Job o’ the Day: Alan Morrison Supreme Court Assistance Project Fellowship with the Public Citizen Litigation Group in DC
From the job posting:
To augment its Supreme Court litigation, the Litigation Group operates the Alan Morrison Supreme Court Assistance Project, named after the Group’s founder. The Project focuses on helping small-firm practitioners, lawyers for non-profit organizations, and other lawyers with little or no experience in Supreme Court litigation. The Project provides direct assistance to lawyers before review is granted, either by helping with a petition for certiorari or a brief in opposition, and provides assistance in cases in which review is granted, working with the lawyers to prepare briefs and oral argument. In some cases, a Litigation Group attorney will become the lead lawyer on the case.
The Litigation Group is looking for a bright, energetic lawyer to coordinate the Project and work on Supreme Court cases for one year. Most, but not all, of the cases on which we work are civil rather than criminal. Most of our work at the petition stage involves assisting the party who won below in preparing an opposition to the petition for certiorari, to keep the case out of the Court and thereby preserve a victory. The fellow will review all paid cert. petitions. Working under the direct supervision of the Litigation Group director, the fellow makes an initial judgment about whether the case is of interest to the Project and prepares a memo and recommendation about whether to offer assistance. Considerable legal research and analysis are often required to determine whether assertions in the petition, such as a conflict among the courts of appeals, are supportable. The fellow then makes an initial contact with the attorney to whom help is being offered to explain the Project and the assistance that we can provide. In addition, all cases accepted by the Court for full review are considered for possible assistance by the Project. When an offer of help is accepted, a Litigation Group attorney assumes principal responsibility for the case within the office. For a list of the Project’s current cases, see http://www.citizen.org/ litigation/forms/scap_index.cfm.
The application deadline is12/09/2013. Ideal applicants will have had some practical litigation experience while in school or elsewhere and a solid academic background, in addition to a demonstrated commitment to public interest work.
For more information, view the full job listing at PSJD.org (log-in required).