Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates seeks new volunteer advocates

It is that time of year again. Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates seeks new law student advocates to join our legal team.

Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates is a small group of law students and lawyers committed to addressing the needs of low income transgender people in Massachusetts. MTLA recognizes that a lack of public awareness about trans people can make it difficult to navigate the legal system. Our legal team is composed of trans folks and their significant others, family, and friends.

Once each year, MTLA seeks applications from candidates who want to become volunteer law student advocates. Advocates have opportunities to work on a variety of types of cases. Some advocates choose to focus on areas of the law with which they are most familiar, while others use their commitment to MTLA to try something new under the experienced supervision of Denise McWilliams and our specialist volunteer legal consultants. Our advocates have won our clients settlements, represented clients in court, and in administrative hearings.

One of MTLA's strengths is a flexibility and willingness to address clients' needs where they are. This also translates into flexibility for advocates to take on the kinds of legal work in which they are most interested. We are also happy to work with you to obtain any fellowship, grant, or academic credit that would help to meet your needs as a student.

We seek a one-year commitment from our advocates, but are able to accomodate students who study abroad or who work outside of the Boston area for part of the year.

Please complete our application and return it by March 1st. We will make every effort to contact you quickly after that date to arrange an interview.

You may view the Advocate Agreement here.

MTLA Recruits Volunteer Legal Consultants

Knowledge is Survival

Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates (MTLA)—Massachusetts’ only free legal clinic dedicated to serving low-income transgender people—needs your help. Please consider signing up as a consultant to share your legal expertise with the clinic’s law student advocates. Your participation will help ensure MTLA’s sustainability and success.

Since opening the clinic in January, the all-volunteer law student advocates of MTLA have handled a high caseload. We are seeking attorneys in all areas of law to add to our consultation list to provide us with legal support and advice. If we can call on you when we have a legal question, please email your name, email, phone number, and area of legal expertise (e.g. immigration, family law, employment, housing) to transgenderlegaladvocates@gmail.com (or leave us a voicemail message at 617-450-1353).

Our transgender clients face a wide range of serious legal challenges, both related and unrelated to gender identity. If MTLA can turn to you for consultations and legal advice, what you know might mean housing instead of homelessness, stability instead of poverty, or safety instead of violence.

MTLA is an independent organization supported by TransCEND (a project of Cambridge Cares about AIDS), AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.

Meet Our First Group of Advocates

From the left:
Liz Monnin-Browder, BC '10
Jess Sutton, BU '09
M. Barusch, BU '09
Laura Langley, Bingham
Sam Senft, Northeastern '08
Richard Juang, Northeastern '10
Ashley Mauldin, Northeastern '08
Bri Lacy, Northeastern '09

Not Pictured: Supervisor Denise McWilliams, AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts

Photo by Marilyn Humphries

Upcoming Kickoff Event

Welcome to the Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates' blog! We will keep you up to date here about upcoming events and information. For now, mark your calendar with two important dates:

Wednesday, January 16, from 5pm to 7pm
(location to be announced)
Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates kickoff event.
Learn about MTLA and what we can do for you and for folks in your community. Some of our legal advocates (law students and lawyers) will spend a few minutes discussing the services we will be able to provide. Refreshments will follow. There is no cost associated with this event. This event will be alcohol free.

Thursday, January 17th, from 6pm to 8pm
(Cambridge Cares About AIDS, 17 Sellers St, Cambridge MA)
Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates open for business.
Schedule an appointment by calling 617-450-1353 and leaving a voicemail, or just drop in. An MTLA will meet with you to discuss your legal concern and will work to explain your rights, find you an appropriate free or low-cost lawyer, or organize legal representation through MTLA. After visiting MTLA, expect to know within one week whether we will be able to take your case. We will do our best to find someone else to take it if we cannot.

MTLA clinics will take place the third Thursday of every month beginning on January 17th, 2008.