Reflections from the Field (Part 8)

This past summer, UBSPI (in conjunction with the Maryland Legal Services Corporation and the University of Baltimore School of Law), funded 15 UB Law students to intern at public interest organizations to gain first-hand legal experience serving a variety of communities.  Over the next few months, their stories will be highlighted on Out in the Streets.

1Ls and 2Ls:  Are you interested in applying for a $4,000 grant to support your public interest work this summer?  Applications for 2012 grants are available here.  Remember:  Much of our funding comes from our annual public interest auction, to be held this year on March 9.

Katie Walsh, 2L, University of Baltimore School of Law - Maryland Office of the Public Defender (Northwest Neighborhood Defender Division)

 This past summer I worked for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender in the Northwest Neighborhood Defender Division. It was hands down one of the best experience of my life. Not only did I gain a lot of legal knowledge but I also discovered that this is what I would like to do with my career. All summer I had the opportunity to work with indigent clients who live in Northwest Baltimore. Perhaps some of the most important things we do at the Office of the Public Defender is figuring out where are clients are coming from. We gather school and medical records, we talk to their families, we go to visit them in jail, and we paint a picture to the judge of who this person is and what brought them to this position that they are in today. We want the judge to realize that there is a person behind the charge and that there are mitigation circumstances to consider in each case. I enjoyed my summer position so much that I have continued to work there and hope to stay on more semesters in the future. I found my home at the Office of the Public Defender, and I am so thankful that UBSPI granted me the wonderful opportunity to work there.

Reminder! This Thursday (2/16): Public Interest Wine and Cheese Reception

Reflections from the Field (Part 7)

This past summer, UBSPI (in conjunction with the Maryland Legal Services Corporation and the University of Baltimore School of Law), funded 15 UB Law students to intern at public interest organizations to gain first-hand legal experience serving a variety of communities.  Over the next few months, their stories will be highlighted on Out in the Streets.

1Ls and 2Ls:  Are you interested in applying for a $4,000 grant to support your public interest work this summer?  Applications for 2012 grants are available here.  Remember:  Much of our funding comes from our annual public interest auction, to be held this year on March 9.

Natalie D'Antonio, 2L, University of Baltimore School of Law - House of Ruth

House of Ruth was a wonderful experience that showed me how various types of law intertwine. Though it is a domestic violence clinic which focuses on family law; criminal law, constitutional law and civil law all came into play. I also learned how to connect and interact with clients and effectively help them gain more legal knowledge about how to address their problems. It was extremely rewarding to provide legal information to people who knew they needed to accomplish something to change their life and move on from their past. I got to make a difference and put people at ease simply by applying legal information I knew to their lives. Together, we discussed their legal problems and curtailed the legal procedures and options to their needs. It was a  wonderful experience that has laid great ground work for me to be a successful attorney no matter what kind of law I decide to practice.

Reflections from the Field (Part 6)

This past summer, UBSPI (in conjunction with the Maryland Legal Services Corporation and the University of Baltimore School of Law), funded 15 UB Law students to intern at public interest organizations to gain first-hand legal experience serving a variety of communities.  Over the next few months, their stories will be highlighted on Out in the Streets.

1Ls and 2Ls:  Are you interested in applying for a $4,000 grant to support your public interest work this summer?  Applications for 2012 grants are available here.  Remember:  Much of our funding comes from our annual public interest auction, to be held this year on March 9. 

Tawny Holmes, 2L, University of Baltimore School of Law - National Association of the Deaf 

How many people know that the oldest civil rights organization is right in our backyard? That’s right- the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), established in 1880 has its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.  It focuses on protecting, preserving and promoting civil rights including cultural and linguistic rights for 32 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans. 

The UBSPI grant made it possible for me to intern at their Law and Advocacy Center which was invaluable experience for two reasons:  1) I was able to work closely with their four lawyers including CEO, Howard Rosenblum who is an experienced attorney devoted to improving the life experience and education access. 2) I also was able to interact personally with many clients (NAD receives about 300 calls a day for legal and advocacy assistance from people from all over the United States).  We receive calls via videophone, which I was then responsible to follow up on, and do client evaluation- e.g. take down details of their case and recommend cases to the appropriate attorney to follow through on. NAD selects a handful of cases every year with potential national impact or civil rights importance.  On the calls, I often was touched by real-life experiences of clients being discriminated at work, with their banks, by police, and more. I could see the frustration in their signing and the hope in their eyes that NAD could provide guidance.  This was a good way to see how NAD directly works with the community and how much work is needed to combat the discrimination against deaf and hard of hearing people who simply are people who need communication access.

Also, working closely with the CEO and lawyers, I was able to create projects based on my interest- education policy and parents advocacy because this was part of NAD’s mission and they were open to having me bring my own passion and expertise. This is the benefit of working with a non-profit organization because I could see my work as a result on their website and as a result, I have been asked to give presentations at two national professional conferences on their behalf!

Reflections from the Field (Part 5)

This past summer, UBSPI (in conjunction with the Maryland Legal Services Corporation and the University of Baltimore School of Law), funded 15 UB Law students to intern at public interest organizations to gain first-hand legal experience serving a variety of communities.  Over the next few months, their stories will be highlighted on Out in the Streets.

1Ls and 2Ls:  Are you interested in applying for a $4,000 grant to support your public interest work this summer?  Applications for 2012 grants are available here.  Remember:  Much of our funding comes from our annual public interest auction, to be held this year on March 9. 

