Columbia Law School's summer program, one of the largest in the nation, is an integral part of preparing to practice public interest law. The Center for Public Interest Law oversees the two largest programs, the Public Service Fellowship Program (guaranteed) and the Human Rights Internship Program (by application), which give students the opportunity to receive stipends while providing greatly needed assistance to a wide range of organizations and government agencies in the United States and around the world.
Columbia Law School guarantees funding for all 1L and 2L JD students who timely apply and work in eligible public interest summer internships. Stipends will cover a range of placements both domestic and international including NGO's, not-for-profit organizations, criminal prosecution and defense work, and federal, state and local government agencies. The guaranteed funding program is due in part to the Public Interest Law Foundation's ongoing efforts to raise money to provide summer stipends for public interest internships.
Unique to Columbia, the Human Rights Internship Program (HRIP), founded in 1984 by Professor Jack Greenberg, is one of the Law School's most important offerings and a chief priority. The program's more than 1,500 "graduates" have been instrumental in drafting the South African Constitution, documenting human-rights abuses of gay and lesbian youth in America's prisons, and establishing the International Criminal Tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. They also have researched prison conditions in Sri Lanka, helped write a Freedom of Information Act for Guatemala, and worked on environmental law in Hungary. Interns from years past now lead community economic-development efforts, head legal services offices, fight against employment discrimination, and defend death-row inmates.
Participation in the HRIP is by application. The program enables students to intern at international human rights organizations abroad with a stipend, a plane ticket and intensive training on subjects ranging from basic human rights law to documenting and reporting to international legal research so that they will be grounded in fundamental human rights principles. Each summer, interns may select their placements from among hundreds of pre-established host organizations throughout the world. Students may also elect to pursue internships with new or emerging human rights organizations throughout the world with guidance from six faculty regional program advisors.
The Center for Public Interest Law works individually with each intern to identify the organization at which he or she can best receive training in human rights law, work in the service of his or her beliefs, create relationships that may advance professional development, and become part of a worldwide network of Columbia graduates and others devoted to human rights. The Center also assists in editing cover letters and resumes, which are then sent out under the HRIP's auspices, giving Columbia students a distinct advantage.
The John R. Oldham ('83) Fellowship is administered through The Center for Chinese Legal Studies of Columbia Law School. This fellowship supports summer public interest (including government) work or academic research in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
If you would like to apply for such funds, please submit a resume, transcripts, a two-page summary of your proposed project, an estimated budget, and whether you have received funding from another source (such as WEAI) including how much, to Paulette Roberts (prober@law.columbia.edu) or Akua Akyea (aakyea@law.columbia.edu) by March 12, 2010.
Please note that students pursuing internships or research in China this summer should also apply for funding to the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. Details are available at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/weai/funding.html . The application deadline for WEAI is usually in early March. In 2008 the date was March 6, 2009.
Charles H. Revson/Law Students Public Interest Fellowship (LSPIN)
The LSPIN Fellowship Program will provide grants for first- and second-year law students attending law school in New York and New Jersey to work with public interest organizations in the New York metropolitan area for ten weeks during the summer. Last year, 100 law students were awarded stipends in the amount of $4500 through the Program.
The Venable Fellowship offers a stipend to a Columbia Law School student in the J.D. program class of 2012 who demonstrates a commitment to public interest and who is registered in the Guaranteed Summer Funding Program. The fellowship will provide a total stipend of $5200 for ten weeks of work in an unpaid, public service summer internship in the United States.
Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, a small civil-rights law firm in Tribeca, NYC, reserves 2 summer associate positions for Columbia Law student 2Ls and pre-clerk 3Ls. Its practice seeks to effect systemic change in policing around the country through 42 U.S.C.s. 1983 litigation, primarily on two areas of official misconduct: wrongful convictions (on behalf of DNA exonerees) and serious police brutality. The NSB internship provides a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of criminal and civil-rights law at every stage of litigation. 2L funding will be matched and 3Ls will be paid on an hourly basis. Hiring will be on a rolling basis. To apply, please e-mail your resume, a cover letter and a writing sample to Debi Cornwall at debi@cnscivilrights.com
Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP
99 Hudson St., 8th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Goldstein Demchak Baller Borgen & Dardarian Civil Rights Summer Fellowship
The Oakland, California plaintiffs' civil rights and environmental justice law firm Goldstein Demchak Baller Borgen & Dardarian offers a summer position specifically to a Columbia Law School public interest student. The Fellowship pays $1,000 per week.
