The Native American Legal Assistance Project (NALA) is a research- and direct services-based SLP that works to address legal issues faced by Native American tribal nations and people.
This year, NALA will assist California Indian Legal Services (CILS) implement the organization’s 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. Additional research-based projects will be available for students who wish to build legal research and memo-writing skills.
Additional opportunities for client-facing projects may be available for students who wish to work directly with Native clients.
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 15-20 hours per semester. We plan on hosting biweekly check-in meetings to collaborate on work in a group environment, including hosting office hours. Date and time will be subject to volunteers’ availability.
For more information, please contact the student leaders at nalaproject@berkeley.edu.