USF Public Interest Law Foundation

This summer I will be working for Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (CAREs) in Livermore. Tri-Valley CAREs monitors the U.S. nuclear weapons development policy and the environmental clean-up activities throughout the U.S. In addition, Tri-Valley CAREs has a special emphasis on the Livermore Lab because of its proximity to the Bay Area. The work that I will be doing for Tri-Valley CAREs will be to help promote its mission of peace, justice and a healthy environment regarding nuclear technology. Some of my work will consist of conducting research and writing regarding the Livermore Lab and the California Environmental Quality Act. I will also be preparing a presentation regarding the Superfund cleanup decision at Livermore Lab and presenting those decisions to community members in Livermore.

Asylum Access is an innovative international nonprofit dedicated to making refugee rights a reality. Asylum Access empowers refugees in Africa, Asia and Latin America to live safely, work, send children to school and rebuild their lives. I will be working as a legal policy intern, focusing on supporting the global policy advocacy and strategic litigation team on issues concerning refugee labor and employment rights, as well as the role of litigation in the refugee legal aid movement.

My name is Willie Mincey and for the summer of 2014, I will be working with the Alameda Public Defender’s Officer as a Certified Research Assistant. During my summer I will have the opportunity to draft legal motions as well as present those motions in court proceedings. I will also have the opportunity to meet with my clients, so I can learn about their background, enabling me to help provide them with the best representation possible.

This summer, I’m interning at CARECEN (Central American Resource Center), in Los Angeles. CARECEN, as an organization, promotes social justice initiatives such as education reform, immigration reform, and youth programs. It also provides low-cost direct immigration services to the immigrant community in Los Angeles. As a legal intern, I will be working with undocumented clients, that were victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes, in obtaining immigration relief via a U-Visa or a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petition.  I’m very much looking forward to helping people adjust their immigration status because of the life altering effects that come with removing the barrier to basic rights like education, employment, health care and migration/relocation, that a lack of immigration status often represents.

This summer I am working at Legal Services for Children (LSC). LSC is an incredible organization that represents youth in dependency, guardianship, immigration, and education proceedings.  Their staff includes both attorneys and social workers, this helps to ensure that clients receive holistic assistance. Although I mainly focus on dependency and immigration cases, I get exposure to all areas of their practice by preforming bilingual in-take over their “warm line” every week. I primarily work with immigrant and citizen children who have suffered abuse, abandonment, or neglect. This work includes: conducting intake interviews, preparing immigration applications, preforming legal research, drafting declarations and pleadings, and attending court. Working with LSC has been an amazing experience thus far and I am grateful to PILF for helping to make this possible!

This summer I am working as a Certified Law Clerk with the Alameda Public Defender. In assisting the attorneys of the office in the defense of indigent clients, I am able to argue motions, conduct client intake interviews, both in office and in custody, and work in the misdemeanor calendar department to ensure that indigent clients are properly represented to the extent of the law. The experience I am gaining is invaluable to my career path, from speaking and working with passionate attorneys to being able to appear on behalf of clients, and I am excited and proud to be involved in public interest law.

This summer I will be interning as a certified law student at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. Conducting prosecutions for public offenses, detecting crime, and investigating criminal activity is the central point of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. I have been placed in the preliminary hearing department at the Airport Branch Courthouse. As a certified law student, I will be conducting routine felony preliminary hearings and misdemeanor prosecutions under a supervising attorney. In addition, I will be researching and drafting legal memorandums and motions pertaining to relevant criminal procedural issues. Focusing on courtroom trial skills and improving my legal research and drafting skills will equip me with the necessary skills to be a fair and effective prosecutor.

Students can now apply for the 2013-2015 Class of HPD-HDC Housing Fellows. This highly competitive program brings recent graduates of masters and law school programs for a two-year series of placements at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development and the NYC Housing Development Corporation.

The deadline to apply is Friday, March 1^st, 2013.  Late or incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

To learn more about the program and download the materials, please click here.