In addition to placements through the Human Rights Internship and Guaranteed Summer Funding programs, the following summer funding opportunities are available through the Law School: Columbia Arts Law Internships, sponsored and coordinated by the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts, provide opportunities and funding for work in the legal departments of arts-and media-related organizations. In past summers, students interned at organizations such as Educational Broadcasting Corporation's television stations Channel 13 in New York and DCET in Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Public Radio, the New York Public Library, the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, and the Audobon Society.
Faculty Research Assistant Positions fund students to work closely with Columbia's public interest faculty on various projects. Past students' projects have ranged from a landmark death penalty study to preparation for a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Committee to a book on the rights of crime victims.
Splitting the summer between a law firm and a public sector employer is a good option for students who need to work at a firm their second summer to finance their education, although some public interest organizations, do not allow them because they require their interns to work a full summer. There are two ways to structure a split summer.
“Sponsored Split” - the firm funds the student for the whole summer, and s/he spends at least half the summer at the firm and some weeks at a public interest organization. Each firm’s program is slightly different. Some first hire a class of summer associates then allow those students to apply for the opportunity to participate in a sponsored split.
“Student Split” – the student secures a summer associate position with a firm and then negotiates with that firm to split the summer with a public interest employer. The firm pays the salary while the student is there and the student funds the second half of the summer. Employers are open to this type of arrangement on a case-by-case basis; market forces may affect law firms’ willingness to allow summer associates to split their summers. Usually, this kind of split necessitates a summer of working longer than 10 weeks.
Click to review SJP/CPIL's resume workshop materials. This "Nitty Gritties" guide to the public interest job search contains all the information you need to get a handle on your summer internship search, including sample cover letters, resumes, and lots of tips for public interest interviews.
Below is a small sample of the many Columbia Law students who worked in public interest internships during the summer of 2009. They interned at a wide variety of domestic and international organizations and government agencies. Here's what they had to say:
Okeoma Moronu spent the summer at the United Nations Headquarters Office of Legal Counsel within the Office of Legal Affairs which provides legal advice to all the United Nations various personnel and organs. On a day-to-day basis, she worked on issues like status of-force agreements, rules-of engagement, and detention in regard to UN peace-keeping operations worldwide. Although she worked primarily on peace-keeping issues, she also had the opportunity to research and draft an amicus brief for the ICC, draft a note regarding the Secretary General's legal obligations resulting from the GA resolution condemning the coup in Honduras and attend various Security Council sessions.
Shana Khader interned at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica. She had the opportunity to work with current cases on a variety of human rights topics, from freedom of expression to forced disappearance. As an intern, she completed legal research projects, examining diverse sources of human rights norms including the Court's own jurisprudence. She also worked on drafting Court orders and judgments, and got plenty of first-hand exposure to the inner-workings of this international human rights tribunal.
Erin Meyer spent her summer at Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), a civil rights organization committed to ending discrimination based upon gender identity and expression and to achieving equality for transgender people through public education, impact litigation, direct legal services, community organizing, and public policy efforts. Working closely with the staff attorney and fellow interns, Erin conducted intake interviews and researched and wrote legal memoranda on behalf of transgender individuals from across the U.S. who experienced discrimination based on their gender identity in areas such as housing, employment, healthcare, public accommodations, and the prison system.
In New York, Keith Edelman worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District. Keith writes, "I mainly did investigative work, listening to wiretaps and preparing transcripts for trial. I also did a lot of research and writing for pre-sentencing memos and pre-trial motions, all of which was very interesting and substantive." He also went to court often, watched big trials and even argued rraignments on his own.
This summer Tanya Sehgal interned at the The Center for Court Innovation, "a non-profit think tank that helps courts and criminal justice agencies aid victims, reduce crime and improve public trust in justice." At the Center, Tanya worked with Governor Patterson's Task Force to Transform Juvenile Justice, researching the legal, social, and political issues that stood between the Task Force's recommendations and their implementation. She also had the opportunity to visit many of the Center's demonstration projects. The internship was a wonderful experience that exposed her to many the most cutting edge ideas in criminal and juvenile justice.
