TRLA has many opportunities for students interested in gaining valuable professional experience while providing needed assistance in their community. If you are interested in spending your law school breaks learning about poverty law, are a 3L looking to join TRLA, or are an undergrad wanting more information about our internship options, use the buttons below OR email recruitment@trla.org.

What have other students thought about their time at TRLA?

“I do not have Fred Shuttlesworth’s and Harriet Tubman’s courage, or Franklin Roosevelt’s political skills but I care and am willing to serve. I cannot sing like Fannie Lou Hamer or organize like Ella Baker and Bayard Rustin but I care and am willing to serve.” Listening to Marian Wright Edelman’s poem, after teaching in the South Bronx and working with the Children’s Defense Fund for eight years before law school, centered the belief that a commitment to the work outweighed the things I did not yet know.

Meeting clients where they are, listening to them, and standing with them as we navigated the system is a skill that was developed during my time at TRLA. When I first decided to enter the legal field, I didn’t know yet what was possible. I felt that before law school, my impact was limited; I wanted to see long-term solutions that led to systemic change in order for community members to have freedom in a variety of ways. I walked into CUNY School of Law school scared, yet hopeful. I was met very quickly with the reality of my expectations; that sense of possibility, uncertainty, and questioning followed me through my first year.

CUNY Law is intentionally overflowing with legal minds all committed to Public Interest law. Continuing to be surrounded by like-minded people was a central goal for my summer. My clerkship at TRLA was the perfect answer to my search for passionate practitioners. In my prior work with the Bonner Program and the Children’s Defense Fund, there was an emphasis on the idea and practice of working “with” and not just “for.” My clerkship with TRLA gave this idea new meaning. Listening to clients speak about their needs, and pairing that with a legal analysis and application of what solutions could be available was powerful. My supervisor, Jackie Davis, was the central force in this realization. Fighting alongside our clients, and being able to see their relief when we were able to help close a difficult chapter of their lives felt like an honor.

Growing up in Austin, I saw, and at times experienced, community problems in a multitude of ways. I always felt limited in my scope in terms of what I could do about those issues without an understanding of the law. This summer, working with TRLA, I finally was able to see tangible and long-term solutions.

I was able to draft environmental law writing focused on legal research for internal TRLA use regarding water drainage issues that impacted the most vulnerable in the Colonias. Colonias are areas in Texas where residents lack basic services, and I worked on this project with the community development and environmental justice team. Many clients have come to TRLA with flooding issues, and other environmental impacts on small and large scales. The incredible data and research team at TRLA developed data surrounding those clients to quantify how many times these issues were repeating in the same neighborhoods. Marginalized communities bear a disproportionate share of environmental burdens, and working on this project, I saw the intersection of environmental impact, race, and poverty more clearly.

I also had the privilege of working on many family cases that allowed me to learn about processes that impacted the most vulnerable in Texas. This learning came primarily through litigation, which required legal research, drafting divorce decrees, advising clients on protective orders, and participating in mediations. Another project was helping advise an attorney on creating a document that clearly states the timeline and steps of a case going through Adult Protective Services. This was a response to a problem of people and clients not knowing how to proceed when issues surrounding APS arose, and directly connected with my desire to provide long term solutions by helping to streamline legal assistance in these cases.

The breadth of my work was vast because of the holistic nature of the legal practice at TRLA. To have attorneys so skilled in varying practice areas was one of the most inspiring pieces of my work. There are many uncertainties still present as I continue my legal education and strive to continue learning from the work of direct legal services. Just like in Mrs. Edelman’s poem, I realized that this feeling of doubt or inadequacy is okay; it can be a tool that is used to encourage and motivate us.

This clerkship helped to solidify my understanding that working in direct legal services can also lead to key changes in the practice of law that will help future clients. Furthermore, my conception of service gained a new dimension at TRLA: to not only be able to support clients in the present, but to work on solutions that would impact the rest of their lives. Everyone at TRLA cares. We are all willing to serve by pursuing our interests as a group, as a community, as a society, rather than just as individuals.

The most powerful part of my clerkship was the feeling that I was standing with others at TRLA to forge solutions together, and I am so grateful.

