Equal Justice Works Fellowship

Legal Services for Children is seeking a candidate to sponsor for an Equal Justice Works fellowship (and possibly other 1-2 year fellowships) to begin work in the fall of 2026.

The fellowship project should be focused on LSC’s dependency practice (representing foster children and youth) and the issues that arise in that context, such as education advocacy, immigration, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), benefits, and placement. Projects will involve providing holistic legal services through an inter-disciplinary practice, as well as policy and advocacy work and community education. The project will be developed in a collaborative process by the applicant and LSC staff, and will be submitted in September 2025.

Please send cover letter (including any project ideas), resume, brief writing sample, and contact information for three references to internship@lsc-sf.org, with “Fellowship” in the subject line. Candidates must be on course to graduate from an Equal Justice Works Member Law School before September 2026 with a J.D. or LL.M., and cannot have previously held another full-time, public interest attorney position. LSC’s clientele is extremely diverse, and the majority of our clients are low-income youth of color. To ensure that our agency is best serving these children, LSC strives to promote an evolving set of behaviors and attitudes amongst our staff, as well as policies that enable us to work effectively in all cross-cultural situations, with clients, with our coworkers, and with the community. We see this as a commitment to enhance the provision of our services to all clients, to raise the level of positive client outcomes, and to create an inclusive and respectful workplace in which differences are acknowledged and valued. In your cover letter, please answer this question: How do you think your personal background or experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to contribute to our commitment to cultural humility and diversity amongst our staff? Feel free to think broadly about your response to this question, applying various aspects of your life and personal experiences.

The deadline for submitting materials is August 15, 2025 with priority consideration given to applications received by August 4, 2025. LSC will make a decision on sponsorship no later than August 22, 2025. Please contact Legal Director Nedra Shawler at internship@lsc-sf.org with any questions.

Founded in 1975, Legal Services for Children (“LSC”) is one of the country’s first non-profit law firms dedicated to providing free legal representation and social work services to children. Our mission is to ensure that all children in the San Francisco Bay Area are raised in a safe environment with equal access to a meaningful education and other services that are necessary to thrive and grow. We believe that youth deserve positive alternatives to unnecessary placement in foster care, juvenile justice facilities, and immigration detention. LSC started the interdisciplinary approach that is considered a best practice in juvenile law today. We deploy attorney/social worker teams to assist Bay Area children who need to access the legal system to stabilize or improve their lives. LSC’s attorneys represent children in legal matters that involve guardianship, dependency, school discipline, immigration, and other civil legal matters. Our social workers provide crisis intervention, case management, counseling, and psychosocial assessments. LSC staff also engage in policy and advocacy projects aimed at advancing the rights of children.  

Bilingual/bicultural candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. To promote social justice and best serve our clients, LSC is committed to maintaining a diverse staff and providing services with cultural humility. We are committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion and ensuring a workplace where staff can flourish and grow professionally and well beyond. We strongly encourage candidates from traditionally underrepresented communities and historically oppressed groups including BIPOC and LGBTQ people, as well as bilingual/bicultural candidates, to apply.