Position
Farmworker Legal Services (FLS) is seeking Spanish bilingual law students to join its team for the Summer of 2023. The position is supported and based out of our Kalamazoo office with possibilities of a flexible remote work schedule or work out of our Grand Rapids or Ypsilanti office. The tentative dates for the positions are May 16 to August 11. FLS is a non-profit and encourages applicants to apply for outside funding (e.g. law school fellowships, Equal Justice America), but FLS has paid legal internship positions available ($2500/month or $15/hour).
Who We Are
Farmworker Legal Services (FLS) is a nonprofit, public interest law firm that provides free civil legal services to indigent migrant and seasonal agricultural workers throughout Michigan and engages in a wide variety of advocacy with state and federal agencies. FLS attorneys litigate complex wage and hour, multi-party employment discrimination, and human trafficking cases in Michigan state and federal courts and provide representation in other matters such as T or U-visa applications for victims of employment-based crimes, housing, workers’ compensation, public benefits, or unemployment administrative proceedings. FLS is the largest migrant legal services program in the Midwest with four-attorneys, two paralegals, a legal assistant, and 4 to 6 summer staff each year. FLS is a division of the Michigan Advocacy Program (MAP), which works to advance the safety, independence, and economic stability of those most affected by poverty, racism, and other structurally oppressive systems by increasing access to justice and working for systemic solutions.
Summer Staff Responsibilities
Legal interns are considered members of the FLS legal team and perform work that FLS attorneys and other full-time staff would normally handle. General responsibilities of summer staff include client intake, case support, and community outreach. Case support generally involves interviewing clients, analyzing clients’ legal problems, providing legal advice, drafting legal memorandum and pleadings, and supporting the attorneys through fact investigation and litigation preparation and support. Legal interns will conduct legal research and writing, represent clients in administrative proceedings, negotiate with adverse parties, attend hearings in federal or state cases, assist with discovery and depositions, and present to community groups. Summer staff are expected to communicate with clients in English and Spanish orally and in writing and can expect to visit with farmworkers at the migrant labor camps one or two evenings per week. Legal interns can expect a highly educational, challenging, and rewarding experience as they work with FLS staff and Michigan’s farmworker population.
Application Process
Please submit a resume, cover letter, and three professional references to
jobs@farmworkerlaw.org with “FLS Legal Intern” in the subject line. In your cover letter, please describe your level of Spanish competency and how your personal background or experiences have prepared you to work effectively alongside colleagues from backgrounds different than your own and the farmworker community.
For more information about FLS or the position, visit www.FarmworkerLaw.org, www.Facebook.com/farmworkerlaw, or www.mplp.org. FLS can also be contacted by email at contact@farmworkerlaw.org.
The Michigan Advocacy Program is an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.