The ATJ Tech Fellows program is seeking diverse and entrepreneurial-minded law students who are passionate about social justice and want to spend the summer learning new ways to leverage technology in order to improve access to legal services for people who can’t afford a lawyer.
Fellows will spend 10-weeks over the summer working on a range of innovative projects and technology initiatives aimed to lower barriers to the law so that people can understand their legal options, make informed decisions, and when necessary, represent themselves in court. Summer fellows will receive training, support, and the opportunity to make a real impact in the way legal services are delivered.
The Fellowship application is now open! Click here to apply. Deadline to apply is February 15, 2017 at 8:00pm EST. Law students must apply through the online application portal or download the application and email their completed application package to fellowship@atjtechfellows.org.
Fellowship Overview
The ATJ Tech Fellows program is a new and exciting summer fellowship program that merges cutting edge legal training with practical experience. The fellows first meet virtually to participate in the “Legal Access Innovation Curriculum.” A series of eight webinar training sessions over a two-day period. Guest lectured by some of the nation’s leading experts on technology and legal services.
Fellows then spend the rest of the summer housed at a legal services organizations. Where they’ll assist on a variety of innovative initiatives and projects that incorporate the use of technology to deliver legal services to the underserved.
The ATJ Tech Fellows program is designed to provide law students a greater understanding of existing barriers to the law for people who can’t afford a lawyer. In addition, to providing future lawyers the competencies and skills to use and deploy technology in order to gradually reduce those barriers standing in the way of equal access to adequate legal services.
Fellowship Highlights
- A 10-week placement at one of our partner legal services organizations.
- A full-time workload. (35-40hrs per week).
- Designated on-site work-space.
- $4,000 stipend to cover expenses over the summer.
- Training from our nation’s leading legal experts in technology and access to justice issues.
- A dedicated supervisor who can meet with and provide feedback to the Fellow
- Opportunities to gain exposure to and skills legal services – or advocacy-related work
- Opportunities to gain exposure to the organization’s priorities and build networks within the organization.
- Access to mentors and support from our team
- A hosted blog, where fellows journal their summer experience and complete a series of teaming exercises
Fellowship Positions
ATJ Tech Fellows spend the summer working on a range of innovative initiatives and technology projects at various legal services organizations across the nation. Fellows gain practical experience on the varied uses of technology in delivering legal services and other translational legal skills. Learn more about each of the fellowship positions below.
Michigan Legal Help Program
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist with content development and maintenance for the Michigan Legal Help website (reviewing & updating existing legal information content according to Quality Assurance Protocols; conducting research and drafting new legal information content for the website; learning plain language writing skills; etc.)
Ohio State Legal Services Association
Location: Columbus, OH
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist in the development of self-help kiosks in Ohio rural communities that would include live chat, in urban community, increase efficiency of intake system, and develop social media communication platforms statewide.
Minnesota Legal Services Coalition
Location: St. Paul, MN
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist the Legal Services State Support team. This team manages www.LawHelpMN.org, www.ProJusticeMN.org, and a statewide online advice program, www.MNLegalAdvice.org.
Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service
Location: Baltimore, MD
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist the CLUE program, which gathers public data and analyzes it looking for possible legal issues clients may have. The fellow will review the program and find ways to improve it and find additional databases to add. The fellow will also assist in finding patterns in the data to better detect issues low income individuals face.
Legal Aid Society of Hawaii
Location: Honolulu, HI
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist in developing a training program for pro bono attorneys volunteering at the court self-help center. The fellow may also be tasked with developing technology projects to better assist clients at the court self-help centers such as integrating the use of videos and A2J forms.
New Mexico Legal Aid
Location: Albuquerque NM
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist NMLA’s mobile and remote access technology/virtual practice. These mobile and remote access technologies to increase its capacity to deliver services across New Mexico’s huge geographic territory, especially to meet the need for urban-based staff to meaningfully communicate with and assist clients in distant rural communities.
Alaska Legal Services Corporation
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist in drafting, researching, and editing legal education materials and legal forms to bolster ALSC’s Pro Bono Training Academy (PBTA)— an online support mechanism for pro bono attorneys to assist clients in rural communities.
Illinois Legal Aid Online
Location: Chicago, IL
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist the team responsible for IllinoisLegalAid.org . The fellow will assist in the development of automated legal forms, user research and testing, and market research and analysis of other websites and features.
Montana Legal Services Association
Location: Helena, MT
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist the team responsible for the Montana Online Justice Portal. The online limited scope advice portal, allows attorneys to respond securely and remotely to vetted questions posted by low-income clients.
Northwest Justice Project
Location: Seattle, WA
Brief Description: The legal fellow will help facilitate and create online community for legal aid technologists through the creation of online content and communication with the national Legal Services community. The fellow’s duties may also include document assembly, automated expungement, data destruction, expert systems, online security, or data visualization.
Location: Harrisonburg, VA
Brief Description: The legal fellow will assist in the creation of new technology tools for applying for legal assistance online; and the creation of new technology tools for filing the most common legal pleadings in Virginia’s courts.