YALE LAW SCHOOL ROBERT M. COVER FELLOWSHIP-VETERANS LEGAL SERVICES CLINIC
Yale Law School seeks applications for a Robert M. Cover Fellowship in Public Interest Law, a two-year position beginning on or about July 1, 2014 in the Yale Law School clinical program. The Fellowship is designed for a lawyer with at least two years of practice who is considering a career in law school clinical teaching. The 2014-2016 Fellow will work with the Veterans Legal Services Clinic (“VLSC”). Prior experience in veterans’ law, disability law, or civil rights law is preferred by not required.
VLSC is a semester-long, in-house clinic offered in both fall and spring semesters, with a substantial number of continuing students who have completed the seminar but remain enrolled in the clinic to handle ongoing or new cases. The clinic focuses on representation of the more marginalized veterans populations, including women, veterans of color, recently returned veterans, and immigrant and LGBT veterans, but its docket is not limited to any particular class of veteran. Students represent individual veterans and veterans’ organizations in litigation concerning U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) benefits, record correction and discharge upgrade applications, Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests, civil rights matters, deportation defense, federal habeas corpus petitions, and class-action litigation; state legislative and regulatory advocacy; media advocacy; strategic planning; and other non-litigation matters. For more information on the clinic, see the website.
Illustrative cases include representation of Vietnam veterans with PTSD and other-than-honorable discharges in a proposed nation-wide class action; a former cadet raped while attending West Point in federal civil rights litigation; individual veterans who survived rape or sexual assault in their applications for VA benefits; veterans illegally discharged for an alleged personality or adjustment disorder in record correction applications to administrative boards and on review in federal court; veterans organizations in FOIA litigation; a disabled Navy veteran denied spousal benefits for her same-sex partner; veterans facing deportation or seeking to return to their families after removal; and local veterans organizations in state legislative campaigns to expand veteran access to pre-trial diversionary programs and to reform occupational and professional licensing procedures more fully to credit military training and experience.
The Fellow’s responsibilities include representing clients, supervising students, assisting in teaching classes, and working on one’s own scholarship. Candidates must be prepared to apply for admission to the Connecticut bar. (Pursuant to a pending state bar admission amendment, candidates may qualify for admission without examination.) All work will be conducted with the support of the clinical faculty, and will focus on providing legal assistance to low-income and civil rights clients and organizations. The principal supervisor will be Professor Michael Wishnie.
Candidates must be able to work both independently and as part of a team, and must possess strong written and oral communication skills. Experience in creative and community-driven advocacy is a strong plus. Annual salary is $63,000. Fellows receive health benefits and access to university facilities. Send (or email) a resume, cover letter, writing sample, law school transcript, and names, addresses and telephone numbers of three references by May 1, 2014 (early applications encouraged) to: Kathryn Jannke, Office Manager, The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, P.O. Box 209090, New Haven, CT 06520-9090; telephone: (203) 432-4800; fax: (203) 432-1426.