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By popular demand
Now in its 14th year, inMotion’s summer associate program has become so popular among law firms that participation is limited to our Corporate Partner firms only.
Give your summer associates an opportunity to advocate on behalf of the City’s most vulnerable families
Every year, summer associates report that they enjoy the chance to represent individual clients who need and deeply appreciate their assistance. Our program also develops transferable legal skills that summer associates and supervising lawyers need in their corporate careers:
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Attorney-client relationship building
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Client interviewing
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Drafting and filing of papers
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Negotiation
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Interacting with court personnel and general litigation skills
Earn free CLE credit while mentoring summer associates at your firm
Partners and associates who attend trainings and supervise cases will receive CLE credit, for both the trainings they attend and the actual pro bono work they do for inMotion clients. Our program provides an excellent opportunity for lawyers to work together with summer associates on cases that are challenging and appealing. View our Summer 2008 training schedule.
How does it work?
Teams
We recommend that a team of two summer associates accepts one case for representation in late May/early June. Each summer associate team must be supervised by an associate and/or partner at the firm who will be able to be the attorney of record, supervise all work done by the summer associates and attend court hearings with the summer associates. If applicable, the supervising attorneys must be responsible for bringing the case to conclusion once the summer associates have left the firm in early August. We cannot guarantee that the cases will conclude during the summer.
Please note that many of our clients are Spanish speaking. Many of our firms staff these cases with paralegals or other firm employees who can serve as interpreters. Please let us know if you have any special language concerns or can offer interpretation and/or translation skills in connection with these cases.
Scheduling
Trainings are scheduled in late May/early June. Multi-firm trainings are held in midtown and downtown locations. All summer associates must attend the trainings. Supervising attorneys must attend the trainings if they have not practiced or been trained in the relevant practice area. We forward case files—which include case descriptions and copies of the client's documents—to your firm one week prior to the training sessions in time for the firm to complete conflict checks.
View our summer training schedule.
Manuals and mentoring
We supply our detailed practice manuals to your firm prior to the first training, so that the firm can copy and distribute the manuals in advance to the participating summer associates and supervising attorneys. We provide intensive mentoring during the course of the representation. Social work support also available to clients in need of social services.
What are the options?
Family Court—orders of protection, custody/visitation, and child and spousal support
Summer associates are introduced to an area of basic family law and practice and will see how indigent litigants fare in our city's Family Courts. Because inMotion has an Appellate Division practice order covering Family Court matters and divorce matters in Supreme Court, a law student may appear and speak on the record for an inMotion-referred client so long as a supervising attorney from the firm who is admitted in New York State is present in court. We select cases in which at least one Family Court appearance is scheduled during the summer.
- One three- to three-and-a-half hour training in each of the three practice areas is held in late May/early June
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- Each firm may request up to four cases, designating one or more practice areas of interest
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Supreme Court—uncontested and contested divorces
Summer associates are introduced to Supreme Court practice and to the basics of matrimonial law in New York State.
- Teams handling uncontested cases will prepare both the initial and the final pleadings before the end of the summer
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- Contested divorces have issues that need to be litigated, such as distribution of a house or pension, or health insurance coverage. Summer associates handling contested cases will prepare and file the initial pleadings and may see responsive pleadings, the commencement of negotiations with opposing counsel, and a possible court appearance before the end of the summer
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- One two-and-a-half-hour training session is held in late May/early June, covering drafting of both initial and final papers and service of process issues, and including an interactive question and answer session to address issues that may arise in individual cases
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- Those firms handling contested divorces will receive additional training materials beyond the basic divorce training
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- Each firm may request up to three uncontested divorce cases and up to two contested divorce cases
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Federal immigration assistance—petitions for legal residency
Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), women who suffer abuse at the hands of husbands who are U.S. citizens or legal residents can seek legal residency in the United States for themselves and their children without the permission or assistance of their abusive husbands.
- This option is available only to firms with prior experience handling VAWA cases by special invitation. Summer associates are introduced to basic immigration law concepts and practices and assist clients in preparing affidavits and supporting documents for filing with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
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- After the summer, the firm will be responsible for continuing to represent the client through her adjustment of status hearing before an immigration court officer
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- One three-hour training session is held in late May/early June
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- Each firm may request one case
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Read more about our summer associate program
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