The Mills Legal Clinic of Stanford Law School invites applicants for the staff attorney position with its Religious Liberty Clinic (“RLC”). The staff attorney will join the thriving clinical community at Stanford Law School where, together with the clinical faculty and staff, he or she will represent clients and help train law students at one of the country’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education.
The RLC is the newest of the eleven clinics comprising the Mills Legal Clinic, and is the only one of its kind in the country. The RLC was launched in August 2012, and will be open to students in January 2013. The Stanford clinical program is unique in that students participate in a clinic on a full-time basis; the clinic is the only course a student takes during the term of enrollment. The Mills Legal Clinic occupies an entire floor in an award-winning central campus building opened earlier this year.
The RLC will focus on developing professional skills in a dynamic way. Specifically, students will be introduced to the “real practice of law” through their representation of a diverse group of clients in disputes arising from a wide range of religious beliefs, practices, and settings. Projects might involve a prisoner facing obstacles to religious observance, a small church, synagogue, or mosque with zoning challenges, or a faith-based group seeking access to public facilities. Students will learn and apply the laws affecting religious liberty, and will be expected to counsel individual or small institutional clients and litigate on their behalf with excellence, professionalism, and maturity.
As a litigation-focused clinic, the RLC will involve administrative, trial, and appellate work. Most administrative and trial work will take place in California, while appellate work will be done nationally. Because the RLC is a new and unique project, near-term clinic activities will also include marketing, outreach, and development efforts.
The staff attorney will participate in all activities of the RLC, including client development, student supervision, and client representation. The attorney will also assist the RLC’s director with curriculum design, teaching and evaluation matters, and clinic operations. All Mills Legal Clinic attorneys are part of the intellectual community within the clinical program and the Law School and university at large. For example, the staff attorney will be invited to attend weekly workshops at which scholars from Stanford and throughout the world present works in progress. The clinic also provides resources for its lawyers to participate in continuing education and other professional development activities.
Applicants for the staff attorney position should have at least three years of litigation experience, preferably at the trial level, and be a member of the California bar (or be willing to take the next-offered California bar exam). Applicants must possess strong academic credentials, an interest in religious liberty, and organizational and team skills essential to helping run what is, in essence, a small law firm. Successful teaching and/or student supervision experience or the demonstrated potential for such skills are desirable.
The salary is based on a formula that is competitive with similar positions.
Applicants should submit their resumes through http://jobs.stanford.edu, referencing job number 49499. Applicants should also send the following materials electronically to Judy Gielniak, Mills Legal Clinic administrative manager, at jgielniak@law.stanford.edu:
- a statement no longer than one page describing the applicant’s: (i) prior litigation or other relevant experience; (ii) interest in religious liberty; and (iii) interest and potential for clinical supervision and teaching;
- a list of at least three references
- a complete law school transcript
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.