Careers at Public Justice

May 2025

SPONSORSHIP FOR STUDENTS’ CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT LEGAL FELLOWSHIP STARTING FALL 2026 

WASHINGTON, DC or REMOTE

View PDF of job announcement here.

Public Justice is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that takes on the biggest systemic threats to justice of our time–abusive corporate power and predatory practices, the assault on civil rights, and the destruction of the earth’s sustainability. It connects high impact litigation with strategic communications and the strength of our partnerships to fight these abusive and discriminatory systems and win social and economic justice.

Our Students’ Civil Rights Project (SCRP) invites rising third‐year law students and law graduates to apply for an opportunity to work with us as a legal fellow on cutting-edge litigation and advocacy related to discrimination in schools. We seek to host a candidate to apply for one‐ or two‐year public interest fellowships from funders such as Equal Justice Works, Skadden, Justice Catalyst, and/or law school public interest funds to begin in the fall of 2026. In consultation with Public Justice, candidates can decide which funders they apply to.

Overview of Students’ Civil Rights Project

Public Justice’s SCRP combines high-impact litigation with other advocacy tools to combat discrimination in schools. We strive to create systemic change so all students can learn and thrive, and to secure justice for students who are denied educational opportunities based on their race, national origin, ethnicity, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. We represent students at all stages of litigation, including pre‐suit negotiations, litigation in trial courts, appeals, and oppositions to cert petitions. Some of our ongoing and recent matters include:

• Doe v. South Carolina, a putative class action on behalf of a transgender student and a local LGBTQ+ rights organization challenging a state law that threatens to withhold funding from schools that permit transgender students to use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity
• Williamson v. Heritage Preschools LLC, a suit on behalf of the family of a Black toddler who was singled out for excessive discipline and eventually expelled because of his race
• Tennessee v. McMahon & Carroll Independent School District v. U.S. Department of Education, cases where federal district courts struck down a 2024 Title IX regulation in its entirety nationwide and we are seeking to intervene on a behalf of a nonprofit to revive, before the Fifth and Sixth Circuits, portions of the regulation related to pregnancy
• Victim Rights Law Center v. U.S. Department of Education, a case challenging the Trump administration’s decision to gut the Department’s Office for Civil Rights by imposing a massive reduction in force and closing over half its regional offices
• Brown v. Arizona, a successful appeal before the en banc Ninth Circuit, and then a successful opposition to a cert petition, concerning schools’ Title IX obligations to address off-campus sexual harassment

We also engage in policy and media advocacy on issues that affect our clients, create educational materials for students, families, and lawyers, and collaborate with other advocates, including student organizers. For more information about the SCRP’s work, visit our website here.

The Fellowship

Consistent with their funded project, the fellow would work on litigation and advocacy with the SCRP’s attorneys, as well as a network of lawyers who collaborate on Public Justice’s work, other public interest groups, and our communications staff. The Fellow would also be responsible for conducting intakes and helping develop materials to educate the public and the bar about their work. We are particularly interested in hosting a Fellow whose project focuses on anti-trans discrimination, hostile educational environments for immigrant students, discriminatory discipline based on race and/or gender, or discriminatory censorship in schools, though we are open to project proposals outside this scope. This is an exempt position and will report to a senior attorney. We will work closely with the selected candidate to craft an appropriate project proposal for fellowship applications. Employment is contingent upon the receipt of funding from an external funder in an amount no less than $50,000 per year.

Qualifications

• D. degree (by Fall 2026).
• Admission to a state bar or pending admission by Fall 2026
• Excellent analytical, legal research, legal writing, and speaking skills.
• Litigation experience (e.g., from internships, clinics, or clerkships).
• Ability to juggle multiple tasks at a time and work in a fast-paced environment.
• Self-motivation and proven ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Sensitivity to the needs and concerns of, and ability to work well with, individuals and groups from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and orientations.
• Excellent attention to detail and commitment to follow-through.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Healthy sense of outrage and desire to change the world for the better.
• Experience in civil litigation is preferred.
• Willingness to travel on occasion.
• Strong preference for candidates who would work on Eastern Time, like the rest of the SCRP team.

Salary

We offer a mission-focused work environment and a teamwork and community-oriented approach, and a competitive compensation package. Our attorneys are paid on a salary scale based on years out of law school. The annual salary for an attorney who is less than a year out of law school is $84,500. We offer healthy work-life balance policies, including operating on a four-day work week year-round.

Benefits

• Four-day work week (30-hour work week)
• Flexible schedule
• Three weeks of paid vacation
• Two weeks of sick leave
• Two personal days each year
• All federal holidays and some local holidays off (Public Justice acknowledge there are various religious and cultural holidays that are important to our team. We encourage team members to take any days necessary for observing holidays and celebrations that are central to their faith tradition or communities.)
• Employer-sponsored health plan
• 401 (k) plan

How to Apply

Your application should consist of two electronic files:

• The following should be in a single PDF file:
• Cover letter that conveys why you are drawn to Public Justice’s mission and the objectives of this position and how your experience fits with those objectives, and well as any ideas or vision you have for your project. Please specify in your cover letter whether you are applying to work in the Washington, D.C. office or remotely.
• Law school transcript (official or unofficial).
• Contact information for three references.
• Please send a separate PDF file of a writing sample, preferably a legal brief or memorandum unedited or only lightly edited by another, including a cover sheet explaining the extent of editing by someone else.