In Istanbul, Diana Sidakis spent the summer at the Refugee Advocacy and Support Program. She assisted in everything from interviewing asylum seekers and drafting their testimonies to writing appeals to the UNHCR on behalf of individual clients. She also worked on a research project compiling case law from the UK, Canada, and the US on Afghani asylum seekers. Diana writes, " I had a great experience."
Joseph Avery had a great experience interning in the Criminal Appellate Division at the US Dept. of Justice. He worked on adverse decisions, researched and wrote memoranda recommending a course of action -- appeal, rehearing en banc, and petition for writ of certiorari.
Anja Havedal spent the summer as a legal intern at the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in The Hague. Working closely with a legal officer, she researched and drafted several grounds of appeal for the draft judgement in a high-profile genocide case. She was also assigned to an appeals judge, for whom she provided comments and editorial assistance on various draft decisions before the Chamber. "I learned so much about international criminal justice and the inner workings of an international tribunal," Anja says, "And - most importantly - about how to analyse and draft issues of fact and law on appeal using case law and rules of procedure and evidence."
Shanti Sadtler writes, "I really could not have asked for a more substantive and enjoyable experience this summer." She worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. in the Special Proceedings Division which handles all post-conviction matters, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, and new evidence claims brought by convicted defendants. Her job was entirely comprised of research and writing assignments and she was often asked by the AUSA's to write memos and opposition motions.
Michael Holloway spent his summer in Madison, Wisconsic interning with Advocacy and Benefits Counseling for Health, Inc. (ABC for Health), a nonprofit, public interest law firm. He took part in all aspects of the firm's work, including direct health benefits counseling, litigation, and policy advocacy. Michael's work primarily involved researching and drafting correspondence and legal briefs, including letters to opposing counsel and a legal brief on behalf of an insured in an ERISA case pending certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Elisabeth Page interned for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a small independent human rights organization in Cairo. While there she collaborated on a report to submit to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women regarding Egypt’s fulfillment of its international obligations, and analyzed international jurisprudence pertaining to women’s health and reproductive rights. She also prepared a report on the implications of Egypt’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement for human rights. Elisabeth attended staff meetings and weekly office breakfasts, where she improved her Arabic skills listening to her coworkers chat about their work.
Kinara Flagg spent her summer working at the National Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C. There, she worked in the Family and Economic Security program area, writing and researching how specific laws and proposed bills affect low income women and children. She researched and wrote on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the climate change bill, a healthy families and responsible fatherhood initiative, and a proposed House bill that would change how poverty is measured in America. Kinara also conducted a 50-state survey on working family tax credits for tax year 2009, and contributed to a report published by the National Women's Law Center on Judge Sotomayor's judicial record, focusing specifically on cases concerning the loss of public benefits. She contributed regularly to the NWLC's blog, womenstake.org, and decided that DC is a great city to work in as an intern!
This summer Joshua Asher interned at the International Prisoner Transfer Unit with the U.S. Department of Justice. He evaluated applications from foreign nationals incarcerated in the United States and from Americans incarcerated abroad to serve out their sentences in their country of citizenship. He made decisions to oppose or approve transfers based on concerns about rehabilitation, family reunification, and law enforcement. Josh was also involved in diplomatic meetings and communications with the State Department, foreign embassies and ministries of justice regarding issues such as treaty formation and high-profile transfers.
This summer Mai Ratakonda worked in Grahamstown, South Africa at the Legal Resources Centre, a non-profit impact litigation organization. She did legal research in South African and international law on a variety of issues, including the right to basic education, infrastructure for special needs schools, unfair dismissal of employees, and governmental water-quality monitoring. She also had the chance to assist in conducting client interviews and drafting affidavits for these cases.
Marti Morgan writes, "This summer I worked in the public policy, litigation, and law department at Planned Parenthood where I spent mot of the summer working on one case that will soon be filed in Arizona. The case is a challenge, under the Arizona Constitution, to new abortion regulations just passed in the state. I was able to do extensive constitutional research and writing, much of which will be used by the attorneys briefing the case."
