Building Counsel

Summary

Join the Alliance for Justice (AFJ) and AFJ Action Campaign as their Building the Bench Counsel! This role is integral to the Justice Team, focusing on transforming courts by identifying and developing highly qualified judicial nominees. You will play a lead role in tracking, research, and event management, supporting various initiatives to increase diversity in the judiciary. The position requires a J.D. and 2+ years of legal experience, strong research and communication skills, and a commitment to social justice. AFJ offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and a remote work environment.

Requirements

• J.D. and 2+ years of experience in legal, policy and advocacy work
• Strong proficiency with spreadsheets (e.g., Google Sheets, Excel) and willingness to learn advanced formulas and data management tools
• Experience managing and analyzing data to inform strategy and decision-making
• Strong legal research skills and a demonstrated ability or willingness to quickly develop expertise on the laws and processes governing state and federal judicial appointments and elections
• Ability to work quickly and independently under pressure, with shifting deadlines and priorities
• Strong networking experience with progressive coalitions and legal communities
• Capacity to manage multiple long-term and short-term projects simultaneously
• Excellent oral and written communications skills, shifting for different audiences
• Demonstrated commitment to underrepresented and diverse constituencies
• Strong comfort and effectiveness in a remote work environment, including responsiveness and willingness to engage on video calls
• Strong attention to detail and ability to multitask
• Ability to keep all job-acquired information confidential
• Ability to inspire and work collegially with others
• Passion for civil rights, social justice, and judicial advocacy
• Strong interpersonal skills and positive attitude

Responsibilities

• Identify and research potential qualified candidates for the BtB pipeline
• Oversee the research of potential nominees, including in coordination with law firms, initiative partners, outside counsel, and volunteers
• Review and edit research, op-eds, fact sheets, and reports for our federal and state courts work, including those about specific nominees as well as substantive topics like judicial diversity
• Maintain and manage data tracking systems, such as spreadsheets and databases, for BtB candidates, outreach efforts, and ongoing projects
• Help draft, review, and edit press and collateral materials for BtB, including fact sheets, blogs, web presence, social media, press, and reports
• Support meetings with key legislative and executive offices in coordination with the state and federal courts teams
• Liaise and help build relationships with partner groups, nominations coalition, AFJ members, and other thought-leaders and allied organizations
• Work with AFJ’s networks of attorneys and community leaders to source referrals for potential candidates
• Speak at legal and policy conferences, and brief academics, member organizations, and other audiences on BtB and other initiatives
• Identify state and federal judges who should be honored for their legacies and do outreach to the clerk networks of those judges
• Help plan and execute judicial legacies events (in coordination with other internal teams)
• Work with the communications team on the external presence for building the bench and judicial legacies initiatives
• Coordinate with the state and federal courts teams to develop relationships with key judicial gatekeepers
• Support coalition efforts to track and strategize around federal magistrate judge vacancies and nominations
• Develop and maintain clear documentation of processes, workflows, and strategic priorities
• Coordinate with law firms, outside counsel, law students, and non-attorney volunteers to advance the above initiatives
• Other duties as assigned
• Assist BtB Director to set team strategies, identify geographic priorities, and craft a continually developing work plan for BtB and judicial legacies
• Assist BtB Director to engage and support the BtB Advisory Council and AFJ Action board

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in judicial pipelines, judicial clerkships, civil rights, labor, consumer, public interest and/or constitutional law
• Experience coordinating staff across various geographies and issue areas
• Strong project and data management skills, and experience working with CRM databases and project management software

Benefits

• Full employer-paid medical, dental, vision benefits, as well as an employee assistance program for physical and mental well-being
• Employer-paid life and disability insurance
• Employer matching 401K plan
• Flexible spending account
• Vacation: 11 days for first year of employment, 15 days for second year, and 21 days after 3 years
• Sick Leave – 10 days per year
• Bereavement Leave – Employees are granted 3 days of bereavement for the deaths of immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.)
• Up to 16 weeks of parental leave and a range of paid and unpaid family leave programs that allow our employees to bond with and care for their children and other dependents