Current Openings

Legal Fellows

Legal Fellowships at VLA are available to recent law school graduates and deferred associates. VLA’s Legal Fellows interact daily with clients and gain hands-on experience analyzing, interpreting, and counseling members of New York’s arts community on legal issues pertaining to various areas of law, including intellectual property, contract, and non-profit and for-profit corporate matters.

Typical Legal Fellow duties include:

• Interviewing potential clients and enabling VLA’s intake process by identifying key legal and factual issues to determine their suitability for VLA services.
• Evaluating clients’ legal needs and recommending VLA services based on this evaluation.
  
• Participating in and conducting client consultations by reviewing client materials, researching legal issues relating to various areas of law, advising clients on their legal needs, and drafting memoranda to be used by outside counsel as the foundational documentation in pro bono representations. (Legal fellows admitted to the New York State Bar will have the opportunity to lead consultations and provide counsel to VLA arts and entertainment clients).
• Training and supervising VLA interns in their daily activities.
• Assisting with VLA’s education and development programming by conducting research, creating presentation materials, and teaching classes on legal and business issues that affect artists and arts organizations in their creative endeavors.
• Conducting legal research, writing, and case management in support of ongoing intellectual property, contract, corporate, dispute resolution, and advocacy matters in conjunction with pro bono counsel.

Legal fellows must be eligible to receive funding or deferred compensation from their law school or hiring law firm. Legal fellowships are most commonly full-time positions, but we are also able to accommodate part-time candidates available to work at least 20 hours per week at VLA’s office in midtown Manhattan.

We are currently seeking legal fellows to begin work in August and September 2013. Interested candidates should submit applications by June 28, 2013.

To apply, please email a cover letter, resume, unofficial transcript, and the names of two references in PDF format to the attention of VLA Staff at opportunities@vlany.org. Please include “Legal Fellowship” in the subject line, and provide the approximate dates that you will be available to work.

Legal Fellow positions may also be available on an as-needed, rolling basis. Please email opportunities@vlany.org for more information.

Internship Openings

VLA Spring & Fall Legal Internships

Legal internships at VLA are available on an unpaid basis to current law students and recent law school graduates. Legal interns play a crucial and hands-on role at VLA, working closely alongside VLA staff and interacting daily with clients to help VLA deliver legal services and education to numerous members of New York’s arts community each year.

While no one day at VLA is the same as the next, typical legal intern duties include:

• Interviewing potential clients and enabling VLA’s intake process by identifying key legal and factual issues to determine their suitability for VLA services, and evaluating clients’ legal needs with VLA’s staff attorneys and legal fellows.
• Participating in client consultations by reviewing client materials, conducting research, and drafting memoranda to be used by outside counsel as the foundational documentation in pro bono representations.
• Assisting with VLA’s education and development programming by conducting research and creating presentation materials on legal and business issues that affect artists and arts organizations in their creative endeavors.
• Conducting legal research, writing, and case management in support of ongoing intellectual property, contract, corporate, dispute resolution, and advocacy matters in conjunction with pro bono counsel.

To be eligible, you must be available to work at least 10-15 hours per week at VLA’s office in midtown Manhattan. Legal intern positions during the academic year are most commonly part-time, semester-long positions, but we are also able to accommodate full-time externships.

The deadline for regular semester internship applications is July 15, 2013 for the Fall 2013 semester and November 15, 2013 for the Spring 2014 semester. Additionally, internships lasting shorter durations are sometimes available on an as-needed basis (e.g., during Christmas break or at the beginning of the summer).

To apply please send a cover letter, resume, unofficial transcript, and names of two references in PDF format to the attention of VLA Staff at opportunities@vlany.org. Please do not contact us regarding your application. You will be notified if you have been selected for an interview. Please include “Legal Internship” in the subject line, and provide the semester for which you are applying (or, if applicable, the approximate dates that you will be available to work in the New York City area).

VLA Fall & Spring Non-Legal Internships

Unpaid Fall 2012 Non-Legal Internship

VLA seeks a spring term interns to work closely with VLA Staff on administrative and educational aspects of our programming. Our Spring Internship Program requires a full semester commitment (approximately 15-weeks), with approx. 20-25 hours per week.

Start Date: January 2013
Application Deadline: December 21, 2012 —Applications for this position are currently closed.

Students are highly encouraged to seek alternate funding as this internship is unpaid. Arrangements may also be made with the student's school for work/study stipends, and/or for accreditation. All arrangements regarding accreditation or pay must be handled by the student/intern.
   
This is a great opportunity for artists and/or students interested in pursuing law school or a career in nonprofit arts organizations.   

Roles and responsibilities:
Working closely with VLA Staff, including:
*  Responding to e-mails and phone calls;
*  Photocopying;
*  Participating in some meetings and conference calls;
*  Conducting research and writing;
*  Drafting letters;
*  Other projects as assigned.

Experience and Qualifications:
All students from accredited institutions are encouraged to apply.
Applicants must possess:
*  A love for art;  
*  A demonstrated interest in helping artists and arts organizations;
*  A demonstrated interest in art law, fashion law, entertainment law;
*  Excellent research, writing, analytical and communication skills;
*  Excellent knowledge of InDesign and Dreamweaver preferred;
*  Initiative and determination to see projects through to completion.

How to Apply:
Applicants should send a letter of interest, resume, and a list of two references by e-mail to the attention of VLA Staff at opportunities@vlany.org, with VLA Spring Term Internship 2013 in the subject line OR send via mail to:   
 
 
VLA Staff
Spring Internship Program
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
1 East 53rd Street, 6th Floor
New York , NY 10022

Summer Associates

The application period for VLA's 2013 Summer Associate Program is now closed.
Please check back for information on when we will begin accepting applications for summer 2014.

Unpaid Summer Associate positions at VLA are available to all law students from an accredited U.S. law school.

Summer Associate duties include:
• Answering VLA's Legal Hot Line
• Sitting-in on client consultations
• Drafting legal memoranda
• Legal research and writing
• Helping with VLA's educational and development programming.

Please note that we do not accomodate split summers. Our Summer Associate program runs for 10-weeks, from late May until early August, and we do not accomodate tenures less than 10-weeks.

To apply please send a cover letter, resume, unofficial transcript and names of three references to the attention of VLA Staff at opportunities@vlany.org. Please note that preference is given to applicants who are available for in-person interviews, and to applicants who hold a GPA of 3.25 or higher.