Equal Justice Work Fellow

About the Role

Texas Legal Services Center's Veterans Legal Assistance Program (VLAP) is seeking applicants for a sponsored fellowship, such as Equal Justice Works, starting in Fall 2027. The VLAP team addresses the legal needs of veterans in most areas of civil law, including those concerning military and veteran benefits.

TLSC has several Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLPs), including MLPs managed by VLAP with the Cedar Park Veterans Administration (VA) Clinic and Austin Veterans Administration (VA) Clinic. MLP staff work onsite with health care clinicians to promote physical, mental, and emotional health through integrated legal services for patients.

TLSC invites proposals to establish a new MLP with VLAP that addresses the health-harming legal needs of patients at an additional central Texas Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic. The proposal should be grounded in the National Center for MLP model of increasing access to justice while mitigating socio-legal determinants of health—such as lack of access to care, financial and food insecurity, housing instability, and personal uncertainty—by embedding legal professionals with the health care team to detect, address, and prevent health-harming legal needs for veterans.

This is a grant-funded position.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality legal advice, assistance, referrals, and representation, where applicable, to eligible clients in a compassionate, culturally appropriate, and trauma-informed manner.
• Analyze legal and social problems and devise strategic plans to address health-harming legal needs through innovative thinking and interprofessional collaboration.
• Seek and act on opportunities for healthcare transformation by bringing structural competency to clinical committees, workgroups, and taskforces.
• Cultivate working relationships and partnerships, both internally at partner clinics and externally with health care professionals, students, and other social services agencies, to advance program and organizational goals.
• Present complex legal topics to lay members of the community and health professionals.
• Lead or assist with promoting health and legal education efforts statewide and in local programs.
• Assist with funding, reporting, and evaluation of the MLP.
• Execute intake interviews, confirm eligibility for services, and check for conflicts of interest according to TLSC policy.
• Write sophisticated complaints, petitions, motions, memos, and briefs on behalf of clients.
• Communicate with third parties, the media, and the public to advocate on behalf of clients and the MLP mission.
• Prepare for, attend, assist, argue, and conduct depositions, hearings, trials, and appeals.
• Perform high-level legal research and factual investigation to provide superior representation to eligible clients.
• Travel to locations outside of Austin, Texas periodically as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

The attorney in this position will receive mentorship, management, and guidance to achieve the essential functions. The attorney is expected to:

• Maintain the highest ethical and professional standards as a member of the State Bar.
• Adhere to the American Bar Association Standards for the Provision of Civil Legal Aid.
• Embrace and support Texas Legal Services Center’s (TLSC) overall mission.
• Comply with all grant requirements, regulations, standards, policies, and confidentiality requirements.