defensive litigation in state and federal courts;
• Working with a team of three attorneys and one VISTA Outreach Coordinator, advise and represent veterans and family members of veterans regarding civil legal issues;
• Coordinating the work of two law students and pro-bono counsel;
• Working with the LAF Veterans Task Force on outreach and training for entities serving veterans and referral sources for veteran clients;
• Organizing and operating LAF’s civil legal clinic for veterans;
• Operating an intake system to interview potential clients and assess the merits of their claims;
• Working collaboratively within LAF to provide comprehensive legal services to veterans;
• Submitting regular reports to Equal Justice Works about the clients served and positive outcomes.
• Assisting with reporting on veterans-related work to LAF funders and working with LAF development staff on fundraising for veterans-related advocacy; and
• Building relationships with community partners in the veterans’ community.
Qualifications: Applicants must be licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois. Experience with veterans’ programs/services preferred. Experience working with low income populations preferred. Applicants must have excellent communication skills and the ability to work well under pressure. Position requires completion of NSOPR, state(s), and FBI Fingerprint, criminal background checks, as well as compliance with all CNCS Federal Regulations throughout the fellowship program. AmeriCorps requires that all Fellows be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. Term of Service: Based on Equal Justice Works/AmeriCorps guidelines, the term of service will begin no later than October 31, 2017 and continue for two years, pending renewal after the first year. Service includes mandatory attendance at a leadership training in Washington D.C. from October 31-November 2, 2017.
To Apply: Send a cover letter, resume, copy of law school transcript, writing sample, and the names of two professional references by close of business on October 12, 2017 to: resume@lafchicago.org. Please type “Veterans Fellow” in the email subject line. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. LAF IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER AND DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY