Clerkships at Vermont Legal Aid
Full-time clerks work 37.5 hours per week for 10 weeks. Part-time clerks generally work 10-15 hours per week for a minimum of 14 weeks.
Vermont Legal Aid is seeking clerks on a rolling basis in a range of our projects and offices. Applicants should specify which project or projects they would like to work with in their cover letters.
Elder Law Clerkship
The Senior Citizens Law Project and the Medicare Advocacy Project seek a 1L or 2L student to assist in the representation of seniors in a wide range of cases, both direct service and impact litigation, including housing issues, consumer law, and health care issues, particularly Medicaid and Medicare. The student will assist project attorneys in their case work, including legal research and writing, reviewing and analyzing documents and medical records, and interviewing clients. The work may also involve support for a class action lawsuit regarding the Medicare coverage. The student may have the opportunity to represent clients directly in administrative proceedings. This clerkship will be located in Burlington, VT.
Housing Discrimination Law Project Clerkship
VLA seeks a summer clerk to assist us with our housing discrimination cases. The clerk will have the opportunity to do research and writing and assist in interviewing clients, investigating and preparing cases for trial. The clerk may also have the opportunity to represent a client, with supervision, in an administrative hearing. Our anti-discrimination work in housing focuses primarily on race, color, national origin, familial status, and disability. There may be an opportunity to work on cases or research where the basis of discrimination is gender identity, receipt of public assistance, or age. This position is located in Burlington, VT.
How to apply
Applications are considered on a rolling basis, year-round.
Application Components
1. Cover Letter
Your cover letter can be addressed to David Koeninger, Deputy Director, and should address the following:
a) Please indicate whether you are applying for a full-time or part-time clerkship. If you are applying for a part-time clerkship, please clearly indicate your proposed start and end dates, and weekly time commitment.
b) Please indicate which position or positions you are interested in, and how your interests, knowledge and experience prepare you for the specific clerkships for which you are applying. If you are interested in more than one clerkship, please rank your preferences so that we can best direct your application.
2. A Current Resume
3. References
Please provide the phone numbers and email addresses of three academic or professional references.
4. Writing Sample
Please provide a sample of expository writing. While there is no page limit, excerpts of long briefs or articles are sufficient.
Application Submission
Email your application as a single PDF file to Betsy Whyte with the subject line "VLA Clerkship Application."
It is the responsibility of applicants to ensure that their applications are correctly formatted and complete. If you encounter a problem, please do not hesitate to email Betsy Whyte.
We are an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building cultural competency in order to effectively serve our increasingly diverse client community. We encourage applicants to share in your cover letter how you can further this goal.
