Summer Clerkships - General Clerkship

Background
LASO is a non-profit organization that represents low-income clients in civil cases. LASO’s eight regional offices serve the general low-income population throughout the state and two specialized statewide programs provide services to farmworkers and representation on Native American issues. LASO is an effective, high-quality legal services program that is committed to advocacy strategies having the broadest possible impact on client community problems. LASO is actively working to build an inclusive organizational culture that centers on racial equity. LASO is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a welcoming and culturally responsive environment for our staff and clients.

Positions
LASO is seeking law clerks for summer 2025. General clerkship positions are available in our regional offices in Albany, Pendleton, Portland, Roseburg, and Salem. LASO also offers the following additional clerkship opportunities: Farmworker Program clerkships are available in Salem and Hillsboro. Statewide Tax Clinic clerkships are available in Portland. For the full Farmworker Program and Statewide Tax Clinic clerkship descriptions, please visit LASO’s employment page: https://lasoregon.org/employment/.

The typical work schedule is based on a 35-hour work week, Monday through Friday 9:00-5:00 with a one-hour lunch break. Work location can be in-office or partially remote. Extended remote and flexible work schedules may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Type of Legal Work
Clerkships in the regional offices (including Albany, Pendleton, Portland, Roseburg, and Salem) will have an emphasis on domestic violence, family law, housing, and/or public benefits, depending on office need and the interests of the clerk, all within a framework of providing trauma-informed care. Under the supervision of staff attorneys, law clerks will work on many aspects of client services, which could include:

Conducting trauma-informed client intake and interviews, including staffing various subject-specific intake shifts and hotlines;
Providing information and brief advice to potential clients;
Providing litigation support;
Document drafting;
Legal research and writing; and
As eligible: Represent clients as certified law students in protective order hearings and administrative hearings.

Qualifications
Class standing of 1L or above at time of application. Proven interest in and commitment to advocacy for the legal rights of low-income and other vulnerable populations. Enthusiasm, creativity, good judgment, initiative, and willingness to work collaboratively. Demonstrated understanding and commitment to anti-bias principles, cultural competency and addressing systemic racism and other forms of oppression. LASO has a hiring preference for bilingual candidates who speak English and Spanish or another language.

Funding
Law clerks will be paid a salary of $7000 for 10 weeks of work, with an additional $50 per week for bilingual ability in language(s) that serve our client communities. Clerks will be paid semimonthly. LASO will also coordinate with fellowship programs.

Closing Date
Positions open until filled. Review of resumes to begin November 25, 2024, and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only if there are still positions available, LASO will interview at the Northwest Public Service Career Fair. To apply there, see instructions here: https://law.lclark.edu/nwconsortium/nw-public-service-career-fair/. Materials are due there by January 9, 2025 at 8 a.m.

To Apply
To apply, submit a resume and cover letter, which includes your response to the supplemental question below. Please also note if you are bilingual in Spanish and/or another language and describe your level of competency. Submit a copy of your application materials to all offices in which you are interested in working:

Albany: [email protected] Attn: Alivia Stretch, Regional Director
Pendleton: [email protected] Attn: Joe MacNeille, Regional Director
Portland: [email protected] Attn: Emily Brown Sitnick, Regional Director
Roseburg: [email protected] Attn: Joan Marie Michelsen, Regional Director
Salem: [email protected] Attn: Kelsey Tope, Regional Director

If you require reasonable accommodation for a disability during the application/hiring process, please contact Meghan Collins, Director of Administration, at [email protected].

Supplemental question
Please provide a written response to the following question and submit it as part of your application materials. Limit response to 500 words.

LASO is committed to achieving justice for the low-income communities of Oregon. Our client communities include people of color, farmworkers, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, seniors, people with lived experiences of homelessness, veterans, people with disabilities, and people from other underrepresented groups. It is essential to our mission that we also work to create an inclusive and respectful workplace environment in which differences are acknowledged and valued. How do you think your personal background or experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to: (1) serve our diverse client communities effectively, (2) work effectively with colleagues from backgrounds different than your own, (3) acknowledge the systemic barriers that our clients face, and (4) contribute to our efforts to achieve racial justice? Feel free to provide examples and apply various aspects of your life and personal experiences in your response.

We celebrate diversity
LASO is committed to being an organization that reflects the communities we serve and is diverse in race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, national origin, or sensory, mental and physical abilities, work background, experience and education. We believe that the outcome of such diversity is our greatest strength and a matter of basic human fairness. It is to this end that we strongly encourage applications from people of color and people from any other underrepresented and historically marginalized group to apply for this position.