A Summer with Legal Aid: Carl L. McConnell Fellowship

My name is Cinthia Padilla Martin, and I am a law student at the UC Davis School of Law. I spent this summer working as the Carl L. McConell Fellow for LIBRE at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. As my time here ends and I get ready for my second year in school, I am looking back on this summer experience and what brought me here.

Like many of the families served by LIBRE, my parents migrated to the US hoping for a better life. Their sacrifices and hard work inspired me to pursue a career that would enable me to help families such as my own. A career in law was a natural choice, as migrant and low-income communities have a need for free or low-cost legal assistance. I enrolled in law school with a predilection for work in public interest law. Fortunately, LIBRE’s mission and core values aligned perfectly with my legal aspirations, and they decided to take me on as a summer fellow.

Ten weeks ago, I was anxious about starting my fellowship with LIBRE. I had previously worked in the legal sector, but this would be my first job as a law student. Through my prior job as a legal assistant, I experienced the clerical aspect of legal services. However, I was desirous of the legal work of an attorney. To my delight, the LIBRE team was receptive to my aspirations and gave me meaningful legal work.

Over the past ten weeks, I have been exposed to the ever-changing world of immigration law. I have been able to shadow court hearings, legal consultations, and client meetings. Moreover, I have worked on DACA, U-Visa, and SIJS forms for clients seeking immigration relief. I have also gotten a glimpse of the more mundane activities of being an attorney, such as attending webinars and meetings, and staying current on the latest immigration updates. But perhaps most importantly, I have learned a great deal about the human aspects of an attorney’s work.

Working at a non-profit organization that serves low-income communities requires wearing many hats. I have witnessed LIBRE attorneys listening to and consoling clients who have survived traumatic experiences. The attorneys’ compassion doesn’t go unnoticed; clients express gratitude for the validation and help that they receive. These interactions have convinced me that beyond good legal work, a good attorney must also demonstrate sympathy toward clients. This is the kind of attorney I strive to be some day.

My time with LIBRE and the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County has come to an end, but I will always be grateful for the experience and the people with whom I worked. It has been a true pleasure to work alongside people with bright minds and a passion for helping low-income communities.

As a closing note, I would like to say thank you to the funders of the Carl L. McConnell Fellowship. I come from a working-class background, so your funding has made it possible for me to take a public interest job. My summer earnings will go toward covering next school year’s expenses, such as books and rent. My deepest gratitude goes to you.

Summer with Legal Aid: Carl L McConnell Fellowship

At the beginning of the summer, after completing my first year of law school I was eager and excited to join the team of lawyers and staff at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County.  The friendly faces I met assured me of the positive work environment and comradery in the office.  My first week, I observed many different client intakes with the immigration and family advocacy legal teams.  By Friday, I was attending the Tenants’ Clinic at Fair Oaks Community Center to work with the Housing team to help defend tenants in fear of eviction.  That initial week immediately opened my eyes to the daily work of lawyers at Legal Aid: community service.  I noticed all the lawyers were asked a lot of questions and were really listening to their clients to better understand how to help them.   

Soon after, I followed Jenny and Dana to probate court where Jenny represented a young boy from El Salvador at a guardianship hearing and was granted a continuance for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.  Dana showed me around the courthouse as she filed guardianship paperwork for a young boy who left Guatemala for a better life here in the States.  Over the next couple of weeks, I worked closely with real people dealing with real problems in their legal status, housing situation, healthcare resources, and everyday lives.  The Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County finds a voice for these underserved members of community by helping connect clients to resources and finding legal solutions to improve their quality of life.

With families being torn apart at the border, frequent ICE raids across the country, and changes in legal relief, it was exciting and motivational for me to work on the ground with the immigrant community here in San Mateo County amidst the current administration’s anti-immigrant culture.  I have enjoyed working to better the lives of these people who are victimized because not only are they underrepresented, but I believe they deserve the same basic opportunities and access to resources as others.  Many of the people who come through our doors are hard-working mothers and fathers trying to raise a family here in hopes of a better future for their children.  Sometimes they are young educated adults like me, but who happened to be born in a foreign country despite having only known America as home.

The Legal Aid Society not only works to solve legal issues for immigrants and mixed families that come into our office, but also participates in events around the community to raise awareness and spread accurate information to empower the community.   It was this type of work that kept me eager and excited to come into work every day at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County and an invaluable experience that has helped shape me as a future lawyer.

My Summer Internship: First-Hand Experiences by Wenfei Cai

Wenfei Cai

Wenfei Cai is the inaugural recipient of Legal Aid's Carl L. McConnell Summer Fellowship, established in memory of the late Carl L. McConnell, former Reginald Heber Smith Fellow (“Reggie”) and Managing Attorney at Legal Aid, honoring  his commitment to legal services for those with limited resources, and his dedication to mentoring. 

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Summer internships are a great way to take what you have learned in school and apply it to everyday life. Internships provide context for one's studies and can help confirm career goals. I had a chance to do just that this summer through my internship at Legal Aid. In law school, to excel meant enduring endless hours of studying, sleepless nights, and anxiety. However, these feelings went away when I met with people in desperate need of legal assistance. Without Legal Aid's help, our low-income clients may not know what to do next. Therefore, being able to provide advice and guidance for them was very satisfying and confirmed my goal to be a public interest attorney.

My internship gave me the opportunity to see first-hand how government programs work. I spent the first few weeks attending Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires schools to provide students with disabilities a customized study program that fits their needs. As a team, our job was to align the programs the school districts offer with student's needs. By working with parents, teachers, and medical providers, we help identify the child's needs and ensure that the child receives appropriate services to succeed in school.

We also help low-income people with public benefit programs created to support their needs. For example, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a government funded program that helps low-income people who are aged, blind, or disabled. Legal Aid provides support to those who qualify for SSI but are unable to receive the benefits for various reasons.  In addition to SSI, we also help low-income families access healthcare through Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program.

The US has people from all walks of life and culture. One of the nice things about this internship is that I was able to use my native language to help the Chinese community in the Bay Area. There are a lot of resources available to immigrant families. However, it may be difficult for immigrant families to understand the relevant materials and make an informed decision. I had the opportunity to translate for some of our Chinese immigrant clients. Explaining law in a different language has its challenges - not only did I have to understand the materials in depth, I also had to put forth a deliberate effort to translate materials as close to their intended meanings as possible. Despite the challenges, by speaking the client's native language, I was able to create a stronger connection between the clients and Legal Aid. 

Looking back at the experience I had this summer, I feel extremely proud to be a part of Legal Aid and to have contributed to the community in the best way I could.

Legal Aid from the Inside: An Intern's Experience

Blog author Iliana Arbeed

My name is Iliana Arbeed, and I'm a member of the Class of 2019 at the University of Southern California, studying Politics, Philosophy, and Law with a minor of study in International Relations, and a pre-law professional emphasis. 

This summer, I'm working as a Communications Intern for the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, conducting policy research and investigating its implications for Legal Aid's clients. My day to day work includes a combination of research and work with attorneys as they assist their clients. My hope is to draw meaningful connections between large-scale politics and their effect on low-income residents of San Mateo County, identifying key issues and communicating what Legal Aid does to address them.