The first thing I remember hearing when I woke up for school in the morning was the sound of the cows mooing and the horses neighing. The floorboards creaked in the house my aunt built as I got ready for school and checked on each animal. We had horses, cows, chickens, ducks, goats, and (at one point) a donkey. Sometimes, classmates and teachers could still smell the barn from my boots and see the hay on my clothes. I didn’t mind. In this small town of Bandera, Texas, the “Cowboy Capital of the World,” we all needed to dust off our clothes before first period.

While I only moved to Bandera when I was thirteen years old, my grandparents have lived there for decades. People often ask what brought a family of born and raised New Yorkers to a small town in Texas, and I always tell them that the love and loyalty found in rural communities can be the stuff of movies. The stillness allows us to think clearly outside of the hustle and bustle. However, this solitude comes with the unfortunate consequence of missing out on the resources of bigger cities.

Although people in Bandera know everything about the town news and inhabitants, many folks do not have access to the outside world. This is not because folks from rural areas don’t seek resources, but because big cities often neglect what is out of sight and out of mind. Unfortunately, people then end up missing out on information that can benefit their livelihood or pursuit of justice. The general lack of attention to rural Texas often leaves those communities as an afterthought. Knowing this, I sought a law clerk position with TRLA to help the organization understand small-town needs.

This summer, I had the privilege to serve the community that raised me. In this role, I filled the gaps (those long desolate roads) between rural areas and big cities. I initially joined the firm as a housing and family law clerk. However, TRLA’s abundance of legal specializations provided me with the opportunity to try different practice areas. As a result, I worked on projects related to Title IX, LGBTQ+, education, tax, and real property law. My nuanced perspective as a small-town resident turned city-dweller allowed me to identify important considerations for working in rural communities.

One highlight of my summer was finding LGBTQ+ identifying people in small towns and providing them with gender-affirming legal assistance. Seeing faces light up as I shared information on how to change their legal names and gender markers reaffirmed why TRLA’s work is so important. Without messengers like TRLA staff, the individuals most in need miss out on life-changing resources.

My journalism background drives me to raise awareness about pressing issues, and now my growing legal knowledge motivates me to directly help affected individuals. On a few cases, my journalistic approach to drafting court documents in a time crunch helped mothers obtain custody of their children and ultimately provide them with safe housing. One of these cases necessitated a Temporary Emergency Order that had to be completed in two hours and submitted to the court by the end of the day. And, just like that, I felt like I was back to my “nose to the grindstone” freelance reporting.

I diligently gathered all of the necessary paperwork, and I drafted the coordinating documents in the time specified. Within a few weeks, the client had successfully reunited with her children. This experience at TRLA reminded me of the fast-paced newsroom environment, because the order successfully helped the client in a short turnaround.

This quick reaction to emergency situations is natural to TRLA and other legal aid organizations. While it can be daunting when the assignment first hits the desk, helping a real human being with a very serious, life-changing issue is more than enough motivation to get the job done. Not only is the work fulfilling, but it has helped me see how to use my other skillsets, like journalism, to achieve the best outcomes for clients.

TRLA felt like home this summer. Not only because the office was literally in my hometown, but also because I worked alongside others with the same appreciation for where they come from. Just like when I walked into class with my barn-scented boots and hay covered jeans, I walked into TRLA’s office every morning with a jovial energy shared by my coworkers. While from all over Texas, those raised in other rural areas had the “get it done” attitude cultivated in Bandera. What a wonderful feeling to dust off my clothes alongside such inspiring people and advocate for those who made me who I am today.

Smooth, warm tones of jazz music drifted from the stereo, with laughter occasionally rising over it. There was a congenial atmosphere in the car. So much so that you’d never guess that our group was on the way to depose defendants after several weeks of preparation. The work weighed heavy on our minds, but we still found moments to bond.

As a summer intern at TRLA preparing to begin my 1L year in the fall at St Mary's, I had limited knowledge of the legal field. I learned that clients frequently have multiple overlapping legal issues, and TRLA uses a holistic approach to address those multiple problems at once. This exposure to varying areas of law was priceless.