 Hayden Barnes, 2L, University of Baltimore School of Law - MVLS/Project Heal

I interned at The Harriet Lane Clinic/Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The broad diversity of cases was stimulating. Clients presented with a broad range of issues, including family law, estate planning, landlord-tenant disputes, special education concerns, and government benefits.

During my internship: I attended MVLS staff meetings; conducted numerous potential client intake and interviews; attended over twenty Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings; assisted in the first-ever Project HEAL at HLC/CC Brief Advice Clinic at East Baltimore Medical Center; prepared six medical record reviews and five memos in preparation for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit denial appeals; pursued the Social Security Administration to properly process an appeal that had been lost and re-submitted three times since 2008; drafted template letters to be filed with the Maryland State Department of Education each time a client is unlawfully sent home from school or the administration fails to provided required documentation five days in advance; prepared informational brochures on bankruptcy, unemployment benefits, health insurance, and workers compensation for clinic visitors and walk-in advice clinic attendees; prepared an interactive “Jeopardy”-style PowerPoint for clinic medical residents on the services available in the clinic; assisted a grandmother with an Informal Kinship Care affidavit enabling her to make medical decisions for her grandson; participated in interviews with two parents in a best-interests case and accompanied my supervising attorney to the court to review confidential court reports; attended court-ordered settlement conferences in which my supervising attorney, was the settlement facilitator; participated in a Family Law Hotline shift that my supervising attorney conducted; visited and toured a non-public school for children with special needs; and drafted closing letters in sixteen cases. I sincerely appreciated the experience I gained at Project HEAL.

Reflections from the Field (Part 4)

This past summer, UBSPI (in conjunction with the Maryland Legal Services Corporation and the University of Baltimore School of Law), funded 15 UB Law students to intern at public interest organizations to gain first-hand legal experience serving a variety of communities.  Over the next few months, their stories will be highlighted on Out in the Streets.

1Ls and 2Ls:  Are you interested in applying for a $4,000 grant to support your public interest work this summer?  Applications for 2012 grants are available here.  Remember:  Much of our funding comes from our annual public interest auction, to be held this year on March 9.  (More information will be available shortly). 

 

Catherine Jackson, 3L, University of Baltimore School of Law - Maryland Disability Law Center

This summer I interned at Maryland Disability Law Center, where I gained practical legal skills while providing essential legal services to adults and children with disabilities. I had frequent interaction with clients while working in MDLC’s housing, children’s mental health and special education divisions. I Interviewed clients, conducted research, and drafted letters on behalf of the clients. Whether I was drafting a reasonable accommodation request, attending an IEP meeting, or reviewing a child’s educational and medical records, I always felt the work was both rewarding and essential for the preservation of justice. Working at MDLC, I learned so much from the attorneys, clients and their families about the many barriers to justice that people with disabilities face. I could see how vital access to free legal counsel is where basic rights to housing, education, and healthcare are in jeopardy.

While participating in rights training at RTCs and assisting on a draft of a discipline manual for parents and advocates of disabled students, I felt that I was helping to spread knowledge about the rights and protections afforded to people with disabilities, and ensuring that people know that they are not alone in navigating the process. I am thankful that there are opportunities for students and lawyers to provide these essential legal services to people at no cost, but I am painfully cognizant of the fact that too many people are either unaware of their rights or the fact that there are people available to help in their legal battles. For this reason, I plan to continue to work in the public interest sector.

Save the Date! 2012 Public Interest Auction - March 9, 2012

18th Annual Public Interest Auction
March 9, 2012
6:30-10pm
Thumel Business Center (11 W. Mt. Royal Ave.)

 

Click here to register early for the best deal!

Enjoy live and silent auctions, tasty hors d'oeuvres, a beer and wine bar, and the opportunity to connect with fellow students and alumni, all while raising money for a good cause: summer fellowships at public interest organizations for UB Law students. 

Reflections from the Field (Part 3)

This past summer, UBSPI (in conjunction with the Maryland Legal Services Corporation and the University of Baltimore School of Law), funded 15 UB Law students to intern at public interest organizations to gain first-hand legal experience serving a variety of communities.  Over the next few months, their stories will be highlighted on Out in the Streets.

1Ls and 2Ls:  Are you interested in applying for a $4,000 grant to support your public interest work this summer?  Applications for 2012 grants are available here.  Remember:  Much of our funding comes from our annual public interest auction, to be held this year on March 9.  (More information will be available shortly). 

Laura Chafey, 2L, University of Baltimore School of Law - Mid-Shore Pro Bono, Inc. 

I had the great opportunity to work with Mid-Shore Pro Bono, Inc. over the summer. Mid-Shore Pro Bono is a legal referral program which serves the low-income communities of Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, and Queen Anne's counties of the Eastern Shore.  I assisted in the daily duties of running a pro bono legal services organization, which included answering the phone, addressing walk-in clients, doing in-takes, and assisting with the various free legal clinics held at the office.  My major project was to create a resource library for pro se litigants. In doing this, I had to research topics of law that I hadn't studied before and therefore I learned new substantive law while at Mid-Shore Pro Bono.

In addition, I had the opportunity to meetmany lawyers and judges in the area that worked with Mid-Shore Pro Bono.  I was able to travel to the various Circuit Courts in all the counties that Mid-Shore Pro Bono dealt with, in order to observe family law clinics.  I also observed many District Court proceedings, which dealt with traffic violations and small claims. My favorite experiences were attending conferences specifically for pro bono organizations.  The laid back atmosphere of the Eastern Shore and the friendly people at Mid-Shore Pro Bono made me feel comfortable and at home. Also, knowing that I am helping those in need who could not otherwise afford lawyers, is a great feeling to have.