Consumer Law/ Assistance Internship

About the Program

Category: Volunteers (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

The goals of this program are to offer law students who are enrolled in consumer law classes the opportunity to develop the skills they will need to investigate and resolve consumer disputes and to provide Broward County Permitting, Licensing, and Consumer Protection Division with the additional assistance needed because of staff reductions caused by county cost constraints. This assistance increases their ability to provide timely complaint resolution services to the public, provide in-depth legal research on issues raised in certain complaints and allow agency staff to complete work that has been delayed because of the decrease in staff. These delays have adversely affected the completion of special consumer-oriented projects and the development of consumer protection information, educational programs and materials. The internship provides law students with real-life and real-time examples of consumers who may be helped by the understanding of application of substantive legal concepts contained in the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, and the Broward County Consumer Protection Code. Additionally, the students participate in the complaint intake process, the analysis of various complaint issues, and the investigation negotiation and resolution of complaints.