For example, if a client seeks help with a VISA after surviving domestic abuse, they could also receive support with divorce, custody, and even mental health referrals. TRLA's structure not only benefits the clients, it also provides a network of expertise where attorneys can reach out to their colleagues when in doubt. Collaboration ensures that the best interest of the client is the top priority.

I joined TRLA with the intention of furthering my immigration experience but came out with something better: a curiosity for exploring other areas of law and having met wonderful people who are doing their best to serve the public. My primary interest was immigration law, but during the interview process we decided to add employment as a dual focus. Before my internship I cannot say I was interested in employment law but after joining TRLA I quickly realized that my lack of interest was merely a lack of knowledge.

Never did I think I would be learning so much in one month. I modified my part-time schedule to accommodate for the exhilarating learning curve of new terminology, practice advisories and trainings. I worked with seven attorneys across the state of Texas on a wide range of immigration cases. My fluency in Spanish came in handy to interpret when needed and translate documents. My assignments included onboarding new clients, maintaining continuity in cases, sending Freedom of Information Act requests, and even filing two asylum applications with a quick turnaround.

We had about three weeks to send out the forms before the deadline, so it was crucial to gather the necessary information efficiently. Juggling client and attorney schedules, transportation struggles, and internet access issues made the process tricky. Furthermore, asylum applications require detailed dates, times and addresses. I frequently got creative to help clients trace their past addresses and workplaces by using Google maps, Facebook pages and other resources. Another factor was that asylum seekers' journey of months or even years can also be difficult to arrange in a neat timeline, since they often must travel through many countries before arriving in the US.

Yet the most rewarding aspect of this process was when I could build trust with clients during the interview process. Empathy is integral to having a sensitive and detailed conversation about why someone is seeking shelter from persecution or harm. These conversations served as an inspiration for me to be a better advocate as an attorney one day.

My time with TRLA was short, but the attorneys and clients I worked with will always be an encouraging memory. I could not have imagined a better way to start my law education and I hope to work with TRLA again someday soon.

As soon as I began law school in Texas, I immediately started hearing about TRLA everywhere I went. Even before interacting with the organization personally, I knew that I wanted to be a part of this leading provider of high-quality legal services for low-income Texans. I came to TRLA with a background in immigrants’ rights work, which I had done in Massachusetts, California, and here in Texas during law school. But I have gained so much more substantive experience and insight during my summer than I could’ve expected from just a few months.

I joined the immigration group for the summer and immediately got to work on a wide range of cases. I have helped trafficking victims seek permanent status. I have fought for the release from ICE detention of a client who had been in the United States for 20 years. I have supported attorneys in obtaining a variety of humanitarian relief for their clients. I have provided general immigration information to groups of incarcerated migrants, caught up in Texas’s Operation Lone Star (OLS) while attempting to cross the border and seek asylum.

Although I have found all my work at TRLA incredibly rewarding, the piece of my clerkship that will stick with me most is the time I spent with those OLS detainees. I conducted a handful of general advice sessions with small groups of immigrants, all of whom came here as asylum seekers. The clients, wearing orange uniforms and speaking to me via Zoom from a visitation room, all asked me essentially the same question: “Why are they treating us like criminals?”

It was an extremely hard question to answer. I explained how the state of Texas is trying to criminalize migration at the state level. We talked about their right to asylum and how they can fight to enforce that right once transferred to ICE detention and avoid deportation. But it was difficult to not worry these men would ultimately be sent back to the harmful situations they had just escaped. Once in immigration detention, they’ll be interviewed to assess the potential validity of their asylum claim. If after that brief phone call, the officer decides that they don’t have a strong enough claim, they’ll likely be deported back to the places where they fear for their lives.

These meetings have reminded me that there is not nearly enough quality, affordable legal representation to meet demand. It was clear to me throughout my summer here that TRLA is full of hardworking, dedicated advocates who seek to bridge this gap in justice. Yet our work can only go so far when immigration policy comes up so short.

I have also been struck by how important it has been for me to be working in Texas specifically. I am from Massachusetts where immigration work is inherently different because of the political climate and the distance from the southern U.S. border. My time at TRLA has been especially formative because, here, we are fighting on the front lines.