As a law clerk for the Department of Justice for the state of Delaware, Yaw Darwkaw was part of the Criminal Appeals division but had the opportunity to work with other departments. He was able to work on several substantive projects such as: a research memo that will later be turned into a reference guide to advise the police on the procedures and laws for the use of wiretaps in electronic surveillance; researching the procedure posture for all twenty death row cases in Delaware; and updating the court on an extraction case that had been opened since 1993. He also worked in traffic court once a week negotiating pleas with defendants. In addition to the aforementioned, he had the opportunity to visit the Medical Examiner’s Office, observe an argument before Delaware’s Supreme Court, meet the Governor, go for a ride a long with the police department and several other meaningful and relevant field trips.
Leslie Hannay spent the summer as an intern for the Sustainable Development Institute, a Liberian community rights organization in Monrovia. While there she analyzed Liberian and international law pertaining to extractive industries and worked to develop a framework for monitoring current mining operations. She also collaborated on a report uncovering major issues in the country’s logging industry and the government’s failure to fulfill its administrative and fiscal responsibilities. Leslie also had the opportunity to work directly with rural villagers, educating them about their rights under a new forestry law, and helping to build local institutions to secure those rights.
Jocelyn Courtney worked at the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania this summer. She wrote legal research memos, assisted a trial team, prepared motions and attended court. She writes, "Living in Africa was an amazing experience and working at the ICTR exposed me to all of the complicated emerging jurisprudence on international criminal law."
Rebekah Allen interned in the Refugee and Migrant's Rights division of Lawyers for Human Rights in Durban, South Africa. While there, she assisted clients in their applications for resettlement, immigration permits, and permanent residency. She completed substantial research in order to bolster clients' applications, including the use of U.S., Canadian, and British legal precedent as applied to South African law. Rebekah had the opportunity to interview and work closely with clients, and submitted briefs and applications directly to the South African Home Affairs Department and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Farhang Heydari spent the summer as a legal intern in the Immigration Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society of New York, the nations largest and oldest provider of indigent legal services. Farhang spent the summer working with Legal Aid's community based clinics in Washinton Heights and the Bronx. He conducted interviews of prospective clients with a wide range of immigration issues and assisted on going cases through research and trial preparation. The cases covered a range of issues including immigration consequences of criminal convictions, revocation of temporary protected status, asylum claims, fraudulent admissions, domestic violence, and crimes against immigrants.
Lisa Giunta spent her summer at Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit research institute dedicated to reestablishing a proper understanding of international law, protecting national sovereignty and the dignity of the human person. Working with C-FAM's public interest law arm, the International Organizations Law Group, Lisa researched and wrote on current international legal developments concerning reproductive rights and life issues. In addition, she contributed an article on the first planning meeting for Beijing +15 to C-FAM's weekly e-newsletter, the Friday Fax, and she attended the CEDAW Committee hearings at the United Nations.
In San Francisco, Lauren Gallo spent the summer interning at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that protects civil liberties implicated by emerging technologies. She researched and wrote on First Amendment and free speech issues related to e-mail server policies, Fourth Amendment search & seizure of laptops, the NSA's dragnet surveillance of ordinary American's e-mail and phone records, and fair use and public domain issues for online media and Internet archiving. She participated in litigation strategy meetings, contributed to moots in preparation for oral argument, attended court hearings, prepared memoranda, and prepared a model amicus brief. Lauren says, "Working at EFF on cutting edge issues was exciting and incredibly rewarding."
Okeoma Moronu spent the summer at the United Nations Headquarters Office of Legal Counsel within the Office of Legal Affairs which provides legal advice to all the United Nations various personnel and organs. On a day-to-day basis, she worked on issues like status of-force agreements, rules-of engagement, and detention in regard to UN peace-keeping operations worldwide. Although she worked primarily on peace-keeping issues, she also had the opportunity to research and draft an amicus brief for the ICC, draft a note regarding the Secretary General's legal obligations resulting from the GA resolution condemning the coup in Honduras and attend various Security Council sessions.
Shana Khader interned at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica. She had the opportunity to work with current cases on a variety of human rights topics, from freedom of expression to forced disappearance. As an intern, she completed legal research projects, examining diverse sources of human rights norms including the Court's own jurisprudence. She also worked on drafting Court orders and judgments, and got plenty of first-hand exposure to the inner-workings of this international human rights tribunal.
