Staff Attorney

Staff Attorney Position Opening

Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

and its project, the Center for Protest Law and Litigation

Washington, D.C.

Full-time position located in the Washington, D.C., or Oakland, CA, office or potentially geographically remote within the U.S. with preference given for location in Washington, D.C. Both the Washington, D.C. and Oakland offices currently operate on a hybrid work schedule.

Who We Are and What We Do:

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) brings high-impact free speech, civil rights and constitutional rights litigation and provides criminal defense to those who are targeted for prosecution because of their First Amendment-protected viewpoints and advocacy for justice. We protect and advance the rights of protestors to organize, assemble, and demand justice around the country.

For over 30 years, the PCJF has been a leading voice in the legal fight to defend democracy and advance constitutional rights and social justice by litigating landmark civil rights, civil liberties, and First Amendment cases and by providing legal defense to justice movement organizations and activists targeted for their First Amendment-protected speech and activities. Our litigation work is integrated with outreach, education, and advocacy in partnership with other civil rights lawyers, affected communities, activists, and organizations in racial, social, and environmental justice movements. Our work is focused ultimately on creating meaningful social, political, and legal changes and dismantling systems of repression.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a West Coast office in the Bay Area, we litigate around the country.

The Position:

If you are a highly skilled, committed, and principled lawyer who wants to use your hard work and enthusiasm to fight for civil rights, free speech and democracy and to defend grassroots movements for justice, we welcome your application.

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund seeks a litigator with a fighting spirit and demonstrated experience in federal court litigation, including constitutional rights and civil rights claims brought under Section 1983 and other statutes. We also welcome applications from experienced public defenders. Four or more years of litigation experience are required. In this position you will join in the litigation of existing cases and the development of new litigation, theories, and initiatives to defend and advance constitutional rights and social justice in the United States. This work will involve the range of PCJF’s civil rights matters, including the work of our Center for Protest Law & Litigation in the context of free speech, assembly, and protest. You will work as part of our team on complex civil litigation as well as criminal defense of demonstrators and activists subject to unconstitutional targeting for First Amendment activities as well as lawfare SLAPP litigation and politically motivated Congressional inquiries. The work will also involve transparency and FOIA matters.

This position within a cutting edge and nimble litigation organization offers an opportunity to join a collaborative and creative team with substantial expertise in constitutional rights litigation and the defense of First Amendment activity.

Key Responsibilities:

• Actively engage in significant impact litigation including discovery, depositions, motions practice, drafting briefs, correspondence, conducting thorough legal research, and court appearances.
• Provide direct defense to activists and support other attorneys defending demonstrators subject to arrest for First Amendment activities and expression.
• Prepare FOIA and public records requests and litigate the requests as necessary. 
• Develop, evaluate, and investigate potential claims, new projects and litigation strategies to forward our efforts to defend and advance civil rights and social justice nationally, and work as part of a collaborative team. 
• Draft publications and other legal resources including reports, fact sheets, and know your rights materials for public education and outreach and for audiences of varied backgrounds. 
• Work closely and cooperatively with allied activists, grassroots organizations and partner coalitions.
• Participate in development and fundraising efforts as requested.
• Provide leadership and supervision of fellows, interns and staff as assigned.  ‘
• Assist in other related duties as assigned.

Key Requirements and Qualifications:

• Four (4) or more years of litigation experience in constitutional and civil rights litigation involving First and Fourth Amendment claims with a preference for §1983 litigation experience.Active member of the bar (any jurisdiction) and ability to waive in to the District of Columbia bar. Preference for New York or California bar. No disciplinary actions on record or pending.
• Ability to draft correspondence with opposing counsel on routine matters with limited supervision and review.
• Ability to complete legal research and analysis that is comprehensive, accurate, and requires only limited secondary review.
• Ability to draft discovery requests and responses.
• Ability to maintain effective relationships with clients and witnesses, including engaging in interviews to elicit information and keep clients and witnesses up to date as needed.
• Ability to conduct adverse witness depositions, including the advance preparation of areas of inquiry and the cross-referencing of deposition inquiry to relevant evidence.
• Ability to draft all or part of legal memoranda in support of motions, including discrete substantive portions of appellate briefs.
• Ability to code, categorize, and review incoming evidence with consistency.
• Ability to draft statements of material facts, accurately referencing and identifying record evidence, in support of motions for summary judgment.
• Willingness to use and learn new technological tools for e-discovery, clip creation from multi-media videos or files, trial presentation software, and other software.
• Being an all hands on deck person possessing a roll up your sleeves, “no job too small” approach to tasks and expectation towards work in a small civil rights organization. Formatting citations, exhibit preparation, proof-reading and double-checking, are the responsibilities of staff attorneys, as well as others. Well-versed in civil rights and constitutional litigation and/or defense issues.
• Creative thinker in strategic and tactical planning to advance constitutional rights issues. Ability to develop and implement litigation strategies and to work collaboratively within the organization.
• Passion for the mission of the PCJF. Dedication to civil rights and social and environmental justice issues. Optimism.
• Self-motivated with ability to create an agenda for the work. Ability to take responsibility to advance and complete projects and manage a caseload, ability to respond to direction, and ability to work efficiently and manage time.
• Excellent judgment, meticulous attention to detail, superior organizational, speaking, and writing abilities.
• A strong work ethic and enthusiasm for this work is essential as well as the capacity to work well under pressure, to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously, and to meet deadline requirements and rapid response needs, including working occasional weekends and evenings when necessary.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to travel occasionally.

Preferred: Experience working with frontline communities and/or grassroots social justice movements

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis with the priority consideration deadline of October 30th.

START DATE: ASAP

SALARY

The salary is expected to be within the range of $95,000 – $120,000 and will depend on the applicant’s years of experience and qualifications. Benefits include outstanding health and dental insurance that is 100% employer paid; 15 days of paid vacation; additional personal and sick leave; 11 paid federal holidays; a 401(k) plan with employer contribution (after one year of service); Life insurance and AD&D insurance; Short Term Disability insurance; Long Term Disability insurance; and available vision plan.

Please send a cover letter detailing why you are interested in this position at the PCJF, your resume, and two writing samples of original litigation work, preferably dispositive motions briefing (5 pages maximum, excerpts are acceptable, please indicate whether the sample was solo-authored or co-authored). Please indicate if you have a geographic preference. Materials should be sent to View email address on click.appcast.io putting “Job Application: Staff Attorney, [your full name]” in the subject line of the email.

Your cover letter must answer these three questions:

1. Explain your motivation for wanting to be engaged in the issues and areas we work on and what about our organization’s work speaks to you.
2. Detail your litigation experiences and skills that you believe are relevant to this position and how they specifically relate to the job as described.
3. Very briefly describe a recent case (last four years) involving civil rights or free speech that caught your attention and why you think it matters (whether win or lose).

We prefer that you not use AI in writing your cover letter so we can see how you personally think and write. If you do use AI, please note how and for what portions you used AI to support your work. Evidence of AI use without a note may disqualify your application.

Applicants invited to move forward will be contacted for an initial phone screen. Applicants who move forward after the phone screen will be invited to interview over Zoom.

NOTE: We are only accepting applications electronically submitted. Please do not make any inquiries about the position or the status of your application as we cannot respond individually to each application. We will contact those applicants that are of interest directly.

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, age, formerly incarcerated person status, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected status.