Columbia Law School seeks an experienced lawyer with a background in criminal defense and a strong interest in community lawyering and clinical teaching to join the Criminal Defense Clinic as the Clinic's Associate Research Scholar / Clinical Fellow, beginning in January 2025.

The Criminal Defense Clinic works with students to become visionary attorneys working in criminal law advocacy. Students represent individuals facing misdemeanor charges in New York City courts. The students engage in a team-based advocacy projects supporting grassroots organizations working towards minimizing reliance on misdemeanor regulation and surveillance, developing safety alternatives, or addressing the impacts of criminalization.  The course engages in practice and analyses of criminal law that center discussion of intensively regulated low-income communities, racial justice, local power hierarchies and the role of misdemeanor legal regulation. The course asks students to consider how lawyers work in criminal law towards a transformative vision of more humane cities.

The Clinical Fellow will work in the Criminal Defense Clinic, with its director and students in criminal law advocacy. They will do this through a range of activities including intensive supervision in criminal defense representation, implementing and supervising clinical projects, syllabus development, teaching, and scholarly research.

The Clinical Fellow will contribute to Columbia?s public interest, clinical and public defense community. Over the course of their appointment, they will undertake increasing responsibility in the Clinic, including designing and teaching clinic seminars; developing individual representation priorities and litigation strategies, building and leading clinic projects in partnership with grassroots organizations and impacted communities; providing close supervision, guidance, and feedback to teams of students working on those projects; and conducting scholarly research and writing. The Clinical Fellow will be provided extensive professional, teaching, practice, and scholarship mentoring from the Clinic Director and other senior staff at the Clinic.

The duration of the appointment is for a period of three years, which may be renewable for up to two years based on performance. This is a non-tenure track position. The Associate Research Scholar / Clinical Fellow will hold the University title of Associate Research Scholar. They will also hold a secondary instructional appointment, pending faculty approval, as a Lecturer in Law for each semester in which they teach in the Clinic.

Minimum Qualifications:

• J.D. or equivalent legal degree (e.g. LLB)
• Currently in good standing as a member of the NY bar or ability to be so by January 2025
• Strong academic qualifications
• A minimum of three to five years of experience working as an attorney in indigent defense

Preferred Qualifications:

• A deep commitment to rigorous, pragmatic, creative, and self-reflective social justice and human rights work;
• A deep commitment to teaching and mentoring new generations of advocates, a passion for education, and a strong interest in pedagogy theory and practice;
• Strong interest and ability in challenging existing norms and methods in the criminal defense field, and an interest in pursuing new interdisciplinary and critical research and scholarship;
• A strong education in and awareness of critiques of criminal defense, and a commitment to integrating those critiques into expanding the practice;
• Experience, initiative, and ability to undertake independent research;
• Substantive legal and practical knowledge of state level criminal defense;
• Strong interest and commitment to fostering an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive environment within the clinic, as well as to empowering others to bring their full identities, backgrounds, and perspectives to seminars and projects;
• Interest in exploring the wide range of tactics and tools employed in community lawyering, and commitment to the strategic use of these to challenge existing injustices and hierarchies, including within criminal law itself;
• Project, team, and time management skills, and excellent interpersonal skills; and
• Deep personal commitment and ability to work in mutually empowering, collaborative, and respectful partnerships.

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled, but are strongly encouraged to be submitted by September 1, 2024.

Applicants should submit: (a) a letter of interest, describing the applicant?s qualifications and interest in the position (Cover Letter); (b) a one page statement of the applicant?s vision of transformative criminal legal work and clinical education, primary areas of scholarly  interest and practice; (c) a curriculum vitae; (d) a law school transcript; (e) two letters of recommendation; and (f) the names of no more than three additional references (Other Document).

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Pay Transparency Disclosure

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training.  The above hiring range represents the University?s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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