Erin Meyer spent her summer at Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), a civil rights organization committed to ending discrimination based upon gender identity and expression and to achieving equality for transgender people through public education, impact litigation, direct legal services, community organizing, and public policy efforts. Working closely with the staff attorney and fellow interns, Erin conducted intake interviews and researched and wrote legal memoranda on behalf of transgender individuals from across the U.S. who experienced discrimination based on their gender identity in areas such as housing, employment, healthcare, public accommodations, and the prison system. 
In New York, Keith Edelman worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District. Keith writes, "I mainly did investigative work, listening to wiretaps and preparing transcripts for trial. I also did a lot of research and writing for pre-sentencing memos and pre-trial motions, all of which was very interesting and substantive." He also went to court often, watched big trials and even argued rraignments on his own.
This summer Tanya Sehgal interned at the The Center for Court Innovation, "a non-profit think tank that helps courts and criminal justice agencies aid victims, reduce crime and improve public trust in justice." At the Center, Tanya worked with Governor Patterson's Task Force to Transform Juvenile Justice, researching the legal, social, and political issues that stood between the Task Force's recommendations and their implementation. She also had the opportunity to visit many of the Center's demonstration projects. The internship was a wonderful experience that exposed her to many the most cutting edge ideas in criminal and juvenile justice. 
In Istanbul, Diana Sidakis spent the summer at the Refugee Advocacy and Support Program. She assisted in everything from interviewing asylum seekers and drafting their testimonies to writing appeals to the UNHCR on behalf of individual clients. She also worked on a research project compiling case law from the UK, Canada, and the US on Afghani asylum seekers. Diana writes, " I had a great experience."
Joseph Avery had a great experience interning in the Criminal Appellate Division at the US Dept. of Justice. He worked on adverse decisions, researched and wrote memoranda recommending a course of action -- appeal, rehearing en banc, and petition for writ of certiorari.
Anja Havedal spent the summer as a legal intern at the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in The Hague. Working closely with a legal officer, she researched and drafted several grounds of appeal for the draft judgement in a high-profile genocide case. She was also assigned to an appeals judge, for whom she provided comments and editorial assistance on various draft decisions before the Chamber. "I learned so much about international criminal justice and the inner workings of an international tribunal," Anja says, "And - most importantly - about how to analyse and draft issues of fact and law on appeal using case law and rules of procedure and evidence."
Shanti Sadtler writes, "I really could not have asked for a more substantive and enjoyable experience this summer." She worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. in the Special Proceedings Division which handles all post-conviction matters, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, and new evidence claims brought by convicted defendants. Her job was entirely comprised of research and writing assignments and she was often asked by the AUSA's to write memos and opposition motions.
Michael Holloway spent his summer in Madison, Wisconsic interning with Advocacy and Benefits Counseling for Health, Inc. (ABC for Health), a nonprofit, public interest law firm. He took part in all aspects of the firm's work, including direct health benefits counseling, litigation, and policy advocacy. Michael's work primarily involved researching and drafting correspondence and legal briefs, including letters to opposing counsel and a legal brief on behalf of an insured in an ERISA case pending certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Elisabeth Page interned for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a small independent human rights organization in Cairo. While there she collaborated on a report to submit to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women regarding Egypt’s fulfillment of its international obligations, and analyzed international jurisprudence pertaining to women’s health and reproductive rights. She also prepared a report on the implications of Egypt’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement for human rights. Elisabeth attended staff meetings and weekly office breakfasts, where she improved her Arabic skills listening to her coworkers chat about their work.
Kinara Flagg spent her summer working at the National Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C. There, she worked in the Family and Economic Security program area, writing and researching how specific laws and proposed bills affect low income women and children. She researched and wrote on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the climate change bill, a healthy families and responsible fatherhood initiative, and a proposed House bill that would change how poverty is measured in America. Kinara also conducted a 50-state survey on working family tax credits for tax year 2009, and contributed to a report published by the National Women's Law Center on Judge Sotomayor's judicial record, focusing specifically on cases concerning the loss of public benefits. She contributed regularly to the NWLC's blog, womenstake.org, and decided that DC is a great city to work in as an intern!
This summer Joshua Asher interned at the International Prisoner Transfer Unit with the U.S. Department of Justice. He evaluated applications from foreign nationals incarcerated in the United States and from Americans incarcerated abroad to serve out their sentences in their country of citizenship. He made decisions to oppose or approve transfers based on concerns about rehabilitation, family reunification, and law enforcement. Josh was also involved in diplomatic meetings and communications with the State Department, foreign embassies and ministries of justice regarding issues such as treaty formation and high-profile transfers.
