OPLC Seeking Summer 2010 Law Clerks

The Ohio Poverty Law Center (OPLC), a division of Ohio State Legal Services Association (OSLSA), is seeking applicants for 2010 summer clerk positions.  OPLC is a non-profit legal organization dedicated to using the law to fight poverty in Ohio.

Our office in Columbus houses the seven OPLC attorneys and support staff, as well as the OSLSA administrative office.  OPLC engages in impact work and provides leadership on substantive poverty law issues for Ohio’s legal aid community.  OPLC also engages in statewide legislative and administrative advocacy on poverty law issues facing Ohioans and manages the content of the Ohio legal services website, www.ohiolegalservices.org.

Summer clerks will have an opportunity to work on a variety of legal issues affecting the poor, including housing, foreclosure, consumer law, public benefits, health law, education law, and family law.  Clerks will learn first-hand about how legal aid lawyers work with limited resources to provide high-quality services to clients in poverty and will have opportunities to think creatively about addressing systemic issues impacting low-income populations in Ohio.  Clerks will also have an opportunity to work on statewide advocacy projects in collaboration with OPLC attorneys and attorneys at Ohio’s direct service legal aid programs.  OPLC will provide clerks an orientation to the areas of poverty law in which we work and will strive to involve clerks in cases and new or on-going projects. 

Applicants should be first or second year law students who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to public interest law and should have strong backgrounds in research and creative problem-solving.

The positions are unpaid, but OPLC/OSLSA is an approved work-study provider for Ohio State University students and will cooperate with applications for law school summer fellowship programs.  We are also flexible on timing and can accommodate both full-time and part-time clerk schedules.

Please send a cover letter and resume (email preferable) no later than March 1, 2010 to:

Sarah Biehl
Staff Attorney
Ohio Poverty Law Center
555 Buttles Avenue
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 221-7201
sbiehl@ohiopovertylaw.org