The Legal Services and Advocacy Program has opportunities for female law students to complete a volunteer-based legal internship at Battered Women’s Support Services. The responsibilities of the legal interns includes interviewing women, assessing and analyzing legal problems, assisting in resolving legal problems, assisting women to prepare for court, preparing documents and providing court accompaniments. Legal interns are supervised by the BWSS Staff Lawyer.
Legal interns must either be enrolled in a law school or have received their law degree. Additional training is provided to legal interns to become aware of the anti-oppression feminist analysis of violence against women, to have a basic understanding of family and immigration and refugee law, to manage and conduct research on files, work within the Legal Services and Advocacy Program, and to familiarize themselves with the overall internal practices and procedures at Battered Women’s Support Services.
Legal interns are required to commit for a minimum of four hours per week for a minimum of four months. This commitment does not apply in the months of December, April or August if legal interns are enrolled in law school and have exams during the specified months. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please contact Niki Sharma, Manager of the Legal Services and Advocacy Program, legaladvocacy@bwss.org for more information.