On my drive home at the end of the day, listening to national news, I have heard stories about OLS, asylum seekers crossing the border, and other pressing immigration issues that are all happening right here in Texas. It reminds me of how critical – not only to immigrants’ rights, but also to my professional development as an advocate – that I am here, now, doing this work.

While Laredo’s El Metro has bus routes, car-based travel is still the most efficient and reliable. This, combined with scorching summer temperatures that make traveling by foot or bicycle difficult, emphasizes the necessity of driver's licenses for clients to work and provide for their households. 

Driver’s licenses are also key forms of identification for employment, public benefits, and housing. Over-policing in border communities can mean that an expired or suspended driver's license can increase the risk of further legal issues. 

Cathryn Ibarra explains, "By immersing themselves in hands-on experiences in our rural and border offices, future lawyers emerge not only with enhanced legal skills but also with a profound appreciation for the diverse needs of low-income client communities.”  

There are several avenues available for students wanting to dip their toes into public interest work during spring break. For example, through the Texas Access to Justice Commission (TAJC), law students can elect to do a one-week intensive session of clerking duties with legal aid organizations (either in person or virtually) during their spring break.  

Many students go on PBSB as individuals. However, several law schools also coordinate PBSB opportunities. As mentioned above, TRLA had the chance to host cohorts of Stanford Law students in 2023 and 2024 for a special group PBSB at our Laredo Office. These trips have been made possible by our Pro Bono & Private Attorney Involvement (PAI) team, our Laredo branch staff, the Director of Pro Bono at Stanford Law, Michael Winn, and students like Denni Arnold, who originally conceived of the partnership when they clerked at the Laredo office in the summer of 2022. 

Check out our conversation with former TRLA law clerk and spring breaker, Denni Arnold, to learn more about the Pro Bono Spring Break initiative! 

What did your PBSB work consist of? 

• DA: “You're writing up an entire petition, getting that reviewed, prepping your clients for the hearing, and then you have the hearing. All from Monday to Thursday. The TRLA staff are incredibly generous with their time and their expertise – they made folks feel welcome. They made sure we were caffeinated and had snacks. It feels like a very welcoming space, which helps us both be productive and also get to know a little bit of Laredo when we're there for such a short time.”  

What is driver's license recovery, and why is it important?  

• DA: “Pro bono driver's license recovery falls within the post-conviction and re-entry realm. This work helps low-income folks in the community with their traffic fines that are either preventing them from getting a license in the first place or get a renewed license. There is such a big need in the community. Legal issues for low-income folks are so intersectional – immigration and criminal legal issues can overlap, for example, as well as housing and child custody legal issues. With license recovery, it is an area where you can do something discrete that helps across the board in their lives, meaning we can address this one issue within a shorter timeframe.” 

What did you love about being in Laredo? 

• DA: “The food in Laredo is amazing. Some of the paralegals were kind enough to suggest things to explore and help us form a more complete view of what their city is about, what TRLA is about – more than we would have learned if it was solely a 9 – 5 program. People are very generous with their time. Being able to go to Lake Casablanca or go to Golondrina, the food truck park, was a lot of fun, and going to the Rio Grande and seeing Mexico 30 feet away.” 

Why do you think this experience is important for a soon-to-be attorney?  

• DA: “As a budding attorney, it's really impactful to get out of the bubble of legal academia. Mr. Israel Reyna [Laredo Branch Manager] and Courtney Schusheim [Team Manager for Juvenile Justice] emphasized that although the Municipal Court is one of the lowest courts of the land, the stakes are very high in terms of people's actual lives and the material impact the law can have. Being there, doing the work, and learning from the people who do that work every day is very valuable for students to see. We get to use some of our time [at law school] – where we have the privilege of focusing on our own learning – to have more of a positive impact on low-income communities. This opportunity gives people who would not otherwise have the chance – like folks going into the corporate realm or those with different geographical necessities like partners or families elsewhere – get the sense of what movement and community lawyering looks like, in a way that they might not be able to take an entire summer to do. The law can have some really material consequences, both for good and ill. Being able to partner with the Laredo community and remain adaptable to the needs you're seeing means you can help folks get the justice they deserve but have not been able to access.”