Team Leads will take on a leadership role in the Parole Packet Project. Team Leads will be placed on a team with other students working on a Parole Packet and will assist with the normal team duties of crafting a parole packet, which include interviewing the client and family members, affidavit drafting, research, and writing. Along with these duties, the Team Lead also will be responsible for overseeing the administrative responsibilities of the team. This includes calling team meetings, submitting the team travel documents, and taking the lead on compiling exhibits when the team is finalizing the parole packet. Team Leads also are in charge of tracking the team’s progress and communicating that progress with the Pro Bono Scholars and the Mithoff Supervising Attorney. Team Leads will work closely both with their team and the Mithoff Supervising Attorney and Pro Bono Scholars for deeper involvement in the Parole Project and the Mithoff Program. Students with prior work experience may find this role more manageable, but anyone passionate about getting people out of prison and interested in taking on a leadership role is encouraged to apply.
Organization
Parole Project, Mithoff Pro Bono Program
The Parole Project is an internal project of the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program. Its mission is to prepare parole packets on behalf of incarcerated women in order to provide the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole with information that enables the Board to gain a more holistic, human picture of incarcerated individuals it reviews for parole.
Project Details
- Project Start Date
September 2021
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 30-50 hours over the course of the academic year, including training sessions; most packets will be submitted in March or April 2022 with a parole hearing in May or June but there may be an opportunity for some volunteers to take on cases with earlier submission dates
- Training
- TBD based on student volunteer availability
- Skills used
- Interviewing; document requests; document review; legal research and writing; potential oral advocacy; organization; professional communication; project management
- Project location
- Preparation of the parole packet may involve travel to meet with the client in person, depending on updated TDCJ visitation guidelines at the time of the visit (if in-person visits are possible, under current guidelines they would involve a covid test or proof of vaccination, as well as masking); drafting the packet can be done at the law school or another location at the student’s discretion
- Address
- 727 E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78705
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 12
- Class year preference
- 1L, 2L, 3L
- To Apply
- Submit email stating (1) your interest in the project; (2) whether you are interested in being a student volunteer in the event you are not selected to be a Team Lead; (3) experience with criminal justice work or social work (defined broadly to include any direct client services, public policy, or reentry work); (4) any writing or interview experience; (5) any experience with project and/or team management; and (6) whether you are willing to be on a team with an earlier submission date and project deadlines (February 2022 submission) to Sarah Sedgwick at ssedgwick@law.utexas.edu by noon on Wednesday, September 8