This position provides junior attorneys with an exciting opportunity to hone their litigation skills while doing meaningful work involving cutting-edge civil liberties and civil rights issues. The Staff Attorney will be directly supervised by the Senior Supervising Attorney and will also work with other experienced attorneys in the legal department to help develop and litigate cases at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts. In addition, the Staff Attorney will engage in non-litigation advocacy, including policy work, public speaking, and community engagement.

Our current work is organized around the following three priority areas: (1) reducing the number of people in prisons, jails, and detention centers; (2) minimizing police and other law enforcement interaction with Black and Brown communities and holding the police accountable for grievous harm; and (3) protecting and expanding voting rights and access, eliminating barriers that disenfranchise voters, and increasing civic engagement. The Staff Attorney will focus on these issues as well as other core civil rights and civil liberties matters.

OUR APPROACH

The ACLU-PA affirmatively values the humanity and contributions of those we work with, inside and outside of the organization, and will take action to build and sustain an equitable, anti-racist culture that centers the voices and experiences of marginalized and directly impacted people and communities, and an organizational environment where all people feel valued, trusted, and respected. Our work is guided by the principles of freedom, equality, and justice enumerated in the Constitution. However, we understand that systemic racism and other forms of oppression have prevented the equitable application of these principles to all, and we strive to ensure that our approach accounts for this reality. We also acknowledge that demands of the work as well as the challenging subject matter it often involves take a toll. While we know that the path of this work is long and hard, we also value the importance of personal wellbeing. To that end, we endeavor to cultivate a culture that is supportive and sustainable and promotes taking care of oneself.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Legal

• Investigate, develop and litigate civil liberties and civil rights cases in federal and state courts.
• Conduct factual and legal research, draft pleadings and briefs, prepare memoranda, write demand letters, conduct discovery, and draft appellate and amicus briefs.
• Review, comment, and edit letters and briefs of co-counsel and other ACLU-PA staff.
• Communicate with clients, potential clients and our outside partners.
• Engage in fact-gathering and other pre-litigation work.
• Supervise law student interns.
• Support the legal work of the ACLU-PA’s Legal Department, as needed.

Advocacy

• Advocate for civil liberties and civil rights and represent the ACLU-PA at events and in coalitions, as appropriate.
• Work with ACLU-PA staff to implement integrated advocacy campaigns and high-impact strategies utilizing ACLU-PA’s communication, legislative, advocacy and legal programs.
• Provide research and support for our legislative program.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• A Juris Doctorate from an American Bar Association-accredited law school.
• At least one year of litigation experience (a clerkship with a trial or appellate level court counts as litigation experience).
• Exceptional writing, research and analytical skills, which can be demonstrated through clerkship, fellowship, clinical, summer internship, or other experience.
• Cultural competency to effectively interact, work, and develop meaningful relationships with people of various cultural backgrounds both internally and externally.
• A strong understanding of civil liberties and civil rights.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to connect with both legal and non-legal audiences.
• Ability to work cooperatively on a variety of projects with lawyers, other ACLU-PA staff, and community partners.
• Membership in the Pennsylvania Bar. If you are currently a member of another state bar, you must either be eligible to be admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar or sit for the next available Pennsylvania Bar examination and pass it within twelve months.
• Versed in Microsoft Suites Applications and legal research tools (e.g., Westlaw).

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Ideally, the successful candidate will exhibit the following characteristics:

• Demonstrated personal commitment to advancing the ACLU’s values, mission, goals and programs, with an understanding of a broad range of civil liberties and civil rights issues and their implications.
• Creative, flexible, well-organized and reliable; able to handle and prioritize multiple activities and responsibilities and manage a demanding schedule; a team player who is able to work independently, jointly, and under pressure; willing to learn; a self-starter and finisher.
• Direct personal or professional experience with communities impacted by systemic bias or economic exclusion.
• Spanish language proficiency is a plus.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

We are committed to creating and maintaining a diverse workforce through equity initiatives, which includes equitable pay practices. Competitive compensation is commensurate with experience. The salary for the staff attorney is $68,000-$80,000 annually, depending on experience and within the parameters of the ACLU-PA compensation scale. Excellent benefits include generous vacation, personal and sick leave; individual/family employer-provided health and dental insurance; life insurance and long-term disability; defined contribution plan with employer match; and 11 paid holidays. This position is full-time, salaried, and exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

LOCATION

This position is located in our Philadelphia office. Under the ACLU-PA’s current hybrid remote work policy, the Staff Attorney will be permitted to work up to three days per week remotely. We offer a flexible work schedule with the understanding that our work often extends beyond the traditional hours of 9 to 5.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Applications will be accepted until May 1, 2022. Applicants who are completing a state or federal court clerkship or public interest fellowship are encouraged to apply. Applications must include (1) a resume, (2) a cover letter, and (3) a writing sample.

Please email your letter of interest and attachments to Witold Walczak, Legal Director, at legalsearch@aclupa.org with a subject line of “Staff Attorney Position.” Application materials sent via postal mail or fax will not be accepted. No calls, please.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania advances equity and inclusion in the workplace by providing equal employment opportunity to support a work environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age (over 40), sexual orientation, military and veteran status, and any other basis prohibited by law. The organization also provides reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants and employees with disabilities. This equal employment opportunity policy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, selection, advancement, training, problem resolution, and separation from employment. Through this policy, the ACLU-PA strives to establish and maintain an equitable and accessible work environment that is free from discrimination and supportive of a workforce that reflects the rich diversity of our communities and the people we serve.

ABOUT THE ACLU OF PENNSYLVANIA

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization that serves as an enduring guardian of justice, fairness, and freedom, working to protect civil liberties and advance equity for all.

ACLU-PA defends and promotes the fundamental principles and values protected by the constitutions of the United States and of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as by national, state and local civil rights laws. For more than 100 years, the ACLU has sought in particular to protect and expand the freedoms of expression, belief and association; voting rights; the separation of church and state; the right to privacy, including reproductive freedom; due process of law, including the rights of the accused and of immigrants; limitations on the power of police; and the right to equal protection for all marginalized individuals and groups. In advancing these rights, ACLU-PA strives always to acknowledge and remedy the pervasive and persistent harms of systemic racism.

Integrating litigation, legislative and policy advocacy, organizing, and communications, ACLU-PA’s staff and volunteers work both independently and in coalition with those most affected by the issues we address to ensure that threats to liberty and the civil rights of all persons in Pennsylvania are met with stark resistance as we progress toward a more genuine multiracial, multicultural democracy.

ACLU-PA’s hiring process will comply with Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards (“Ban the Box”) ordinance.

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