Volunteer!

This fully remote position is open to everyone. No experience needed.

Intake Volunteers are the people who answer and return all hotline calls! Our hotline does not provide legal advice during a client’s first call to our number. Instead, volunteers are trained to assist the caller in completing an intake form or redirect the caller to resources that will provide more assistance to them than the hotline. Intake volunteers also field questions during these calls, text messages, and emails.

This position reports directly to the Intake Lead.

This hybrid position is restricted to law students, law graduates, and practicing attorneys who would like to volunteer their services pro bono.

This position satisfies the pro bono service requirement for admission to the New York State bar.

Legal volunteers are assigned clients by the Program Coordinator on behalf of the Supervising Attorney. They are provided access to a folder containing all client information, including but not limited to: the original intake form (submitted by either the client themselves or by an intake volunteer on the client’s behalf, by paralegals at other legal aid nonprofits like LawNY, or by staff members at social service groups like the Human Services Coalition), client’s written lease, court papers, eviction notices, correspondence between client and landlord, checks/payment confirmations for rent, security deposit, repairs, and other fees, and so on. Legal volunteers are then tasked with assisting this client by reviewing all files, examining relevant case law, gathering additional facts through client interviews, providing brief legal advice, assisting clients in drafting correspondence to the adverse party, representing the client in court, and so on. This is all done under close supervision by licensed attorneys.

This position reports directly to the Supervising Attorney and Program Coordinator.

This in-person position requires access to transportation.

Court Monitoring Volunteers will go to court in Ithaca and surrounding towns to observe tenants’ court proceedings and record what happens on a standard monitoring form.

This position reports directly to the Court Monitoring Lead.

This hybrid position is open to everyone. No experience needed.

Clerical Volunteers assist in maintaining the organization and documentation of all internal operations, including but not limited to: creating and maintaining up-to-date standards of procedure for all positions, taking notes in all leadership and sub-team meetings, consolidating and revamping of all training materials, and so on.

This position reports directly to the Coordinators.

This hybrid position is open to everyone. No experience needed. Familiarity with grants (applying, monitoring, reporting) preferred.

Funding Volunteers assist the Coordinators and Managing Attorney in meetings and goals regarding organizational funding, and will maintain a database for tracking, monitoring and applying to grants that align with our mission. Volunteers will also assist in maintaining and re-applying for current grants that have been awarded, as well as complying with grant reporting requirements.

This position reports directly to the Program Coordinator and Managing Attorney.

This hybrid position is open to everyone. No experience needed. Familiarity with Canva, Adobe Suite, and Google Apps preferred. Access to a DSLR camera preferred.

Communications Volunteers manage the external image of the Program by creating content for social media, recruitment graphics, coordinating recruitment efforts with local organizations, designing merchandise, taking photos and videos of the Program in action, maintaining consistent organizational branding, publicizing hotline accomplishments, and so on.

This position reports directly to the Communications Lead.

This hybrid position requires experience in automation and coding, as well as familiarity with spreadsheet formulas and the following systems: Google Apps (Drive, Docs, Sheets, Mail, Contacts, Script, Voice, Forms), Box, and Squarespace.

Technology volunteers create, manage and improve the current technical systems and procedures in place to run the hotline’s daily operations. Volunteers also participate in internal research efforts on the intersection of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and legal services. Current projects focus on administrative automation, web improvements, and chatbot development.

This position reports directly to the Tech Lead.