Deborah Poritz Summer Fellowship

Deborah T. Poritz Summer Public Interest Legal Fellowship Program
INTRODUCTION

The Deborah T. Poritz Summer Public Interest Legal Fellowship program awards paid summer internships to 1L and 2L law students at New Jersey non-profit public interest legal assistance organizations. Poritz Fellow applications will be considered and hiring decisions will be made on a continuing basis until all positions are filled. Interested students are advised to apply as early as possible. The program seeks people who have demonstrated their commitment to helping the disadvantaged through their prior work, extracurricular activities during school and volunteer efforts, and give evidence of strong commitment to a public interest career. Grades, honors and personal achievements are also important.
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LAW SCHOOL

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PLEASE DESCRIBE ANY PREVIOUS PUBLIC INTEREST PAID EMPLOYMENT
Intern - Paid Employment Details (1)
Duties (1)
Intern - Paid Employment Details (2)
Duties (2)

PUBLIC INTEREST ACTIVITY

PLEASE DESCRIBE ANY OTHER PREVIOUS PUBLIC INTEREST ACTIVITY: (Volunteering, internships etc.)
Intern - Public Interest activity
Duties
Please describe other relevant experiences that demonstrate your interest in public interest work.
Please list any other information you feel would be of help as we evaluate your application. Include languages, special computer or research skills, other degrees, etc.

PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES:

	Name	Address	Telephone	Relationship to Reference
1
2
3

ESSAY QUESTIONS
Please describe with specificity why you are interested in a Poritz Fellowship and what you hope to get out of the experience.
Please describe your plans after law school, specifically highlighting whether and how you intend to pursue a public interest legal career, and how you otherwise intend to be involved in public interest legal work.
Please describe your feelings about the various public interest activities you listed on the previous page (satisfactions, frustrations) and ways that your experiences shaped your plans concerning public interest work after law school.
Please describe the most important or significant of your other public interest activities (highlighting achievements, lessons learned etc.), from among those you listed on the preceding page.
Please indicate which areas of public interest law you find most the interesting and why.

PLACEMENT PREFERENCE IN NEW JERSEYEMPLOYER AND GEOGRAPHICAL

EMPLOYER PREFERENCES
Where possible, we will attempt to honor geographical or program preferences, but in many cases such matches will not be achievable, because other candidates have already filled spaces and funds are limited.

LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAMS

LEGAL SERVICES OF NEW JERSEY
Legal Services of New Jersey, located in Edison, coordinates Legal Services statewide and pursues major impact advocacy and policy analysis, major litigation, and direct client representation through numerous special projects including immigration, domestic violence, child welfare, healthcare, workers’ rights, foreclosure defense, re-entry, a statewide legal hotline and more. Fellows employed by LSNJ will experience a wide range of legal activities with emphasis on research and writing in support of representation and advocacy, with somewhat less opportunity than the regional programs for direct client contact and representation.

LEGAL SERVICES REGIONAL PROGRAMS
The five regional Legal Services programs have been the principal employers of summer interns. They provide civil legal representation to low-income people in each of New Jersey's 21 counties through 5 field programs. As a regional program fellow you will be given responsibility for client cases, research, drafting pleadings and, for rising 3rd year students, usually some court or administrative agency appearances. These placements focus on direct client representation and legal research.

NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY LEGAL SERVICES
Bergen, Hudson, Passaic

LEGAL SERVICES OF NORTHWEST JERSEY
Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Warren

CENTRAL JERSEY LEGAL SERVICES
Mercer, Middlesex, Union

SOUTH JERSEY LEGAL SERVICES
Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May Cumberland, Gloucester, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem

ESSEX-NEWARK LEGAL SERVICES
Essex
Please indicate your Legal Services employer preferences using a scale of
1- Strongly interested 2- acceptable 3- not interested
Legal Services of New Jersey
Regional Legal Services program
Please rank, in order, your degree of interest in the following tasks during your internship

1 –Strongly interested to 6 – not interested at all
Legal research
Legal writing (memos, pleadings, briefs)
Appearing in court
Conducting a client interview
Conducting factual investigation
Please indicate your Legal Services employer preferences using a scale of 1- Strongly interested 2- acceptable 3- not interested
OTHER PUBLIC INTEREST LEGAL ORGANIZATIONS

The organizations listed below are some of the many other public interest employers that have been involved in previous years’ programs. LSNJ does not guarantee that each employer will be participating this year, and additional public interest legal organizations may be added
Advocates for Children of New Jersey: As a child advocacy organization in Newark, ACNJ emphasizes policy issues; there is usually no opportunity to provide direct legal representation or legal advice.
American Friends Service Committee: This immigration rights program seeks to protect the legal rights of immigrants and refugees. Fellows will be involved in legal research writing, as well as some client contact. There is not always the opportunity for direct legal representation.
Community Health Law Project: With offices throughout NJ, CHLP provides legal and advocacy services to low-income people with disabilities and to organizations which represent interests of people with disabilities. This opportunity will involve legal research and writing, as well as direct client contact and representation.
GEOGRAPHICAL PREFERENCES
Please indicate your Legal Services employer preferences using a scale of

1- Strongly interested 2- acceptable 3- not interested
NORTHEAST: Hudson, Bergen, Passaic, Essex, and Union counties
NORTHWEST: Morris, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, and Somerset counties
CENTRAL: Middlesex, Mercer, and Monmouth counties
SOUTHWEST: Camden, Gloucester, Burlington, Salem, and Cumberland counties
SOUTHEAST: Ocean, Cape May, and Atlantic counties
HOUSING
Please indicate if you have housing in NJ for the summer, where it will be, and any additional comments regarding housing preferences or constraints.
Please upload your resume (doc, docx, pdf).

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Please upload one writing sample, no more than 5 pages in length (doc, docx, pdf).

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Deborah T. Poritz Summer Public Interest Legal Fellowship Program

INTRODUCTION

LAW SCHOOL

PLEASE DESCRIBE ANY PREVIOUS PUBLIC INTEREST PAID EMPLOYMENT

PUBLIC INTEREST ACTIVITY

ESSAY QUESTIONS

HOUSING