Native American Legal Assistance Project

The Native American Legal Assistance Project (NALA) is a research- and direct services-based SLP that works to address legal issues faced by Native Americans.

This year, NALA will assist California Indian Legal Services (CILS) implement the organization’s new Military Discharge Upgrade Project (MDUP). The project aims to help Native veterans with less than honorable military discharge histories improve their discharge classification in order to restore access to medical coverage, pensions, home loans, and educational opportunities. Under the supervision of CILS attorneys, students will be paired with a Native veteran client and will assist them in navigating all aspects of the upgrade process. Additional research-based projects covering topics ranging from the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to Tribal environmental issues will be available for students who wish to build legal research and memo-writing skills

Supervision: Students in NALA provide legal services under the supervision of attorneys at California Indian Legal Services.

Time Commitment: We estimate the workload will be about 20 hours per semester. We plan on holding a bi-weekly meet up to work on projects in a group environment. Time and location TBD depending on volunteers’ availability.

For more information, please contact the student leaders at nalaproject@berkeley.edu.