Law Students and
Law School Graduates (JDs)

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA). LAFLA provides free legal services to poor and low-income individuals in Los Angeles County. About 2 million individuals are eligible for LAFLA’s services. Our mission is to promote access to justice, strengthen communities, fight discrimination, and effect systemic change through representation, advocacy and community representation.

Law students and recent law school graduates play a vital role in LAFLA’s work to help meet the legal needs of our clients. Law students may serve in an externship for our various legal Units or volunteer during the fall and spring semesters. Our goal is to help you gain practical legal experience to complement your college coursework. Opportunities include working on all aspects of civil litigation, handling client intake and legal advice, drafting legal memoranda on a broad range of issues, and representing clients in administrative hearings.

LAFLA is seeking talented, enthusiastic law students who want to assist our clients with their many urgent needs.

If you are interested in volunteering for one of our many projects, please forward your application and resume and if you wish, a cover letter to the contact person for the legal project(s) listed below. The opportunities that are currently available are as follows:

• Asian and Pacific Islander Community Outreach Unit
• Consumer Law and Fair Debt Collection Project
• Eviction Defense Center (EDC) & Housing Unit
• Community Economic Development Unit
• Employment Unit
• Government Benefits
• Immigration Unit
• Long Beach Office
• Santa Monica Office
• Self Help Legal Access Centers
• Summer Law Clerk Program

Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Community Outreach Unit

The API Unit serves Limited English Proficiency clients who are unable to access services throughout LAFLA’s general phone number. The API Unit seeks law clerks to conduct client interviews, provide counsel and advice, draft court pleadings, conduct legal research and writing, attend hearings and trials, and develop, conduct and coordinate educational materials and outreach. Bilingual students, especially those who speak Asian languages such as Korean, Cantonese/Mandarin, Khmer, Vietnamese or Japanese are highly encouraged to participate. The API Unit is housed at our West Office. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Consumer Law and Fair Debt Collection Project
The Consumer Law Unit seeks law students to assist with consumer law initiatives, finance, student loan and fair debt collection violations. Volunteer opportunities include interviewing clients and witnesses, conducting factual investigations, analyzing documents, conducting legal research, and participating in depositions. These opportunities are located at our East Los Angeles office, 5228 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles, 90022. Opportunity for evening and weekend work is also available. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

The Consumer Law Unit is also looking for law clerks to help with mortgage and foreclosure scams, forged deeds, predatory lending, banking abuses, identity theft, and more. Duties may include interviewing clients and witnesses, conducting factual investigations and legal research, drafting memoranda, pleadings and discovery, and attending hearings and trials. These opportunities are located at our West Office, 1102 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles 90019. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Eviction Defense Center (EDC) & Housing Unit
The EDC seeks law clerks to work on eviction cases. Duties include assisting clients with drafting answers to complaints; writing research memoranda; drafting pleadings, discovery and motions; and preparing cases for trial. Certified law students may also litigate simple trials under the close supervision of one of our attorneys. Clerks may also visit apartments, take photographs and conduct other investigations for eviction cases and affirmative slum litigation.

The Housing Unit seeks volunteers to assist with affirmative lawsuits. Clerks will interview clients, conduct factual investigations, analyze and review documents, perform legal research, draft memoranda and assist with discovery. Bilingual capability (Spanish) preferred but not required.

These opportunities are located at our Central Office. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Community Economic Development Unit
The Community Economic Development Unit seeks volunteers to help start-up non-profit organizations with incorporation and tax status. Volunteer opportunities include creating materials for trainings on employment law, community economic development and other non-profit corporation issues. Duties may include interviewing clients, conducting legal and factual research, preparing articles of incorporation, by laws, contracts, and tax-exempt applications. Please email a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Employment Unit
The Employment Law Unit seeks law clerks to assist with two worker’s rights clinics: Las Familias in downtown Los Angeles, and Centro Shalom, in the City of Long Beach. The Las Familias Clinic is held on Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m., and the Centro Shalom clinic is held on Thursdays from 4-6 p.m.

Law Students may also participate in "Know Your Rights" presentations to community groups, organizations, adult schools, and day laborer centers on various employment related topics including basic wage and hour law, discrimination, wrongful termination, rights of undocumented workers, independent contractors, pregnancy and family leave, and remedies.

Bilingual students, especially those who speak Spanish and/or Asian languages are highly encouraged to participate. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Government Benefits
The Government Benefits Unit seeks law clerks to work on cases involving CalWORKs, Food Stamps, MediCal, Medicare, In-Home Supportive Services, Social Security, SSI, and General Relief. Duties include conducting client interviews, advising clients about their legal rights, drafting legal pleadings, assisting with welfare reform policy work, negotiating with government agencies and represent clients at administrative hearings under the supervision of experienced staff. Students may also volunteer at our “In Pro Per Hearing Project,” in which we train clients to represent themselves in simple administrative hearings. The Government Benefits Unit is housed at our East Los Angeles Office. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Immigration Unit
The Immigration Law Unit seeks law clerks to assist clients in the following projects:

U.S. Citizen Naturalization Clinics at high schools, senior citizens’ and other community centers. Clerks will interview clients, provide counsel and advice and conduct outreach.

Battered Immigrant Women’s Project: Clerks will assist undocumented victims of violence with obtaining their lawful permanent resident status under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Duties may include assisting attorneys with filing petitions under VAWA, filing U -and T-visa applications and preparing for deportation proceedings. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Administrative and Judicial Proceedings: Clerks may assist attorneys in preparing applications for relief in removal proceedings by preparing witnesses, conducting legal research, drafting legal memoranda, motions and appellate briefs for matters before the board of Immigration Appeals and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Immigration Law Unit is housed at our East Los Angeles Office. Bilingual students, especially those who speak Spanish and/or Asian languages are highly encouraged to participate. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Long Beach Office
The Long Beach Office provides legal assistance in the areas of family law, domestic violence, landlord/tenant law, and veterans’ rights. Clerks may specify their interest in a particular area(s) of law. Law clerk duties will include conducting client interviews, providing counsel and advice, drafting court pleadings, conducting legal research and writing, assisting with preparing for and attend hearings and trials. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to studentvolunteer@lafla.org.

Santa Monica Office (Currently Full)
The Santa Monica Office provides legal assistance in family law, domestic violence, landord/tenant law, consumer law and government benefits. As this office tries to meet the variety of legal needs of our low-income clients, clerks may specify their interest in a particular area of law. Law clerk duties will include conducting client interviews, providing counsel and advice, drafting court pleadings, conducting legal research and writing, assisting with preparing for and attend hearings and trials.

For additional information about these projects, please contact Pro Bono Coordinator Phong Wong by e-mail at pwong@lafla.org.

Self Help Legal Access Centers
LAFLA operates four Self Help Legal Access Centers at the Courthouses in Inglewood, Torrance, Santa Monica and Long Beach. Volunteers will have an opportunity to help pro per litigants understand the court system and prepare legal pleadings in a variety of areas of law. The Centers’ hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please e-mail a completed application and your resume to agumusyan@lafla.org.

Summer Law Clerk Program
Each summer, LAFLA recruits between 35-40 law clerks to work in the Foundation’s various legal areas. Applicants must have completed their first year of law school by June 1 of the application year.  All Applications should be received no later than March 31 of the application year to receive full consideration. For more information, please click here. Please e-mail your application to summerstudent@lafla.org.