Disability Rights Washington is a private nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of people with disabilities across Washington. We are designated by the governor as the independent federally-mandated protection and advocacy system for Washington State. As such, Disability Rights Washington promotes, expands, and protects the human and civil rights of people with disabilities.
The Position
DRW’s Amplifying Voices of Inmates with Disabilities (AVID) Program seeks a full-time prisoners’ rights litigator with a demonstrated interest in conducting impact litigation to enforce the legal rights of incarcerated individuals enduring abuse, neglect, or other human and civil rights violations. This position will require a licensed attorney with the ability to conduct systemic investigations, develop complex advocacy strategies, and represent both classes and individuals. The AVID Program enjoys DRW’s unique access authority, which will allow the attorney the ability to see firsthand the conditions in Washington prisons and jails, even in the most secluded and segregated parts of those facilities.
The ideal candidate would have lived and/or professional experience relating to the AVID Program’s practice areas, which include, but are not limited to: addressing discrimination, improving conditions of confinement for people experiencing incarceration, supporting community reentry from institutionalization or incarceration, and ending abuse and neglect. The attorney for this position must have a commitment and capacity to produce high quality legal analysis and to provide effective advocacy through complex civil litigation as well as informal and alternative dispute resolution. All DRW attorneys must demonstrate dedication to DRW’s values of inclusion, diversity, and equity as well as the values of individual autonomy, community integration, universal accessibility, freedom from restraint, and respectful language. DRW seeks applicants who have the ability to work independently in a team of supportive colleagues and are seeking to join in our mission to “advance the dignity, equality, and self-determination of people with disabilities.”
To prepare for the 2019 program, Equal Justice Works and Legal Services Corporation are actively recruiting students to fill 30 exciting positions nationwide.
The Position
Selected participants will begin the summer with intensive training from poverty law experts on housing, domestic violence, public benefits, migrant farmworkers, Native American, and family law. After the training, the law students will return directly to their host site to continue their 8-10 week placement.
Selected student fellows will work with esteemed LSC-funded civil legal aid organizations to build their legal skills in various areas, such as:
Direct legal services: Intake, client and witness interviews, advocating for clients, attending hearings, assisting attorneys in legal representation, legal research, and writing.
Outreach and education: Developing and distributing fact sheets, developing and delivering training on legal topics or on how to access legal services.
Capacity building: Organizational assessments, compiling best practices, organizing focus groups, leading planning committees.
Salary: Law Students receive a $5,000 for 8-10 weeks of service.
The Institute for
Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) has successfully helped Haitians enforce
their human rights since 2004. IJDH partners with the Haiti-based Bureau des Avocats Internationaux(BAI) to support grassroots
struggles for justice in Haiti and in the powerful countries abroad where
decisions about Haitians’ rights are often made. IJDH and BAI combine
traditional legal strategies with organizing, emerging technology and public
advocacy to address the root causes of instability and poverty in Haiti.
We fight with routinely
excellent legal work, but also with creativity, humility, inspiration and
humor, and a supportive work culture. We effect broad changes with modest
resources by nurturing large advocacy networks.
The Position
IJDH
is offering a two-year legal fellowship for an emerging lawyer passionate about
supporting justice struggles in the Global South. The Fellowship is part of the
Bertha Foundation’s Bertha Justice Initiative, a global network of progressive
lawyers that provides solidarity and training to movement lawyers around the
world. The Bertha Foundation supports 4-8 fellows at BAI in Haiti, and
one fellow at IJDH. The Fellowship at IJDH will focus on developing skills
necessary for lawyers from the Global North to support social change movements
and progressive lawyers in the Global South and build effective transnational
advocacy movements.
The IJDH Bertha Fellow will work closely with IJDH and BAI teams in the U.S. and Haiti on advocacy and legal work, including our groundbreaking project holding the UN accountable for introducing cholera to Haiti. The Bertha Fellow will also serve as a support to the BAI Fellows in Haiti and a liaison between the BAI and the broader Bertha Network.
