We the Patients

We are Hiring Paid Legal Interns!

We are looking for PAID legal interns! Interns will gain hands on experience fighting for health care reform in New York. Join our team of lawyers, policy associates, and marketing professionals in our campaign to #EndMedicalDebt. Email Emily Dore at Edore@cssny.org for more info. See a description of the role below.

About us: The Community Service Society (CSS) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that has been at the forefront of public policy innovations that support low-income New Yorkers for more than 170 years. CSS’s Health Initiatives Department runs a number of statewide programs that annually help over 130,000 New Yorkers find and use their health insurance or otherwise access health care, including: the CSS Navigator Network; Community Health Advocates (CHA); the Independent Consumer Advocacy Network (ICAN); and the Facilitated Enrollment for the Aged Blind and Disabled program. The CHA program serves over 30,000 New Yorkers a year use their insurance and avoid medical debt—saving them over $15 million annually in health costs—through a live-answer helpline and a network of community-based organizations. It also coordinates the Health Care for All New York Campaign, a coalition of 170 groups dedicated to securing quality, affordable coverage for all New Yorkers.

Job Title: Health Initiatives Legal Intern, CSS

Timeframe: Winter 2020-Spring 2021, Hours: 15-20 hours per week.

Internship Description:

Fight for health care reform! Join our team and help protect consumer rights across New York state. Be a part of our newest health campaign—the Campaign to End Medical Debt. As a Health Initiatives Legal Intern, you will help patients who are struggling with medical debt that has a devastating impact on their lives. Your investigations and advocacy will help to expose the negative impact hospital billing practices have on their patients and help build a case for legislative reform (via policy briefs, advocacy materials, and marketing campaigns).

This internship is a hands-on opportunity for law students to gain exposure to health law and policy, and work with practicing attorneys to advocate on behalf of consumers. Intern duties may include conducting legal research, handling direct client service work, drafting policy briefs and consumer-facing materials.

Interns will:

  • Travel to courts located in NYC, Kings, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau and Suffolk counties to research hospital lawsuits against their patients;
  • Collect data and client histories to be used in two or more articles focusing on medical debt and its impact on racial and other health disparities in New York.

Ideal candidates will have:

  • Written and spoken fluency in Spanish or a language other than English strongly preferred;
  • Ability to work a minimum of 15 hours per week;
  • Ability to travel to courthouses in NYC and/or LI;
  • Ability to perform legal research and analysis;
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
  • Strong organizational skills with ability to manage multiple, competing priorities;
  • Be team-oriented;
  • Demonstrated interest in and support of diversity and inclusion in his/her law school and/or greater community; and
  • Experience or interest in, and affinity for, healthcare initiatives.

To be considered for the Legal Internship, you must be a second or third year law student during the 2020-2021 academic year, have a law school grade point average of 2.8 or greater (on a 4.0 scale), and be authorized to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship, now or in the future.