Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal)

As a regional anti-poverty civil law firm that has been serving our local communities since the 1960s, BayLegal is committed to working alongside our clients and community partners to address inter-generational poverty and social inequality. We have built upon our origins as separate neighborhood legal services organizations into a regional non-profit law firm with over 170 employees. We practice in multiple legal substantive areas to help our clients protect their livelihoods, their health, and their families. BayLegal works to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault, increase economic stability, protect consumers, expand access to healthcare, and prevent homelessness. Our clients include the working poor, families with children, foster youth, seniors, immigrants, veterans, individuals impacted by the criminal and juvenile legal systems and persons with disabilities. By serving clients at a wide range of access points, including our six regional county offices, community-based advocacy clinics and intake points, and nationally recognized legal hotlines, BayLegal has a unique viewpoint to identify patterns of illegal practices and barriers to our clients’ rights in need of broader advocacy and potential impact litigation. BayLegal strives to create equitable access to resources and services to build a foundation from which our clients can thrive.

BayLegal strives to address the immediate crisis an individual or family may be experiencing and the underlying and compounding legal issues that create barriers to long-term stability and opportunities. We believe that all people should be treated with respect and have the resources they need to meet their goals. To that end, we engage in civil legal representation, social work, community collaborations, and systemic advocacy, in partnership with the communities we serve.

Fellowships

BayLegal invites rising third year law students and recent law school graduates to propose innovative fellowship projects for submission to Equal Justice Works, Skadden, and similar programs for 2023-2024/5. BayLegal is open to support fellowships that focus on a particular practice area or holistic services across practice areas. Proposals with a Bay Area regional approach are welcome, as well as those targeting local areas with particular needs. We would like to see proposals that integrate antiracism into the legal work. See https://baylegal.org/what-we-do/ for additional information on our project and practice areas.

Factors that will be utilized in evaluating candidates and proposals for sponsorship include:

  • Demonstrated commitment to public interest law and BayLegal’s mission and vision.
  • Experience working with low-income, diverse, and LEP communities on social justice issues.
  • Knowledge of and/or experience working on the relevant issues presented in the fellowship proposal.

 

Requirements/Qualifications/About the Successful Candidate

  • Humility in working with colleagues and clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, immigrant status, religious identity, physical and mental disabilities, and/or limited English proficiency.
  • Membership in good standing with the California State Bar or who intends to sit for the Bar prior to the fellowship start.
  • Bilingual ability in English and another language spoken by many BayLegal clients preferred.

Application process

Interested applicants should email the below materials to fellows@baylegal.org on or before July 25, 2022.

  • Cover letter including response to question below (no page limit)
  • Resume
  • One-page summary of your proposal
  • List of three references

As part of your cover letter, please address the following:
BayLegal’s clients are low-income and very low-income members of our communities. They include LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) and QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) individuals, the working poor, seniors, people who are limited English proficient, veterans, persons with disabilities, survivors of abuse and exploitation, individuals impacted by the criminal legal system, and people who are experiencing or at risk of homeless, and persons from other underrepresented groups. To ensure our organization is best serving these populations, BayLegal strives to promote an evolving set of behaviors and attitudes amongst our staff, as well as policies that enable us to work effectively across cultures, with clients, with our coworkers, and with the community. We see this as a commitment to enhance the provision of our services to all clients; to raise the level of positive client outcomes; and to create an inclusive and respectful workplace in which differences are acknowledged and valued.

How do you think your experiences, professional or otherwise, prepared you to serve our diverse client base effectively, work effectively with colleagues from different backgrounds than your own, and to contribute to our commitment to humility, inclusion, and diversity? Feel free to think broadly about your response to this question, applying various aspects of your life and personal experiences.

BayLegal thrives on our diversity and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a culturally diverse workplace and strongly encourage women, LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) and QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) individuals, veterans, individuals who have been impacted by the criminal legal system, persons with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups to apply. For more information, please visit www.baylegal.org/employment-opportunities. We are committed to equal employment opportunity and providing reasonable accommodations to qualified candidates and employees pursuant to applicable law. We value and encourage diversity and solicit applications from all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact BayLegal’s Human Resources Manager at: jobs@baylegal.org or (510) 250-5225.