Legal Intern, New York – Immigration Law

Job Description

Legal Intern | HIAS Europe

The Tone:
This is a paid legal internship at HIAS Europe, located in New York. HIAS focuses on providing direct legal services to asylum seekers and other vulnerable populations. This role is crucial for assisting HIAS’ legal and pro bono teams in delivering essential humanitarian relief, allowing interns to gain practical, hands-on experience in United States immigration law within a non-profit setting. The intern will directly contribute to supporting the delivery of vital legal assistance that significantly benefits asylum seekers seeking protection.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Part-time
• Location: In-person, New York, NY
• Pay: $900 monthly
• Team: Reports to the Senior Staff Attorney, works collaboratively with the in-house Legal and Pro Bono teams.
• Mission: This person assists HIAS’ legal teams by conducting research, drafting filings, and providing direct support for immigration court and USCIS cases, primarily focused on humanitarian relief for asylum seekers.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Legal Research: Conduct thorough legal and factual research on various topics assigned by HIAS Attorneys, crucial for informing and strengthening immigration legal cases.
• Document Drafting: Write comprehensive memorandums, legal briefs, and other essential documents required for HIAS’ immigration legal cases, intended for submission to the immigration court and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• Client Interviews & Forms: Develop detailed client declarations and complete all necessary application forms through direct, sensitive interviews with clients, ensuring accuracy and completeness for various client benefits.
• Case Preparation & Presentation: Assist both the in-house Legal team and external Pro Bono Attorney teams in the preparation and presentation of diverse humanitarian relief claims, which include affirmative and defensive asylum claims, special immigrant juvenile cases, U-visa, and T-visa applications.
• Record Keeping & Reporting: Maintain precise case records and actively contribute to program reports, ensuring full compliance with any applicable grants or other agreements governing HIAS’ legal services.

The Must-Haves
• Background: A current law student (specifically a 2L or 3L) or a recent law graduate, demonstrating a strong interest in asylum law, human rights, and international law.
• Experience: Not specified.
• Skills: Resourceful, thorough, and analytical in approach to developing information and obtaining materials relevant to legal research; excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills; and excellent organizational and problem-solving abilities.
• Bonus: Fluency in Spanish, French, and/or Russian is strongly preferred.