Legal Services Director jobs in Chesterfield, MO

Rural communities in the U.S. and its territories face a shortage of lawyers, with a large population of the country being forced to travel hundreds of miles to find legal assistance. Participate in Rural Summer Legal Corps (RSLC) and help address the access-to-justice crisis for people living in rural areas.

Each summer, Equal Justice Works partners with the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to support dedicated law students who want to serve rural communities, as part of the Rural Summer Legal Corps. This year, 50 Student Fellows will spend eight to ten weeks at LSC-funded civil legal aid organizations developing valuable skills and gaining hands-on experience by:

Rural Summer Legal Corps students spend 8 to 10 weeks working at a LSC grantee host site on projects that improve access to justice in rural communities. They complete a minimum of 300 hours of service to rural populations. In late May, before traveling to their host sites, selected fellows attend a two-day training course in Washington, D.C., which convenes experts on legal aid, resilience, and working in low-income communities. Travel and training expenses for the D.C. training is included. Each student receives a $7,000 stipend for their summer of service.

What will the LSEM Fellow Do?
The Rural Summer Legal Corps Fellows will help Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM) expand outreach efforts and increase capacity, mainly in serving domestic violence victims living in rural Missouri. Outreach efforts will include assisting in outreach to minority communities in our rural counties. The Fellow will be based in our Hannibal office. Hannibal, which covers thirteen rural counties, is the historic Mississippi River community that inspired several of Mark Twain’s most beloved novels. Twelve of Hannibal’s thirteen counties averaged populations of 10,000 or less. All these counties are underserved by attorneys and have significant populations living with low opportunity and low income. Under the supervision of an experienced mentor with over 22 years of legal experience in the Hannibal office, the Fellow will learn firsthand about a law office operation by completing a wide variety of substantive tasks including intake screenings, client interviews, drafting pleadings, electronic filing, docket management, court appearances, and closeout assistance, for domestic violence cases primarily. his summer placement will also expose the Fellow to a broad base of legal cases managed by the Hannibal office team, including for example, but not limited to: Landlord/Tenant/Housing disputes, Public Benefits, Medicare/Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability, Family Law, Consumer Issues, and Elder Law. This is a unique opportunity for the Fellow to build a broad base of legal skills while serving one of the Midwest’s needy communities.

Qualifications:
The Rural Summer Legal Corps is open to law students who will have completed their first or second year by the start of their summer at one of almost 200 Equal Justice Works member law schools. The Fellow must be willing to stay in Hannibal for the summer, or commute to Hannibal at least part time.