Legal Fellow

About The Lawyering Project

Founded in 2017, the Lawyering Project is a legal advocacy organization that blends traditional impact litigation with movement lawyering to promote reproductive health, rights, and justice throughout the United States.  We are currently fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) organization, but will be operating as an independent 501(c)(3) in the coming months. 

Laws that undermine reproductive health, rights, and justice deprive people of moral agency, rob us of control over our bodies, and compound other forms of oppression like racism, sexism, and poverty.  Our mission is to eliminate these laws and the harmful impacts they have on people’s lives.  We are especially focused on laws that limit the availability or affordability of abortion care; contribute to disparities in reproductive health outcomes; embody gender-based stereotypes; or discriminate against people based on their reproductive decisions. 

We envision a society with laws that enable each of us to make decisions about intensely personal matters like sex, pregnancy, family, and healthcare based on our own beliefs and values, and ensure that we all have access to safe pregnancy care, safe abortion care, and safe communities for our families.

The Lawyering Project has three legal programs: Litigation, Access & Innovation, and Pro Bono Initiatives.  Our Litigation Program leverages the courts to eliminate barriers to reproductive health services and promote equity in access to care. Our Access & Innovation Program provides legal advice and technical assistance to healthcare providers, researchers, abortion funds, and others who facilitate access to abortion care. Our Pro Bono Initiatives Program operates the Abortion Defense Network, a collaborative effort by nonprofit organizations, private law firms, and government officials aimed at ensuring everyone threatened with liability for providing or supporting abortion care in post-Roe America has access to high-quality, values-aligned lawyers.  For further information, visit https://lawyeringproject.org and https://abortiondefensenetwork.org.    

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned nearly fifty years of precedent recognizing abortion access as a fundamental right, the Lawyering Project is committed to supporting all people seeking to obtain, provide, or facilitate abortion access while navigating new obstacles and legal risks.  We will seize this disruption of precedent as an opportunity to reshape reproductive rights jurisprudence, situating it on a stronger and more progressive foundation. We will continue to work closely with our partners in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement, as well as members of the private bar, to realize our vision for a more just and equitable future. 

About The Role

The Lawyering Project is seeking a Legal Fellow for a two-year fellowship to begin in Fall 2025. The Legal Fellow will play a vital role in supporting the Lawyering Project’s Access & Innovation and Pro Bono Initiatives programs. In particular, the Legal Fellow will support the Access & Innovation team by assisting in the provision of legal advice and technical assistance to clients. The Legal Fellow will support the Pro Bono Initiatives team by acting as an Attorney Navigator for the Abortion Defense Network; keeping factsheets and other research up to date; and maintaining relationships with partner organizations.   

The Legal Fellow is an exempt position that will last for two years. Exempt employees are expected to work the time needed to complete key assignments and related tasks on schedule. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The essential duties and responsibilities for this role, include but are not limited to:

• Conduct legal research, analysis, and writing
• Assist in providing legal advice and technical assistance to Lawyering Project clients
• Cite-check and copy-edit legal memos and other legal documents
• Act as an Attorney Navigator for the Abortion Defense Network, which includes conducting client intake interviews, assessing prospective clients’ legal needs, and working to find appropriate legal assistance
• Update factsheets and other research
• Stay up to date on developments in relevant areas of the law; and
• Cultivate an organizational culture that aligns with the Lawyering Project’s core values

Other Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist with other legal work on an as-needed basis
• Assist in maintaining strategic partnerships with allied organizations; and
• Represent the Lawyering Project at conferences, convenings, and speaking engagements

Requirements

Education and Experience

The Legal Fellow must have:

• A J.D. or equivalent degree
• An active license to practice law in a U.S. jurisdiction or eligibility to submit an application for licensure prior to their start date
• Up to 5 years of relevant legal experience; and
• A commitment to promoting reproductive justice

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of reproductive rights jurisprudence and the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement
• Skill in legal research, analysis, and writing; cite-checking; and using the Bluebook
• Ability to take initiative; manage a variety of tasks; meet deadlines; work well under pressure; and demonstrate attention to detail

Additional Requirements

• Must be able to travel domestically on an airplane 6-12 times per year

Application Requirements

The application must include the following materials to be considered:

• Resume
• Cover Letter: Please include a cover letter describing your legal research experience. Please highlight specific projects or cases you have worked on and detail the types of legal issues you have researched and the methodologies you have used.
• Personal Statement: In a separate document, please provide a personal statement describing (in no more than 200 words) the perspectives and experiences that you would bring to the Lawyering Project that are important to you and/or relevant to our work.
• References: Please provide three professional references, including the person’s name, organizational affiliation, title, and your relationship to the reference.

As finalists progress in the application process, other assessments evaluating knowledge, skills, and abilities may be assigned. The application deadline is January 6, 2025 and complete applications will be reviewed after that date.  

Benefits

Compensation

The salary for a Legal Fellow candidate with 1-2 years of relevant work experience is $95,000. The Lawyering Project has a fixed salary scale based on job responsibilities, education, and experience. A copy of this scale is available at https://lawyeringproject.org/lp-salary-scales_2024/.  

Benefits

The Lawyering Project offers a robust benefits package that includes:

• 100% employer sponsored health insurance plans (medical, dental, and vision)
• Disability and AD&D Life insurance
• Health Spending Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for health, dependent care, and transportation
• (401)k retirement savings plan with 4% employer match
• Paid vacation, holiday, and sick days
• Paid parental, family, and medical leave
• Annual professional development stipend and reimbursement for state bar membership fees

Remote Work Environment

This role is a full-time exempt position that sometimes requires work during evenings and weekends to complete key assignments and related tasks on schedule. This position may be based anywhere within the United States and has the option to work from home or from office space provided by the Lawyering Project.