Please send your application to [email protected]. Reference “2026 SCRP Fellowship” in the subject line. Starting on Thursday, June 5, 2025, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access

We recognize that creating a truly equitable, inclusive, and diverse organization is an ongoing journey, and we’re proud and excited to share our journey with you. Please read our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy, available here.

Public Justice is an equal-opportunity employer and values a diverse workplace. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equitable employment opportunities are available to all applicants. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, national origin, citizenship of immigration status, disability, veteran status, record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. People of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender and gender diverse people, women, people with abilities in multiple languages, immigrants, people living with disabilities, veterans, and formerly incarcerated individuals are strongly encouraged to apply.

Public Justice is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require reasonable accommodations during any part of the hiring process, please email [email protected].

Studies have shown that members of marginalized groups tend to underestimate their qualifications and are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every single one of the qualifications in a job description, despite the reality that applicants rarely ever meet 100% of the qualifications. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization and are most interested in finding the best candidate for the role. That candidate may come from a background less traditional to our field of work, and that’s okay! We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of the qualifications described.

FALL 2025 LEGAL EXTERNS

with focus on Access to Justice Project, Debtors’ Prison Project, Environmental Enforcement Project, or Students’ Civil Rights Project

WASHINGTON, D.C., or REMOTE

View PDF of job listing here.

Who We Are

Public Justice is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that takes on the biggest systemic threats to justice of our time—abusive corporate power and predatory practices, the assault on civil rights, and the destruction of the Earth’s sustainability. It connects high impact litigation with strategic communications and the strength of our partnerships to fight these abusive and discriminatory systems and win social and economic justice.

What We Are Looking For

Public Justice seeks to hire four legal externs for the Fall 2025 semester, one in each of our four project areas. While each extern will focus on a single project area, they may work in other project areas as need and opportunity arise. Our four project areas are:

• The Access to Justice Project seeks to make the civil court system a fair, equitable, and effective tool for those with less power to win just outcomes. Primarily through high-impact litigation, we dismantle the procedural and structural barriers between ordinary people and the civil justice system, such as forced arbitration, limits on collective actions, overly strict standing requirements, and unwarranted court secrecy.
• The Debtors’ Prison Project fights to end the criminalization of poverty and shrink the carceral system. Working with allies and impacted communities, we use litigation, advocacy, and education to ensure no one is jailed simply because they can’t pay and to stop governments and for-profit corporations from treating people impacted by the system as a revenue source.
• The Students’ Civil Rights Project combines high-impact litigation with other advocacy tools to combat harassment and other forms of discrimination in schools. We strive to create systemic change so all students can learn and thrive, and to secure justice for students who are denied educational opportunities based on their race, national origin, ethnicity, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

• The Environmental Enforcement Project goes to court every day to fight climate change, secure environmental justice, and make polluters pay. We utilize the most powerful tools available to

citizens by enforcing our Nation’s environmental laws in state and federal court. Our

experienced litigators win precedent-setting cases that result in meaningful, transformative change. We hold polluters accountable by requiring corporations to clean up their act and comply with our Nation’s environmental laws.

The externs are welcome to work in-person in Public Justice’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., subject to pandemic conditions and vaccination status, or the externs may work remotely. All externs may assist attorneys in Public Justice’s Washington, D.C., office, as well as remote attorneys throughout the country.

Public Justice’s law externs research and develop new cases in conjunction with our attorneys, law fellows, and cooperating counsel. They also assist attorneys in ongoing litigation. Our law externs are involved in legal research and writing, case review, and brainstorming on theories and approaches designed to ensure that justice is achieved.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access

Public Justice is an equal-opportunity employer and values a diverse workplace. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equitable employment opportunities are available to all applicants. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, disability, veteran status, record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. People of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender and gender-diverse people, women, people with abilities in multiple languages, immigrants, people living with disabilities, veterans, and formerly incarcerated individuals are strongly encouraged to apply. Please visit this link to read our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access policy statement: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access.

Public Justice is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require reasonable accommodations during any part of the hiring process, please email [email protected]

How to Apply

These positions are open to those who can secure academic credit for their work with Public Justice. We

will help students secure academic credit from their schools. Applicants must be second- or third-year law students at the time of the externship, and 3Ls are preferred. We do not accept applications from first-year or undergraduate students.

Please submit your application to [email protected] no later than June 23, 2025. Reference the project for which you are applying in your subject line, and specify in your cover letter whether you are applying to work in the Washington, D.C., office or remotely. You must submit multiple applications to apply to more than one project. Applications should consist of two electronic files: (1) your cover letter, resume, transcript, and contact information for two references in a single .pdf file; and (2) a writing sample in another .pdf file.

For more information on Public Justice, please visit our website at www.publicjustice.net.