Counsel, Justice Program

Position Overview

The Brennan Center’s Justice Program seeks a talented attorney to join a cutting-edge interdisciplinary team working to create a fair and equitable criminal justice system that champions evidence-based reforms to protect both individual rights and public safety. Reporting to a Justice Program Director, the attorney will help us build a research and policy agenda to achieve smarter policing and sentencing policies, more humane prison conditions, and supportive reentry programs. The Counsel will help the justice team build out state advocacy to improve the justice system, with a focus on prison reform, and in assisting the Program in researching and drafting reports, briefs, and other public facing work. The Counsel will also provide legal support to advance the Center’s advocacy efforts at the state, local, and federal levels. Finally, the counsel will provide research and advocacy support to Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration (LEL), a project of the Justice Program.

Responsibilities

• Assist the team to support state legislation across the country to improve the justice system, with a specific focus on improving prisons
• Assist staff members in researching, developing, and co-authoring reports and policy proposals and for a wide variety of audiences – legal, legislative, media, and public
• Help senior staff generate new project ideas by researching and drafting concept papers, funding proposals, and other written work (including articles, opinion pieces, speeches, and organizational materials)
• Conduct research at the direction of mid-level and senior attorneys
• Manage development and implementation of projects, as assigned
• Take on special projects and other duties as assigned
• Conduct research for and draft white papers, talking points, public statements, articles, and other materials to support the LEL project
• Help staff and manage working group projects focusing on specific timely topics related to law enforcement and justice, including identifying relevant topics and experts
• Monitor legislation, hearings, and other developments in relevant issue areas
• Provide research support for meetings with current or former law enforcement officials, advocacy group leaders as well as committee testimony, Hill briefings and other public events, and high-level meetings

Qualifications

• J.D. required. This is a mid-level position open to applicants who are a few years out of law school, including recent judicial law clerks and others with 3-4 years of work experience post-law school. The ideal candidate will have some combination of the following experiences and qualifications.
• Excellent legal research and analysis skills
• Experience working on state legislative priorities
• A creative, problem-solving mindset, with demonstrated ability to turn ideas into products or actions
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize effectively in a fast-paced environment
• Desire and ability to write for a variety of audiences, including the general public
• Strong interpersonal skills and sound judgment, including the ability to work with diverse constituencies both inside and outside the organization
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Comfort working with social science research and experts
• Openness to feedback
• Ability to multitask, pay attention to detail, work under pressure, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• A self-starter’s mindset, eagerness to work in a team-based environment, and openness to feedback from colleagues at all levels of experience