YALE LAW SCHOOL, through The Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale and the Yale Law School Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization (LSO), seeks a Fellow for a position beginning in July of 2021. This newly-created fellowship is supported by a gift from Alan Bersin, YLS ’74, and Lisa Foster, and it honors Dennis Curtis, one of the founders of Yale’s clinical program.
The fellowship provides for a law school graduate to spend a year working with members of the Yale clinical faculty and with the Liman Center and affiliated faculty. The Fellow will work on behalf of individuals and groups to further projects and policy reform through litigation and administrative and legislative initiatives related to criminal law and immigration reform. The Fellow will be based at Yale Law School; depending on the projects that unfold, the Fellow may spend time elsewhere, including with immigration policy experts in Washington, D.C.
The Fellow will work under the supervision of Professor Fiona Doherty and other clinical professors who teach two clinics, the Criminal Justice Clinic (CJC) and the Criminal Justice Advocacy Clinic (CJAC), as well as with Professor Lucas Guttentag, who teaches immigration law and regularly visits at Yale Law School. Students in the CJC represent defendants in criminal cases in the Geographical Area #23 courthouse on Elm Street in New Haven. Students in CJAC represent individuals and organizations affected by the criminal legal system. The clinic docket consists of a mix of policy and community advocacy, direct representation, and impact litigation. In both clinics, students manage all aspects of their clients’ cases under the direct supervision of clinical faculty. The Fellow will also work with Professor Guttentag on furthering administrative and executive immigration reform, analyzing the policies of recent years, maintaining and enhancing a website that comprehensively catalogues recent policies, and identifying needed policy reforms.
The Curtis-Liman Clinical Fellow will also participate in the work of the Liman Center, which promotes access to justice and the fair treatment of individuals and groups seeking to participate in the legal system. Recent projects have included access to voting for people in detention, solitary confinement, excessive fines and fees, and the harms of COVID for incarcerated individuals. Through research projects, teaching, fellowship funding, and colloquia, the Liman Center supports efforts to bring about a more just legal system, even as that aspiration remains elusive. The Liman Center has funded 153 Liman Law Fellows at more than 100 host organizations, and more than 450 Liman Summer Fellows from eight colleges and universities. The Liman Center includes Professor Judith Resnik, Liman Director Anna VanCleave, Senior Liman Fellows in Residence, affiliated researchers, Liz Acas, the Liman Center Director of Communications, and Elizabeth Keane, the Liman Center Coordinator.
The Liman Center and Yale’s LSO seek candidates who are able to work independently and as part of a team and who possess excellent legal skills and a deep commitment to social justice. Qualifications include a J.D. degree and, before the fellowship starts, admission to a bar and a plan to be admitted to the Connecticut Bar. The salary range is from $47,500 to $55,000 or more, depending on experience. Fellows receive health benefits and access to university facilities. The fellowship is a one-year position with the potential for renewal for a second year.
To apply, submit by email a resume, a cover letter explaining your background and how this work relates to your longer-term plans, a writing sample, a law school transcript, and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of three references (of whom at least one should be a law school professor) to elizabeth.keane@yale.edu. If letters of reference are readily available, ask that individuals forward them directly; otherwise, when appropriate, we will contact references by email or phone. Absent special circumstances, applications should be sent by December 15, 2020.
Yale University considers applicants for employment without regard to, and does not discriminate on the basis of, an individual’s sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Yale discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects people from sex discrimination in educational programs and activities at institutions that receive federal financial assistance. Questions regarding Title IX may be referred to the University’s Title IX Coordinator, at TitleIX@yale.edu, or to the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 8th Floor, Five Post Office Square, Boston MA 02109-3921. Telephone: 617.289.0111, Fax: 617.289.0150, TDD: 800.877.8339, or Email: ocr.boston@ed.gov.