The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization (LSO) provides legal representation to individuals and organizations in need of legal services but unable to afford private attorneys. Students, supervised by Law School faculty members and participating attorneys, interview clients, write briefs, prepare witnesses, try cases, negotiate settlements, draft documents, participate in commercial transactions, draft legislation and regulatory proposals, and argue appeals in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Connecticut Supreme Court.
The Position
LSO seeks to hire 20-25 Summer Fellows to work with clinical faculty in order to continue this client representation. These are paid positions, with a salary of $7,080 for 12 weeks of full-time work ($14.75/hour). The Fellowship will run from May 21 to August 16, 2019, with some flexibility as to start and end dates. Part-time work or full-time work for a portion of the Fellowship period may also be possible.
LSO clinics perform a wide range of exciting work, including litigation in state and federal court and before administrative agencies, transactional work on behalf of community organizations, and policy and legislative advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels. For 2019, LSO seeks Summer Fellows for the following clinics:
Lambda Legal is the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV.
Since 1973, Lambda Legal has used impact litigation and other advocacy tools to decriminalize same-sex relationships; challenge discrimination against LGBT people and people living with HIV in the workplace, the home, in schools, in health care, and in the military; and protect LGBT families, including by winning and defending marriage equality. Supporters across the country contribute to a growing budget of approximately $27M. Clients are not charged for legal representation or advocacy and Lambda Legal receives no government funding. Headquartered in New York City, Lambda Legal has regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and Washington, D.C.
Position
Lambda Legal welcomes applications for the 2019-2021 Tyron Garner Memorial Fellowship for African-American LGBT Civil Rights. This fellowship honors the memory of Tyron Garner, one of the men Lambda Legal represented in our groundbreaking Supreme Court victory Lawrence v. Texas (which struck down all remaining state sodomy laws in the country) and helps expand Lambda Legal’s work in African-American LGBT communities. Mr. Garner died in 2006, after his case vindicated the constitutional right to express sexual intimacy in adult relationships.
Through the Garner Fellowship, Lambda Legal seeks to support law graduates dedicated to LGBT issues within African-American communities in ongoing engagement with civil rights work on behalf of LGBT individuals and people living with HIV. The Garner Fellowship contributes to Lambda Legal’s expansion of our current work to serve communities of color and address the intersection of LGBT discrimination and racism that affects African-American LGBT communities.
Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We take on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the country. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; to preserve magnificent places and wildlife; to advance clean energy; and to combat climate change. We partner with thousands of groups and supporters to engage the critical environmental issues of our time, and bring about positive change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.
The Position
Summer law interns work with attorneys on case development and litigation. Under the supervision of an attorney, a law clerk’s primary responsibilities are to perform legal and factual research, and to develop case strategy and legal theories. Law clerks may also have the opportunity to assist attorneys with preparing briefs and motions, to meet with clients and experts, to participate in moots of oral arguments, and to attend court proceedings and conferences with opposing counsel. In addition to involvement in ongoing litigation, the summer program includes seminars with attorneys from across the organization on current environmental issues.
The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) was founded in 2000 by a group of D.C. area attorneys that identified the need for a group that could focus on the wrongful convictions in the tri-state area. This project addresses cases with both DNA evidence as well as other forms of evidence that could prove exculpatory. Since its formation, our Project has received over 1,800 requests for aid.
The Project also supports legislative reforms to prevent and reverse wrongful convictions.
The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project is affiliated with the Innocence Network, a web of similar grassroots efforts across the nation. It is housed at The George Washington University Law School.
The Position
MAIP has two in-house lawyers with heavy caseloads, resulting in a backlog of cases that need some level of investigation. The Fellow will work to address this backlog, representing clients in investigations and ultimately litigating (under the supervision of our Legal Director and Counsel) compelling innocence claims that arise from those investigations.
