Description:
The Opportunity:Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights seeks an experienced voting rights attorney to join our Midwest Voting Rights Program at a critical moment for American democracy. This role will be based in Michigan, with a requirement of regular travel within the state. This is an opportunity to support state- and community-based partners on policy advocacy, voter protection efforts, and litigation defending and protecting voting rights in Michigan and across the Midwest. The attorney will serve in the position as a Program Counsel or Senior Counsel, depending on years of legal experience.
About the role:
This position will report to the Director of the Midwest Voting Rights Program and is an exciting opportunity for an experienced attorney who can bring vision, talent, and enthusiasm to the role at a time when protection and advancement of civil rights is needed more than ever. Working in collaboration with the Director of the Midwest Voting Rights Program and the Vice President and Legal Director, you will help shape strategy and build on our track record of impact—including supporting nonpartisan community-based organizations and state-based partners upon request, contributing to policy advocacy alongside partners, expanding voting access for incarcerated and systemimpacted individuals, supporting Michigan organizations' long-running Election Protection work through the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline and related field programs, and co-counseling with Michigan partners on litigation as needed. You will be the lead in-state attorney for Chicago Lawyers' Committee's Michigan voting rights work, building local relationships that endure beyond any single election cycle.
This is a state-based role. The attorney will be based in Michigan and bring established relationships with state coalitions, organizations, and community-based partners. Candidates should have a strong commitment to community-driven advocacy and be able to share specific examples of coalitions they have worked with, partners they have collaborated with, and the relationships they would bring to this role. The attorney must demonstrate a passion for racial equity and possess the skills needed to be a successful advocate for impacted communities, as well as an effective manager of projects.
Community-Driven Advocacy: A Core Principle at Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
A commitment to community-driven advocacy is a core principle of every legal role at Chicago Lawyers' Committee, and it anchors this position in particular. Community-driven advocacy means using legal advocacy to help achieve solutions to community-identified issues in ways that develop local leadership and institutions that can continue to exert power to effect systemic change. In practice, this means:
- Shared Power & Collaboration: working alongside communities to identify local priorities and develop sustainable, community-led solutions, rather than dictating legal strategy
- Focus on Systemic Change: treating communities as partners in reform, using individual cases to advance broader shifts in systemic, structural inequities
- Capacity Building: acting as educators, coalition builders, and advisors who equip communities with the legal knowledge to develop sustainable leadership and resolve future problems independently
- Holistic Problem Solving: viewing legal issues through the broader lens of social, racial, and economic justice, using tools such as litigation, policy advocacy, public education, and strategic communications
- Cross-Cultural Awareness and Competencies: understanding the specific history, demographics, and assets of the communities served, and remaining mindful of how race, gender, age, disability, and socioeconomic status shape client relationships
Duties include:
Community Engagement & Election Protection
- Cultivate and maintain partnerships with state-based organizations and coalitions from communities impacted by systemic racism, including organizations serving voters of color, system-impacted voters, voters with limited English proficiency, naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, and Indigenous voters
- Provide brief advice and legal opinions to community partners across Michigan upon request
- Plan and participate in community education and outreach in support of advocacy goals, including in underserved areas
- Alongside program staff and community partners, support Election Protection initiatives in Michigan—including volunteer attorney recruitment, training, and deployment via 866-OUR-VOTE—and partner with and advocate to election officials, following the lead of Michigan's robust Election Protection coalition
- Work with community-based organizations to coordinate voting initiatives and partnerships with incarcerated and returning community members in Michigan
Policy Advocacy
- Partner with community organizations and statewide coalitions on legislative, policy, and administrative advocacy in Michigan, including possible drafting and analysis
- Produce publications, know-your-rights materials, fact sheets, and policy briefs tailored to Michigan voting rights issues, as requested by state and community partners
- Conduct presentations to stakeholders, including legislators, advocates, election officials, and media in Michigan, as requested by state and community partners
Strategic Litigation
- With Michigan partners, identify opportunities for litigation to challenge systemic barriers to voting and representation, including discriminatory laws, policies, and procedures.
- Collaboratively develop and build upon federal and state civil rights legal theories and build local expertise
- Bring litigation where necessary, in coordination with Michigan partners.
- Support and expand pro bono relationships with law firms serving as co-counsel
- Coordinate with attorneys across the Midwest on a multi-state strategy
About You:
Qualifications:
- Must be based in Michigan, with required regular travel within the state and periodic travel to the Chicago office for team meetings, trainings, and program-wide convenings
- J.D. and admission to the Michigan Bar
Years of Experience:
- For Senior Counsel position: At least 8 years of combined experience in civil rights litigation, policy advocacy, and/or experience advancing voting rights
- For Program Counsel position: At least 5 years of combined experience in civil rights litigation, policy advocacy, and/or experience advancing voting rights
- Established working relationships with voting rights or racial justice organizations and/or coalitions in Michigan
- Deep commitment to racial justice and community-driven advocacy
- Excellent legal research, writing, and oral advocacy skills
- High degree of flexibility, ability to multi-task, and take significant initiative
- Strong analytical skills, attention to details and accuracy
- Excellent people skills, especially the ability to communicate effectively with a diversity of groups and individuals
- Cross-cultural competencies and self-awareness around issues of power, privilege, and difference
Community-Driven Advocacy Skill Set
Ability to adapt approach to the specific interests of a given client or community
Don't meet every single requirement? At Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your experience does not align perfectly with every qualification in this role description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
Core Traits Expected of All Chicago Lawyers' Committee Staff
- Entrepreneurial: comfortable building new capacity and taking initiative in a program that is actively expanding
- Self-managing: able to prioritize and drive work forward with minimal oversight
- Self-executing: takes an idea through to implementation without needing to be handed a fully formed plan
- Exercising sound judgment and discretion: able to make sound decisions and keep moving in a fast-changing legal and political landscape
- Deeply collaborative: works across states, teams, and partner organizations in a consultative, follow-the-lead manner
- Innovative: brings fresh thinking to regional coordination and program growth rather than defaulting to the status quo
- Community-centered: leads with the community-driven advocacy principles above—shared power and collaboration, focus on systemic change, capacity building, holistic problem solving, and cross-cultural awareness and competency
Why Work with Us?
- Work with lawyers who are determined, focused, and compassionate
- Lead voting rights litigation and advocacy at a critical moment for American democracy
- Build enduring relationships with Michigan coalitions and community partners, backed by a regional program with a track record of impact
Salary and benefits:
Salary range is $70,000–$108,000 per year depending on experience ($70,000–$89,500 for applicants under 8 years of experience / $90,000–$108,000 for applicants with at least 8 years of experience).
Benefits include:
- 15 vacation days per year for years 1–2, increasing to 20 vacation days after two years of continuous service, plus 2 personal days
- 10 sick days per year
- Health, dental, basic life, short-term disability, long-term disability, and Employee Assistance Program
- Voluntary vision, life, critical illness, and accident insurance