Twenty-two law interns attended a mid-day luncheon, sponsored by Downey Brand at Legal Services of Northern California. The law students represented the following firms: Stoel Rives, Katchis & Yempuku, Wilke Fleury Hoffelt Gould & Birney, Jackson Lewis, Weintraub Genshlea & Sproul, Somach, Simmons & Dunn, Cook Brown, Downey Brand, Orrick Herringto & Sutcliffe, Seyfarth Shaw, Rediger McHugh, and Carlton Di Sante & Freudenberger. Students were greeted by LSNC's senior staff attorneys and learned how they could work with Legal Services of Northern California to help stabilize the poor.

Marcela Ruiz is a second year student interning at LSNC this summer who took the opportunity to talk about her experiences this summer. She drove from the Bay Area everyday to work on community economic development projects that include finding housing solutions, generating income, providing fresh local produce or banking opportunities to the people living in communities isolated by lack of transportation or opportunity.

"It's a unique experience," Ruiz said. "I work on direct services for the poor and on community development projects. When working one-on-one with clients, I see first hand how they are literally fighting for the bare essentials."

Clients have problems maintaining housing and income, Ruiz said. "But when I work with one of our nonprofit clients, I feel like I'm helping a lot of the working poor at the same time," she said. She is learning how to find creative legal solutions to core poverty problems which she distills into comprehensive training programs for the staff at Mutual Housing Network Association. Once each project is complete, she observes how staff embrace the information and share it with the community to empower people to help themselves. Marcela moves on. There's never a shortage of clients or situations that require creative solutions.

"It's a dynamic group," said Valerie Feldman, LSNC Staff Attorney and Intern Coordinator, of the law students. "We hope we can give more students an opportunity to learn about this aspect of public interest law."

September / October 2005