Vermont Poverty Law Fellowship
October 21, 2011
The Vermont Bar Foundation and the Vermont Access to Justice Campaign are pleased to announce the availability of a two-year Vermont Poverty Law Fellowship (VPLF) beginning in August 2012. The VPLF program is designed to allow graduating law students and other new lawyers to help expand the reach of Vermont’s existing legal services providers. Funding for salary and benefits will be provided by the Vermont Access to Justice Campaign. Loan forgiveness (up to $5,000) may be available from the Vermont Bar Foundation.
The specific Fellowship projects will be designed to take advantage of the Fellow’s background and the needs of the low-income community, and will be integrated directly into the services being delivered by one or more of the three major legal services programs in Vermont: Vermont Legal Aid, The Legal Services Law Line of Vermont and/or the South Royalton Legal Clinic at Vermont Law School. The Fellowship will include work on one or more specific projects impacting the lives of low-income Vermonters, as well as the day-to-day delivery of legal services to clients. Areas of representation include foreclosure, rental housing, immigration, children’s rights, public benefits, consumer law, and disability rights, as well as other areas of critical legal need.
Fellows will work with the Vermont Bar Foundation and the Vermont Bar Association to publicize Fellowship activities, contribute to the public awareness of legal services in Vermont, and participate in Vermont Bar Association continuing legal education activities.
Applicants must have excellent written and oral skills. Experience in public interest law, civil rights law, or legal services is a plus. Applicants must be recent law school graduates or graduating law students and must be admitted to the Vermont Bar or willing to sit for the July 2012 Vermont Bar examination. The job will be based in either Burlington or Montpelier. Some in-state travel will be required.
Salary will be $40,800 in the first year and $42,000 in the second year, with excellent fringe benefits.
Send a cover letter detailing the applicant’s previous work with low-income clients and/or other relevant experience, a résumé, three references, and a writing sample by November 4, 2011 to:
Vermont Poverty Law Fellowship
Vermont Bar Association
P.O. Box 100
Montpelier, VT 05601-0100
