Farmworker Project Law Clerk

Law Clerk Posting 

Law School Student 

Legal Action of Wisconsin Farmworker Project

Position Summary

Legal Action of Wisconsin seeks a temporary full-time bilingual (Spanish and English) law clerk to work with the Legal Action Farmworker Project. A law clerk position is meant for law students to work with Legal Action. A law clerk will help the Farmworker Project provide legal services to migrant, seasonal, and year-round agricultural workers in Wisconsin. For summer 2024, we expect a law clerk to start employment May 28^th, 2024. The Farmworker Project law clerk can expect to work 1-2 evenings per week. A law clerk can be based in the Madison or Milwaukee Legal Action office.

Legal Action of Wisconsin

Legal Action is a large, vibrant non-profit law firm funded by the federal Legal Services Corporation, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, and many other sources. Legal Action provides free legal aid to 11,000 – 13,000 low-income persons each year in the southern 39 counties of Wisconsin with six offices (Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Oshkosh, Green Bay, and La Crosse.) In addition, Legal Action operates a statewide farmworker project and other statewide projects serving crime victims, including victims of sex and labor trafficking. Legal Action attorneys have expertise in a range of substantive areas, but most of our work is in the areas of housing, public benefits, removing barriers to employment, consumer law, and family law. Staff attorneys maintain a direct service caseload on behalf of individual and group clients and engage in law reform litigation and other impact work. As often as possible, attorneys specialize in specific areas of poverty law.

The Farmworker Project is a statewide initiative to ensure that migrant, seasonal, and year-round agricultural workers receive the wages they have earned, live and work in a safe environment, are recruited lawfully and fairly, and have access to public benefit programs. Potential clients include: a migrant worker who travels to Wisconsin from another state or country to work in hand harvesting of crops, a seasonal worker who works in vegetable food processing during summer and fall, or a year-round worker who milks cows at a Wisconsin dairy farm. The Farmworker Project staff consists of three attorneys, one paralegal, and one program manager.

Legal Action believes that equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA , people with disabilities, and people with life experiences or educational backgrounds that add to the firm’s diversity and our capacity to provide high-quality legal aid.

Office Location 

A law clerk can be based in the Madison Legal Action office (744 Williamson St, Suite 200, Madison, WI 53703) or Milwaukee Legal Action office (633 W Wisconsin Ave, Suite 2000, Milwaukee, WI 53203). Please indicate location preference in cover letter.

Background

Farmworkers face historical and structural barriers that make it difficult for them to access legal and community services. Additionally, these barriers lead to unique legal problems that agricultural workers must confront, including:

• Failure to be paid minimum wage for their work or not being paid at all, among other worker rights issues.
• Recruitment abuses and unexpected changes in the employment contract.
• Substandard health and safety conditions in workplace and employer-provided housing.
• Confusion about immigration status, immigration laws, and governmental procedures.
• Denial of equal access to public benefits, services, and accommodations.

Key Responsibilities

A law clerk will be given assignments that are supervised by attorneys and other full-time staff. Case work generally involves completing intake, interviewing clients, analyzing client's legal problem(s), and providing legal advice under the supervision of an attorney. Other responsibilities include supporting attorneys through fact investigation, document preparation, legal research and writing, negotiations with adverse parties, and litigation preparation and support. Law clerks will engage with state and federal enforcement agencies and may have the opportunity to file wage claims with the Department of Workforce Development, support staff in unemployment hearings, and draft demand letters or civil complaints to be presented in federal or state court. Law clerks will communicate with clients in English and Spanish to explain the client’s legal situation.

To a lesser degree, a law clerk will support Farmworker Project’s outreach efforts to reach agricultural workers throughout Wisconsin. Outreach is the primary way that the Farmworker Project gets in contact with agricultural workers. Outreach may take place at farmworker housing, in community education presentations, through social media and radio, and includes the development of outreach materials like flyers and videos. Face-to-face visits to farmworker housing and other locations frequented by agricultural workers involve driving to worker housing, informing workers about their rights, passing out information on their rights, talking with workers about their living and working situation, and completing intakes regarding any legal problem workers may be experiencing. A law clerk can expect to do outreach visits 1-2 evenings per week.

Exposure and Training Opportunities

A law clerk will receive introductory training in the laws that protect the rights of farmworkers, including Wisconsin’s Migrant Labor Law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Agricultural Worker Protection Act, and immigration related remedies for victims of labor trafficking and other workplace-related crimes. A law clerk will develop experience conducting interviews with potential clients in Spanish and screening for common worker rights abuses. Law clerks will work closely with the Farmworker Project attorneys. 

Required Qualifications

• Current or rising 1L or 2L at an ABA-approved law school.
• Ability to easily and clearly communicate (orally and written) in Spanish.
• Availability to work 1-2 evenings per week. Law clerks will have the option of mornings off and/or a shorter work week to work during the evening hours.
• Valid Driver’s license (car not required). Legal Action provides mileage reimbursement for staff who use their own vehicles. You must be over 21 years to rent a car through Legal Action’s Enterprise Account.

Following qualifications are valued:

• Demonstrated commitment to social justice, including diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Ability to work as part of a team and demonstrate excellent communication skills.
• Demonstrate the ability to be resourceful, analyze problems, and propose problem-solving solutions.

Salary

The law clerk position is a full-time (40 hours per week) temporary position with the Legal Action Farmworker Project. A law clerk can expect to work 1-2 evenings per week. A law clerk has the option of being paid ($15 per hour) or enrolling in externship courses to receive course credit. As a temporary employee, the law clerk position is not eligible for any paid leave or health insurance benefits. For summer 2024, we expect a law clerk to start employment on May 28^th.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

Office work involves sedentary work, including sitting at a desk on a computer for an extended period of time. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and/or laptop keyboard and use a telephone. Specific vision abilities required for this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Drives a motor vehicle while seated for extended periods of time regularly.

Light walking and standing for extended periods of time during field visits when distributing information, interviewing workers, or giving presentations. Walking on uneven surfaces during fieldwork and ascending and descending stairs during field visits. Ability to lift up to 20 pounds. The work environment can vary from a controlled office to an outdoors environment in an agricultural or farm setting.

To apply

Please submit a cover letter, resume, and legal writing sample via Legal Action’s online applicant portal by 4/30/24, 2024. Please indicate Legal Action office location preference in cover letter.  

To apply, follow this link.

Questions

Project Manager, Mariah Hennen, mkh@legalaction.org