Summer Legal Internship – Farmworker Rights Division – Georgia Legal Services Program

From HSLOrgs.com, Harvard Immigration Project, 16 Feb 2012.

The Farmworker Rights Division of Georgia Legal Services seeks law students to join our advocacy on behalf of migrant farmworkers. The Farmworker Rights Division provides free legal representation and community outreach and education to the workers who hand-harvest Georgia crops. Typical cases involve growers failing to pay workers, cheating workers out of wages, discriminating on the basis of citizenship or national origin, and breaking contractual promises. Our cases are actively litigated and we are directly involved in critical issues affecting both low-wage immigrant workers and their domestic counterparts. See, e.g., Reyes-Fuentes v. Shannon Produce Farm, Inc., 671 F. Supp. 2d 1365 (S.D. Ga. 2009); Ojeda-Sanchez v. Bland Farms, 600 F. Supp.2d 1373 (S.D. Ga. Mar. 4, 2009); Hernandez v. Two Bros. Farm, LLC, 579 F. Supp. 2d 1379 (S.D. Fla. 2008). Our work on behalf of low-income workers is controversial and often subject to political attack. For example, our current litigation with the EEOC led to a bill to defund our organization. See, e.g., Dana Milbank, How Rep. Scott Betrayed His Tea Party Roots, Wash. Post, Aug. 9, 2011. Due to widespread use of immigrant labor and lax government enforcement, there is no shortage of deserving clients and meritorious claims to be litigated.

Student Intern Responsibilities:
Interns will assist staff attorneys in representing mostly Spanish-speaking farmworkers regarding issues related to their agricultural employment and civil rights. Interns will enjoy a full summer of federal litigation, legal research and writing, case planning, fact investigation, client communications, and outreach activities to the farmworker community. Summer is our busy time, as the height of the Georgia harvest season occurs from May through July. Student interns will develop their client communication skills through direct contact with workers. Interns will investigate cases, draft affidavits, letters, and pleadings, and will participate in the discovery process including electronic document review. Previous interns have worked on cases involving racial and national origin discrimination, workers fired for engaging in work stoppages, as well as numerous cases involving serious violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

Supervision:
Student interns will work closely with and receive their training and assignments from senior staff attorneys Dawson Morton, Leah Lotto, and Rebecca Miller. Students will receive ongoing feedback as well as mid summer and final reviews.

Apply:
Email cover letter, resume and writing sample to Dawson Morton: dmorton@glsp.org. Applications from both 1L and 2L law students will be considered. Strong writing skills are necessary and Spanish-language skills are strongly preferred. Students typically work from late May through the end of July.

Source: HSLOrgs.com, “Summer Legal Internship – Farmworker Rights Division – Georgia Legal Services Program” Harvard Immigration Project, 16 Feb 2012.