Legal Fellow

Legal Fellow 

Muslim Advocates (MA)—a national legal-advocacy, social-justice, and educational organization—seeks applications from talented and motivated new attorneys wishing to join our growing legal team for a two-year placement as a legal fellow. 

Status:  Full time

Classification:  Exempt

Location:  MA’s staff  works remotely within the United States, with most of the team based on the East Coast. Periodic domestic travel for staff gatherings, court appearances, case development, fundraising events, and other professional reasons is required. 

Reports to: Legal Director

Background:

MA's movement-centered mission works with and for diverse Muslim and historically marginalized communities to build community power, fight systemic oppression, and demand shared wellbeing. We work in coalition with grassroots and community-based partners to dismantle discriminatory systems, including systems of state surveillance, mass incarceration, detention and deportation, and family regulation. We also work to defend movements from targeted state repression related to their principled dissent.  Recognizing the limitations of any singular strategy, we use a combination of public education, policy work, systemic-change litigation, direct legal services, and technical assistance to movement leaders and community-based partners.

Fellows will gain legal experience through their work on cases across all areas of our work and by being fully integrated into MA’s legal teams.  The fellow will receive ongoing support and mentorship from MA’s staff attorneys and will be supervised by the legal director.   

Roles and Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Support litigation and advocacy work, including but not limited to: conducting legal research; helping to develop and draft pleadings, motions, briefs, and other advocacy materials as appropriate, including Know Your Rights (KYR) guidance
• Help MA develop and expand its relationships with grassroots and organizational partners and related, shared advocacy 
• Participate in ongoing advocacy coalitions
• Support the legal team in screening and following up on intakes
• Other legal-advocacy tasks as identified and assigned by the legal team in line with MA’s expanding litigation docket

Qualifications:

Incoming fellows should have the following:

• A recent graduate from an accredited law school (0-3 years out of law school) 
• Strong legal research and writing skills
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Firm commitment to social justice as demonstrated through course-work, clinical studies in law school, and/or lived experiences
• Interest in MA’s mission and thematic areas of focus, e.g., immigration detention-and-deportation system, students’ rights under the First Amendment and under Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, prisoners’ rights and carceral abolition, weaponization of national security frameworks, low-wage workers’ rights, etc. 
• Interest in movement-, community-, and client-centered lawyering approaches
• Sound professional judgment, critical-thinking skills, and self-motivation
• Ability to receive and implement feedback effectively
• Sense of humor 

Candidates should have a J.D. from an accredited university, be admitted in good standing to the bar of any state and/or the District of Columbia or in the process of obtaining admission, be fluent in oral and written English, and be willing and able to travel as the demands of the position require.

Equal-Opportunity Employment

MA is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer.  Black, indigenous, and other people of color, people with disabilities, individuals with diverse traditions and beliefs (non-religious or religious), people with any gender identity or expression, LGBTQIA+ people, and people with lived experience of economic struggle are strongly encouraged to apply.

Salary and Compensation:  The salary is commensurate with experience.  The preferred range of experience is 0-3 years of legal practice.  This position is included in a union-represented collective bargaining unit and specific employment terms and conditions are subject to collective bargaining.  The expected salary range is $75,000 - 95,000.  Muslim Advocates offers a generous and comprehensive benefits package.  

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply online through this link: 

Please be sure to upload the following materials with your application: 

1. a cover letter outlining your interest in MA, along with your relevant skills and experience
2. a resume
3. a list of at least three references who can speak to your recent legal-advocacy and/or academic experience 
4. two legal-writing samples no greater than 20 pages in length each and that are an accurate reflection of work that you did either exclusively or predominantly. 

If you do not have all of the required qualifications, you are still welcome to apply. We’re open to considering passionate attorneys with a strong learning mindset and relevant, transferable skills. 

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and accepted until the position is filled.  

For more information about MA, visit: www.muslimadvocates.org.