Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc.
Organization Type: Nonprofit
Available Semesters: Fall, Summer
Practice Areas:Civil Litigation, Consumer, Disability Law, Domestic Violence Advocacy, Elder Law, Family Law, Health Law, Housing Law, Insurance, Landlord/Tenant Law, Poverty Law, Veterans Law
Externs are partnered with Legal Aid staff attorneys for a hands-on experience of civil legal aid law practice. Externs perform legal research and writing, assist with trial preparation and client communication, and have the opportunity to attend court proceedings. There is the potential for legal externs to represent clients in court if certified under the Georgia Student Practice Act.
Externs receive a primary supervisor (with ongoing responsibility for mentoring and on the job training) and opportunities to work with other staff in the work unit to which she/he is assigned. Legal Aid’s mentoring program also includes advice and assistance in preparing for possible fellowships, clerkships, and public interest positions.
Please visit Atlanta Legal Aid Society’s website for more information: https://atlantalegalaid.org/. The Offices/Units available to externs are described below.
Neighborhood Offices:
- Clayton County and South Fulton County Office
The Clayton and South Fulton Office, located in South Fulton County on Cleveland Avenue, represents low-income persons living in Clayton and South Fulton Counties, in a variety of civil legal problems, including housing, consumer, public benefits, family law, and education. Externs interview clients, conduct research, write memos, draft pleadings, conduct investigations, gather documents, search court records, and represent clients in administrative hearings.
- Cobb County Office
The Cobb County Office, located on the Marietta Square, represents low-income persons with a variety of civil legal problems, including domestic relations, housing, consumer, public benefits, and education. Externs interview clients, conduct research, write memos, draft pleadings, conduct investigations, gather documents and search court records. Externs working with the Cobb office’s Temporary Protective Order Project are afforded the opportunity to interview and work with survivors of intimate partner violence, stalking and elder abuse. If certified under the Georgia Student Practice Act, externs will represent petitioners at his or her TPO hearings on Tuesdays in Cobb Superior Court (under the supervision of a Legal Aid attorney). Accordingly, the extern will need to be free on Tuesdays. This unique opportunity includes being involved in all aspects of the case: initial client interview, fact investigation, negotiating with Respondent’s attorney, and representation at the hearing.
- DeKalb County Office
The DeKalb Office, located in Decatur, represents low-income persons with a variety of civil legal problems, including housing, consumer, public benefits, family law, and education. Externs interview clients, conduct research, write memos, draft pleadings, conduct investigations, gather documents, search court records, and represent clients in administrative hearings.
- Gwinnett County Office
The Gwinnett County Office, located in Lawrenceville, represents low-income persons in a variety of civil legal problems, including domestic relations, housing, consumer, public benefits, and education. Externs interview clients, conduct research, write memos, draft pleadings, conduct investigations, gather documents, and search court records.
- Downtown General Law Unit
The General Law Unit, located in the downtown office, represents low-income persons in a variety of civil legal problems, including housing, consumer, public benefits, and education. Externs have the opportunity to develop skills in a variety of civil law matters, including legal research and writing, drafting of pleadings, investigation, document collection and organization, client interviewing, and client representation in administrative hearings.
Specialty Units:
- Fulton Domestic Relations Unit
The Fulton Domestic Relations Unit, located in the downtown office, represents low-income persons in a variety of family law cases, prioritizing intervention in domestic abuse, securing child custody, and establishing support. The unit also handles legitimations, adoptions, legal separations, and public benefits relating to these cases. Externs interview clients, conduct research, write memos, draft pleadings, conduct investigations, gather documents, and search court records.
- Health Law Unit
The Health Law Unit, located in the downtown office, provides comprehensive and compassionate legal services which have a direct impact on health and quality of life to low-income individuals living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer and ALS. It provides a broad range of civil legal services including issues related to employment, Social Security disability, short- and long-term disability insurance, access to health care, housing, consumer and debt issues, public benefits, family law, as well as end of life and estate planning. Externs interview clients, conduct research, write memos, draft pleadings, conduct investigations, gather documents, and search court records.
- Senior Citizens Law Project (SCLP)
SCLP, located in the downtown office, provides legal representation on issues relating to public benefits, nursing homes and personal care homes, housing, consumer, probate, guardianship, advance directives, and elder abuse and financial exploitation. Externs will be expected to interview clients and witnesses, prepare pleadings, research legal issues, research court records and represent clients in administrative hearings.
- Home Defense Program
The Home Defense Program, located in the DeKalb office, provides advice, referrals, and legal representation to homeowners who are facing the loss of their homes, have been targeted for predatory mortgage lending or servicing practices, and/or have been wrongfully denied loan modifications or HomeSafe Georgia assistance. Most clients are longtime homeowners, elderly and/or disabled living on a modest retirement or disability income, or families experiencing layoffs or substantially reduced wages.
- Kinship Care Project
The Kinship Care Project, located in the downtown office, helps relatives who are raising children in the place of deceased or otherwise absent parents. Relative caregivers often struggle to care and provide for the new members of the household. The focus of the Project is to stabilize the legal relationship between the caregiver and the child through an adoption or custody proceeding. The secondary goal is to ensure that the caregivers are maximizing all of the resources available to the children in their care.
- Veterans Law Project
The Veterans Law Project, located in the downtown office and founded in 2022, assists homeless and at-risk Veterans who have legal needs that create barriers to housing stability. The project provides free legal representation in a variety of civil legal matters affecting a client’s housing stability including eviction defense, VA benefits, public benefits and health insurance, access to appropriate support services, disability rights, poor housing conditions, end of life planning, family law, and consumer law, and also criminal record restriction.
STUDENT QUALIFICATIONS
Prerequisites: None
Preferences: 2Ls and 3Ls may apply.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
- Students should indicate the Office/Unit for which they would like to be considered on their Statement of Interest. At the time of application, students must submit a writing sample.