Post Doctoral Fellow

Post Doctoral Fellow


Posting Number
req31076


Employment Type
Faculty


Faculty Type
Visiting


Hiring Department
School of Law (588A)


Academic Location
School of Law


Campus
Main - Albuquerque, NM


Benefits Eligible
Postdoctoral Fellows may be eligible to receive certain UNM benefits . See the Benefits home page for more information.


Position Summary

The University of New Mexico School of Law Border Justice Initiative is seeking to hire a full-time Post-Doctoral Fellow for a 1-year term. This appointment will begin in September 2024 with an attached salary of $70,000.00. The Fellowship provides an opportunity for new lawyers to improve the immigration status of women and children at the border.


This Border Justice Fellowship will be awarded to a third-year law student or immediate graduate at the University of New Mexico School of Law (UNMSOL) with a demonstrated commitment to immigration, social justice, racial equity, children, and families. The Fellow will also have demonstrated a longstanding interest in the immigrant community, including lived experience and been actively engaged in the Border Justice Initiative at the law school.


The Fellow will partner with a non-profit host organization dedicated to serving the needs of low-income immigrants. The host organization will agree to provide office space, legal malpractice insurance, a computer, internet access, phone, etc., necessary to work as an attorney. It will also provide supervision by an experienced immigration attorney who will work in collaboration with designated faculty at the University of New Mexico School of Law.



The Focus of the Fellowship: Legal Advocacy
The work of the Fellow will focus on providing and improving legal representation of immigrants, particularly women, children, and families at the border and elsewhere. This individual legal representation may be conducted in state or federal courts and with governmental entities. Legal advocacy includes direct legal representation of individual clients, class action and impact litigation, brief service/advice, administrative representation, transactional work, and provision of legal education and training.


Terms and Requirements of the Fellowship: Ongoing Support: The Fellow will receive on-going training, mentoring, and networking opportunities during their first year. The host organization will host mandatory, supportive monthly meetings designed to develop camaraderie among colleagues, to encourage partnerships between related projects, and to provide a supportive environment for discussing successes and challenges arising in their projects.


Reporting: Fellows will be required to report orally on their projects during the monthly meetings, as well as to provide brief, written quarterly reports to the University of New Mexico and the Foundation (which will soon be rebranded but is currently known as the JML Foundation) on the status of their projects. At the end of the first year of the fellowship, an annual report will be required. A full report must be submitted at the end of the second year describing the project's activities and impact. The exact contents of each report will be determined by the Fellow and the host organization in consultation with the LBJI. Contents of these report will be determined in part by the methods described in the fellowship application for assessing progress.


The reporting requirements are intended as learning opportunities. They should help the Fellow and the host organization identify successes as well as challenges and possible solutions. The goal of the reporting is to identify ways to continue improving the quality of services provided in current and future projects.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• J.D. degree or equivalent legal degree

• Pass the NM State Bar during 1st year of appointment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior participation in the Border Justice Initiative Program

• Demonstrated ability to represent the interest of a client

• Spanish proficiency

• A demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and student success, as well as working with broadly diverse communities

Application Instructions


Only applications submitted through the official UNMJobs site will be accepted. If you are viewing this job advertisement on a 3rd party site, please visit UNMJobs to submit an application.


Applicants who are appointed to a UNM faculty position are required to provide an official certification of successful completion of all degree requirements prior to their initial employment with UNM.

For Best Consideration
For best consideration, please apply by 9/27/2024. This position will remain open until filled.

The University of New Mexico is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.