Senior Legal Helpline Intern

Intern with our Elder Law Attorneys, Make an Impact

Virginia Poverty Law Center offers rewarding Elder Law internships for non-law school students that provide an opportunity to develop skills and real-world experience serving Virginia’s lower-income senior citizens.

The Virginia Poverty Law Center’s Senior Legal Helpline Internship Program attracts bright and talented advocates of tomorrow. Our internship program offers unpaid internships for college, and graduate students, providing a unique opportunity to develop skills and real-world experience with a civil legal aid organization serving older adults.

This internship will provide practical, substantive, hands-on work experience assisting older adults in a legal aid capacity. It is an excellent opportunity for an individual to gain more experience in working directly with senior citizens, conducting primary interviews, summarizing facts for the staff attorney, and helping with follow-up research on an as-needed basis. It is also an excellent opportunity for individuals exploring a potential legal career to gain some experience, as our interns have the chance to see behind the scenes of a legal aid organization. Past interns have pursued careers as attorneys, paralegals, social workers, and in gerontology.

Under the supervision and training of the Staff Attorney for the Senior Legal Helpline, the intern will have the following responsibilities and tasks:

• Perform intake services for the elder law helpline, such as taking down contact information, explaining the services offered, and informing them of next steps in the process.
• Gather basic caller information and enter it into a digital database
• Conduct basic intake interviews and report back to the Staff Attorney with information gathered
• Provide support for clients by running public benefits checks and helping connect them with community organizations for non-legal issues.

Preferred Qualifications

• Interest in the non-profit sector, legal aid, and poverty issues.
• Excellent writing, verbal, proofreading, editing, and professional phone and email communication.
• Flexible and self-motivated.
• Detail-oriented, with the ability to prioritize under deadlines.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office products, specifically Word and Excel, and Internet search tools.

Interns can attend virtual staff meetings, virtual training opportunities, and work directly with clients.

Interns would also have the opportunity to observe follow-up calls with the Staff Attorney as well as help with other aspects of the case work. Senior Legal Helpline work does not include attending court or providing extended legal services – the helpline is advice-only. This position is remote.

A minimum of 15 hours per week is requested however interns may work more hours if their schedule permits. Hours are generally weekdays from 9am to 3pm, with flexibility available.

To Apply: Send cover letter, resume, a brief writing sample, and contact information for three references to: smorton@vplc.org. Please use “Elder Law Internship Application” in your subject line. Deadlines: Summer - April 20th Fall - August 1st Spring – January 7th For more information about this internship, contact Sarah Morton, Staff Attorney - smorton@vplc.org Virginia Poverty Law Center is an equal-opportunity employer.

Vision: Equal Opportunity and Justice for All Virginians

Mission: The Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) breaks down system barriers that keep low-income

Virginians in the cycle of poverty through advocacy, education, and litigation.

Overview. Since 1978, we have worked with legal aid programs, community organizations, and private

attorneys throughout Virginia to provide assistance and training to attorneys, paralegals, clients, and other advocates. VPLC engages in litigation, education, and lobbying to obtain justice for low-income Virginians.

VPLC operates in four centers: The Center for Economic Justice focuses on affordable and fair housing, foreclosure prevention, consumer justice, barriers to employment, and affordable utility issues.

The Center for Family Advocacy focuses on family law, child welfare, and domestic and sexual violence.

The Center for Healthy Communities focuses on health care access, elder law, public benefits, and food security issues that low-income Virginians depend on to meet their basic and essential needs. This includes the Senior Legal Helpline.

The Center for Community Support focuses on education for lawyers and the public on poverty law issues.

We produce and update resources to educate the public and provide legal tools to those people who cannot afford a lawyer and cannot get assistance from legal aid.

Learn more about our work at www.vplc.org

View our Annual Report at www.tinyurl.com/FY19AR

Follow us on social media:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/VaPovLawCtr

Twitter - @VPLC

919 East Main Street, Suite 610

Richmond, VA 23219 804.782.9430