Summer Internships

Community Lawyers, Inc. offers summer internships programs for college and law school students to work in a law office under the supervision of attorneys practicing and serving underrepresented communities.  The internships allow students to shadow attorneys and participate in the every day operations of a private law office and legal aid organizations.  Students are assigned administrative tasks but also have the opportunity to interact with clients.  Individual assignments are tailored to meet the needs of each student and their attorney mentor.

If you are a law student or pre-law student interested in an opportunity to develop professional contacts with public interest minded attorneys in Southern California, please send your resume with a cover letter to lherrera {at} community-lawyers {dot} com beginning February 1, 2009 when guidelines for the internships will be posted. If you wish to volunteer during the academic year please fax a letter and resume to (310) 638-4644 expressing your interest.

Other Opportunities

Externships

Communitiy Lawyers, Inc. seeks law students interested in starting their own law offices to provide affordable legal and mediation services to low- and moderate- income communities. CLI will work with law students and their law schools to craft externship opportunities that allow students to develop the skills necessary to manage and run a private law practice that serves low and moderate income clients. If you are interested in gaining practical law office management skills while serving the needs of low and moderate income clients, send an email to lherrera {at} community-lawyers {dot} com, expressing your interest in the externship, describing your law school's externship policy, and the dates of the desired externship.  We are now accepting students for Fall 2008.

Writing & Pro Bono Requirements

Students who wish to meet their law school's pro bono or writing requirement by conducting research and/or developing projects that will have a significant impact on the availability of legal servicese to low income clients should send an email expressing their interest along with information about their school's requirement to lherrera {at} community-lawyers {dot} com. Community Lawyers, Inc. will work with law students and their law schools to ensure that projects meet the academic standards at each institution.

Lawyer Incubator Project

Community Lawyers, Inc. is working with recent law school graduates interested in setting up law offices that service low and moderate income clients. CLI is in the process of launching 3-month and 18-month projects to help launch more community based practices in underserved communities. Please contact us at (310) 635-8182 if you are interested in participating in the Incubator Project.

______________________Former Interns __________________________

The following students participated in the 2008 Summer Law Student Internship Program which was a successful collaboration between Community Lawyers, Community Legal Services and the Legal Aid Society of Orange county:

Araceli Almazan was born in Torrance, California. She received her bachelor degree from UCLA where she majored in political science and minored in both public policy and education. Immediately after graduating she participated in the Senate Fellows Program where she worked on legislative matters as a Senate Fellow for Senator Cedillo. Araceli is currently pursuing a JD at UC Davis School of Law and a Masters in Public Administration at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). She attributes her passion to public interest law to her upbringing since she was raised in South Los Angeles by immigrant parents, an area where the struggles of the immigrant working-class were immediate to her.   Araceli will be spending her summer working with attorneys Salvador Alva and Araceli Lerma in addition to working at Community Legal Services in Compton.

Joseph Alvarado is a first year student at Seattle University School of Law.He attained his B.A. in Philosophy from California State University, Northridge in 2002 and a Paralegal Certificate from the UCLA, Extension, Attorney Assistant Training Program that same year.Prior to law school, Joseph was a paralegal at Kirkland & Ellis, LLC and at the ACLU of Southern California.Born and raised in Los Angeles, he plans on returning to California to practice in the areas of criminal law and civil rights. Joseph will spend his summer working with attorney Alex Moisa in Whittier and Community Legal Services in Norwalk.

Eric Dominguez is a third year law student at Chapman University School of Law. Born and raised in Orange County, Eric graduated from Chapman University with a degree in Political Science. During law school, Eric developed his interests in immigration and employment law while interning at California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation in Oceanside, California. Eric is currently working with Community Lawyers, Inc. with the goal of further developing his objective of becoming a socially responsible member of the legal community.  Eric will be working with attorneys Monica Guizar and Sandra Munoz in addition to working with Jose Tello at Neighborhood Legal Services in El Monte.

Michelle Kim received her bachelor degree in political science from UCSD and is currently a 3rd year law student at Western State College of Law. Her interest in becoming a public interest lawyer developed while growing up in an Asian community, where cultural and language barriers and excessive fees discourage many Asians from seeking the legal services they deserve. She hopes to build her future in family law and become a voice for those in her community who are left behind without a means to an end. To expand her working knowledge of family law, she has volunteered at the Self Help Legal Access Center in Pomona, assisting litigants with dissolution of marriage, custody, and paternity issues. Recently, she has also worked as a discovery clerk for a family law solo practitioner. This summer Michelle will be doing immigration work with Eileen Chun and J. Craig Fong.

Diana López is a third year student at Chapman University School of Law. She studied Mathematics at Pitzer College in Claremont, California and was a Math teacher and tutor before deciding to attend law school. Her decision to do so was sparked by the various injustices, both large and small, that faced her immigrant family and community. In her professional future, she wishes to one day set up a small, general community practice where she can offer legal services at affordable prices and help alleviate the current imbalance of access to justice that exists in underserved communities like her hometown of Santa Ana. Diana will spend her summer at Legal Aid Society of Orange County and the Law Office of Luz E. Herrera.

Aaron Tenzer currently attends Chapman University School of Law and is about to begin his third year. He graduated from Chapman University in December, 2005 with a degree in Legal Studies / Political Science and an emphasis in History. After the completion of law school he intends to work in the public interest sector of law by joining a Southern California Public Defenders Office before ultimately achieving his goal of going into private practice in the field of criminal defense in the service of an under-served community. This summer Aaron Tenzer will be working on community economic development and affordable housing projects under the supervision of Francisca Gonzalez Baxa.

Former Pre-Law Interns