Description:
Description:The Center for Constitutional Rights is hiring Justice Fellows for 9/2026 - 9/2028.
The Justice Fellowship at the Center for Constitutional Rights is a two-year program for emerging lawyers (0-2 years out of law school) who are interested in gaining both practical experience working on cutting-edge social justice litigation and a theoretical understanding of how legal advocacy can create social change. The Center for Constitutional Rights will host a cohort of up to four Justice Fellows, starting in September 2026. This position requires a two-year commitment from September 2026 to September 2028.
The 2026 Center for Constitutional Rights Justice Fellows will have an opportunity to work on a broad range of our cases and projects challenging oppressive and intersecting systems of power – including challenging racial oppression, gender oppression including hetero-patriarchy, economic oppression, and abusive state power. Our work focuses on racial justice, immigrant rights, combating mass incarceration and economic inequality, gender justice and the struggle for LGBTQIA+ liberation, international human rights, protecting the right to dissent and the struggle to free Palestine, and addressing government overreach, including the Guantánamo detentions, surveillance, and Muslim profiling. Building on our historic roots in the Deep South, the Center for Constitutional Rights has expanded this movement advocacy model to the South, through our Southern Regional Office, also known as CCR South, to help strengthen, support, and build the power of Southern movements to fight oppressive power and to actualize their visions for a more equitable future. Please see our website for more information about our work and descriptions of our current cases, issues, and projects.
In addition to gaining legal experience on our cases, Justice Fellows will have opportunities to receive additional mentoring and non-traditional training such as leadership, media and advocacy, activism and movement building.
Responsibilities:
- Work with staff attorneys in conceiving, developing, and managing complex litigation that advances our organizational mission, including developing case theory, conducting factual and legal research, identifying appropriate clients, pursuing appropriate and strategic litigation opportunities, and filing claims in domestic and international forums
- Work with and assist staff attorneys in all aspects of litigation, including drafting pleadings, briefs, affidavits, and correspondence; taking and defending depositions; managing complex discovery, conducting negotiations with opposing counsel, appearing in court, and examining witnesses; and negotiating, implementing, and monitoring settlement agreements
- Work with staff attorneys and advocacy staff in the development and implementation of advocacy strategies in support of our clients, cases, and projects. Engage in public outreach and education efforts, including the drafting or reviewing of advocacy materials (such as reports, FAQs, and action alerts), participation in legislative efforts, and public speaking. Engage with community groups, cooperating attorneys, co-counsel, progressive lawyers, law students, legal groups, and other allies as appropriate and directed by supervising attorneys
- Support all aspects of communications department activity including reviewing press materials, responding to press inquiries, appearing in various media interviews, timely op-ed drafting, review and editing as appropriate
- Work with and supervise student interns and volunteers; where appropriate support work of pro bono or cooperating counsel assisting on our cases and projects
- Assist development department in managing individual and foundation relationships, including development and review of grant proposals, participation in donor meetings, fundraising and donor appreciation activities, and periodic out-of-state travel for development trips and activities
- Participate in trainings to strengthen litigation and movement lawyering skills
- Participate in departmental and organizational planning and organization-wide committees and carry out work as assigned
- Obtain bar membership and maintain good standing in New York State or in other state bars as appropriate, including fulfilling requirements for continuing legal education (CLE) and, where necessary, security clearance
- Other related work as requested by the Legal Director or the Deputy Legal Director
Qualifications:
- J.D. degree, or comparable LL.M degree as of start date
- This program is meant for early-career lawyers, someone who is 0-2 years post receipt of their law degree. This means you received your Juris Doctor in 2024, 2025, or will receive it in 2026
- Commitment to the mission and goals of the Center for Constitutional Rights
- A demonstrated ability to conduct complex legal analysis and fact-finding
- Excellent research, writing, and verbal communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Proven ability to work independently as well as within a team
- Demonstrated commitment to social justice and human rights and creativity in crafting strategies to advance justice in our priority areas
- Commitment to working in and with communities affected by government misconduct and discrimination among other structures of institutional oppression
- Integrity, emotional intelligence, and a willingness to practice vulnerability, self-reflection, and accountability
- Willingness to travel
- Non-English language skills a plus