The mission of the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCCADV) is to lead the state’s movement to end domestic violence and to enhance work with survivors through collaborations, innovative trainings, prevention, technical assistance, state policy development, and legal advocacy. We believe that patriarchy, gender inequality, and all oppressions play a central role at the individual, institutional, and cultural levels in creating and maintaining an environment that accepts domestic violence. We believe it is vital to understand and advocate for the elimination of all forms of oppression, including, but not limited to: sexism, racism, and homophobia. We believe it is critical to serve all domestic violence survivors, regardless of race, age, class and ethnic group, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental and physical abilities, religious and spiritual beliefs, and immigration status. We know oppression comes in all forms and leads to additional issues for survivors; we strive to serve all survivors of domestic violence and their respective needs.
The Position
NCCADV is seeking a Staff Attorney to join their Legal Team. Under the supervision of the Legal & Policy Director, the Staff Attorney provides domestic violence, family law, and legal services as part of a grant to help address the unmet legal needs of domestic violence survivors.
Protect Democracy is a nonpartisan
nonprofit with an urgent mission: to prevent our democracy from declining into
a more authoritarian form of government. We do this by holding the President
and the Executive Branch accountable to the laws and longstanding practices
that have protected our democracy through both Democratic and Republican
administrations. We have seen an unprecedented tide of authoritarian-style
politics sweep the country that is fundamentally at odds with the Bill of
Rights, the constitutional limitations on the role of the President, and the
laws and unwritten norms that prevent overreach and abuse of power. The only
limits to prevent a slide away from our democratic traditions will be those
that are imposed by the Courts, Congress, and the American people.
The Position
Protect Democracy is seeking two highly motivated current law students for internships in summer 2019. The internship provides a living stipend, and we encourage law students from all socioeconomic backgrounds to apply. The internship is full time (40 hours/week), and requires a 10 week commitment. In limited circumstances, Protect Democracy is open to accepting candidates who wish to split their summer with a firm; in such cases, Protect Democracy will require 6 weeks during the second half of the summer.
Interns will be responsible for:
Researching and drafting memoranda on a wide array of federal and state legal and policy issues, related to Protect Democracy’s core issue areas;
Drafting and editing pleadings, policy documents, and reports;
Assisting in reviewing discovery; and
Fully participating in the life of the organization.
The Governance Studies program at Brookings aims to be the leading, independent voice in the domestic policymaking sphere though analyzing policy issues, political institutions and processes, and contemporary governance challenges. Lawfare, founded as a small blog in 2010, has grown to become one of the nation’s most trusted sources of information and analysis on issues of national security law, covering a broad range of issues from cybersecurity and terrorism investigations to war powers and government surveillance.
The Position
This two-year fellowship is dedicated to covering congressional activity on national security issues in the Lawfare space. The Fellow will have the opportunity to join the Lawfare editorial team and contribute toLawfare’s unparalleled analysis of complex challenges in the US national security arena, specifically as it intersects with Congress and legislative politics. This includes: writing thoughtful summaries and analyses of passed and proposed legislation for publication on the site, translating complex, technical documents for wider audience consumption, participating in relevant events, and discussing topics on the Lawfare podcast. As a part of the editorial team, the Fellow will collaborate with multiple stakeholders to edit works for publication and generate ideas for site content in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. She/he will also have the opportunity to do independent research within the Governance Studies program at Brookings.
A minimum of Master’s degree is required. Demonstrated expertise in national security policy, and a basic knowledge of and strong interest in congressional and legislative politics. The successful candidate will have a rare combination of superlative writing and editing skills, familiarity with Congress and congressional procedure, and experience reading and analyzing legislation. Candidates should have 1-3 years post-graduate experience in legislative affairs, national security, and/ or legal procedure. He/she should also be able to work well as a part of a team, thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment, and react quickly to changes in the news cycle.
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