This summer Mai Ratakonda worked in Grahamstown, South Africa at the Legal Resources Centre, a non-profit impact litigation organization. She did legal research in South African and international law on a variety of issues, including the right to basic education, infrastructure for special needs schools, unfair dismissal of employees, and governmental water-quality monitoring. She also had the chance to assist in conducting client interviews and drafting affidavits for these cases.
Marti Morgan writes, "This summer I worked in the public policy, litigation, and law department at Planned Parenthood where I spent mot of the summer working on one case that will soon be filed in Arizona. The case is a challenge, under the Arizona Constitution, to new abortion regulations just passed in the state. I was able to do extensive constitutional research and writing, much of which will be used by the attorneys briefing the case."
As a law clerk for the Department of Justice for the state of Delaware, Yaw Darwkaw was part of the Criminal Appeals division but had the opportunity to work with other departments. He was able to work on several substantive projects such as: a research memo that will later be turned into a reference guide to advise the police on the procedures and laws for the use of wiretaps in electronic surveillance; researching the procedure posture for all twenty death row cases in Delaware; and updating the court on an extraction case that had been opened since 1993. He also worked in traffic court once a week negotiating pleas with defendants. In addition to the aforementioned, he had the opportunity to visit the Medical Examiner’s Office, observe an argument before Delaware’s Supreme Court, meet the Governor, go for a ride a long with the police department and several other meaningful and relevant field trips.
Leslie Hannay spent the summer as an intern for the Sustainable Development Institute, a Liberian community rights organization in Monrovia. While there she analyzed Liberian and international law pertaining to extractive industries and worked to develop a framework for monitoring current mining operations. She also collaborated on a report uncovering major issues in the country’s logging industry and the government’s failure to fulfill its administrative and fiscal responsibilities. Leslie also had the opportunity to work directly with rural villagers, educating them about their rights under a new forestry law, and helping to build local institutions to secure those rights.
Jocelyn Courtney worked at the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania this summer. She wrote legal research memos, assisted a trial team, prepared motions and attended court. She writes, "Living in Africa was an amazing experience and working at the ICTR exposed me to all of the complicated emerging jurisprudence on international criminal law."
Rebekah Allen interned in the Refugee and Migrant's Rights division of Lawyers for Human Rights in Durban, South Africa. While there, she assisted clients in their applications for resettlement, immigration permits, and permanent residency. She completed substantial research in order to bolster clients' applications, including the use of U.S., Canadian, and British legal precedent as applied to South African law. Rebekah had the opportunity to interview and work closely with clients, and submitted briefs and applications directly to the South African Home Affairs Department and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Farhang Heydari spent the summer as a legal intern in the Immigration Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society of New York, the nations largest and oldest provider of indigent legal services. Farhang spent the summer working with Legal Aid's community based clinics in Washinton Heights and the Bronx. He conducted interviews of prospective clients with a wide range of immigration issues and assisted on going cases through research and trial preparation. The cases covered a range of issues including immigration consequences of criminal convictions, revocation of temporary protected status, asylum claims, fraudulent admissions, domestic violence, and crimes against immigrants.
Lisa Giunta spent her summer at Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit research institute dedicated to reestablishing a proper understanding of international law, protecting national sovereignty and the dignity of the human person. Working with C-FAM's public interest law arm, the International Organizations Law Group, Lisa researched and wrote on current international legal developments concerning reproductive rights and life issues. In addition, she contributed an article on the first planning meeting for Beijing +15 to C-FAM's weekly e-newsletter, the Friday Fax, and she attended the CEDAW Committee hearings at the United Nations.
In San Francisco, Lauren Gallo spent the summer interning at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that protects civil liberties implicated by emerging technologies. She researched and wrote on First Amendment and free speech issues related to e-mail server policies, Fourth Amendment search & seizure of laptops, the NSA's dragnet surveillance of ordinary American's e-mail and phone records, and fair use and public domain issues for online media and Internet archiving. She participated in litigation strategy meetings, contributed to moots in preparation for oral argument, attended court hearings, prepared memoranda, and prepared a model amicus brief. Lauren says, "Working at EFF on cutting edge issues was exciting and incredibly rewarding."