The Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center is pleased to invite applications for sponsorship of a Shartsis Friese LLP Public Interest Fellow for the two-year period beginning in September 2013. The fellowship offers a recent law school graduate the opportunity to work directly with low-income clients who need legal assistance in employment claims. Shartsis Friese LLP created this Fellowship in 2004 to provide legal services to members of the Bay Area community who cannot afford these services.
The Fellow will perform an important role in the LAS-ELC's Community Legal Services Program by establishing the Vietnamese American Workers' Rights Project (VAWRP) in San Jose, California. The project will provide critically needed Vietnamese language legal services through a weekly clinic to Vietnamese American low-wage workers in the South Bay who are the victims of discrimination, wage theft and other illegal treatment on the job. In addition, the Fellow will provide advice, counsel and referrals to government and nonprofit organizations; limited representation in negotiations with employers and before administrative agencies; and representation at wage and hour and unemployment compensation proceedings and in mediations involving discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Fellow will work in San Jose under the supervision and mentorship of an LAS-ELC senior staff attorney and will be a fully integrated member of the LAS-ELC staff.
The LAS-ELC seeks to protect and expand the rights of low-income workers, utilizing an array of strategies including direct services, impact litigation, legislative advocacy, and policy work. Our Community Legal Services Program provides advice, counsel and limited representation to hundreds of workers each year on a broad range of legal issues affecting California workers, and our docket covers a wide range of law reform and impact cases in the areas of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, disability, national origin and citizenship. We also work to ensure that all workers benefit from the protections of wage and hour law. Interested individuals can find more information about LAS-ELC programs and projects on our website, www.las-elc.org.
Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the following:
- Demonstrated commitment to the rights of poor and working people.
- Established knowledge of and interest in employment, labor and/or civil rights law.
- Excellent communications skills; strong academic performance; excellent legal research skills.
- Proven ability to work independently and cooperatively with others.
- Fluency in speaking, reading and writing in Vietnamese and English is required.
Membership in the California Bar preferred
