Dear Potential Applicant,
I hope you’ve had a great time at the University of California, Berkeley. I am sure you have made some great memories and had some fantastic experiences thus far. Renters’ Legal Assistance (RLA) has been one of our best experiences at Cal. We are proud to offer a diverse range of services and tools to better serve the UC Berkeley community en masse.
We offer an unparalleled internship; one that allows for interns to fully assist clients on an individual basis. Gone are the archetypical, legal-intern stereotypes, where interns spend their time going on coffee-runs and serving as glorified copiers. At the RLA, interns are fully trained to deal with any housing case assigned to them. We believe that after your training, you will be fully equipped to work with our clients one-on-one. We do not adhere to a system of hierarchy. There is no approval system or vertical shuffling of cases. Just the intern, and the client.
Throughout our time at Cal, we have been able to greatly expand our organization. The RLA has helped thousands of people since its’ inception in 1981. Since then we have been steadily increasing our caseload and community presence. We have forged a partnership with the Berkeley Rent Board, whereby interns are encouraged to work on cross-listed projects facilitated by Berkeley Rent Board Commissioners.
It is important to keep in mind, however, that we are not attorneys. As such, we do not require that you have ever stepped foot in a law office, nor that you have ever so much as seen a lawyer in person. Most of our clients are merely seeking information; legal fees are often a looming burden and, as a student-run entity, we attempt to provide services to low-income and student households. That is not to say that we only serve a handful of people–we help anyone and everyone. We ensure that no one is ever turned away. We have served the greater Berkeley community for over thirty-five years and look forward to solidifying our legacy at Cal as one of the oldest student organizations.
The RLA offers hands-on legal experience for anyone that may be interested in pursuing a legal career. We utilize cutting-edge rent law books, the latest legal codes, and a variety of strategies to assist our clients with any situation. We encourage you to take your legal interest from the classroom to the real world. We hope that your work with the RLA will become one of your fondest memories of Cal. It certainly is ours.
Sincerely,
Joanne Lin Sidney Carrigan
