Fellowships and Internships at the National Housing Law Project

NHLP’s Fellowship Program

NHLP encourages new public interest attorneys who have ideas within our broad, substantive focus areas to seek our sponsorship for a post-graduate fellowship.

NHLP, with a staff of nationally recognized experts in federal housing law and offices strategically situated in Oakland, California and Washington, D.C., provides the ideal professional home for the design and implementation of innovative fellowship projects. NHLP’s home city of Oakland and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area communities are rich in diversity, energized by community activism, and grounded in progressive public policy. Our field office in the District of Columbia places NHLP and its fellows in close proximity to the pulse of government and its national policymakers, to whom we provide valuable advice, assistance and education. The staff of both NHLP offices works closely with other national, regional and locally-based advocacy organizations that share our vision of improving the living conditions, and advancing the housing rights of low-income people.

Fellowships at NHLP have helped to launch the public interest law careers of many dedicated attorneys. Recent projects have included a national study and subsequent publication that evaluated the success of the HOPE VI program. Another fellowship project, focused on implementing and enforcing federally mandated housing protections for women affected by domestic violence. This fellowship expanded to include a role for the fellow as a technical assistance provider to the U.S. Department of Justice domestic violence grantees.

Current potential project areas include:

• housing access for persons with limited English proficiency (LEP)
• reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities in federally-assisted housing
• the foreclosure crisis and its impact on tenants in foreclosed homes
• the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and foreclosure-stricken communities
• supporting the preservation of USDA-financed Rural Rental Housing
• preservation and rehabilitation of homes in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program
• housing issues that affect low-income elderly
• source of income discrimination

Learn more about fellowship opportunities at NHLP.

NHLP’s David B. Bryson Student Internship Program

NHLP is committed to training and nurturing law students who are making a commitment to careers in the public interest and we offer a supportive and rewarding experience. Our attorneys provide supervision, training, and unique work opportunities in the multi-faceted area of housing law and policy. Because our housing work extends out into other areas—domestic violence, predatory lending, racial discrimination, public health, equal access — we offer a broad and dynamic arena in which to learn and grow. Several recent NHLP summer interns have returned to our organization as two-year fellows supported by Equal Justice Works or New Voices.

Most recently, NHLP’s student interns worked with leading housing attorneys and policymakers to:

• identify and propose protections for tenants in homes threatened by foreclosure
• research and write articles for NHLP’s Housing Law Bulletin on a wide range of federal housing and civil rights law, including the 2008 federal foreclosure relief legislation
• advocate for the preservation of affordable housing threatened by the Oakland Housing Authority’s public housing disposition plan
• compile and analyze state and local preservation laws
• help draft amendments to housing provisions included in the 2005 re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act
• perform research on federal preemption of state and local housing laws
• analyze new federal utility allowance regulations
• draft comments to HUD on new regulations proposed for the public housing operating fund

The Bryson student internship program is supported, in part, by NHLP’s memorial fund program, which was established in 2006 to honor NHLP’s former staff members David B. Bryson and Sylvia Brennan. The program provides support and opportunities for new advocates considering careers in public interest housing law. The generous support of the Bryson family made it possible for NHLP to launch the David B. Bryson Student Internship Program in 2007, as NHLP continues efforts to build a permanent fellowship endowment fund.

Learn more about NHLP’s student internship program.

NHLP is no longer taking applications for summer 2010 internships. Students who are interested in fall 2010, spring 2011, or summer 2011 internships should contact Meliah Schultzman, NHLP attorney and staff coordinator of fellowships and internships.
Email: mschultzman@nhlp.org

Last updated 03/12/2010