Senior Fellowship in Civil Justice at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy

Goal: The DMI Fellowship in Civil Justice is designed to develop a new generation of lawyers who can contribute in both legal and policy arenas to the preservation of access to the courts and our civil justice system.

This Fellowship was created for an outstanding third-year law school student with a demonstrated commitment to social justice. The DMI Fellow would work with DMI’s research and communications staffs to make a contribution to the movement to preserve access to the courts through the development of new tools that make this case, and new constituencies who view this issue as a priority.

The Fellow will be assigned an off-site mentor who is an expert in the field.

- The Fellow will work on making the public case for the preservation of access to the courts and our civil justice system. The Fellow will receive communications training as well as research support. More specifically, the Fellow will:

- Monitor legislative and legal developments in related areas
- Conduct and synthesize relevant civil justice research
- Write Op-Eds and other publications for popular audiences
- Maintain TortDeform.com: The Civil Justice Defense Blog, our popular and highly trafficked blog, including regular posting, recruiting guest contributors, and promoting the blog to new audiences
- Represent DMI publicly at events and in the media
- Write comprehensive law review articles on the topic of access to the courts and the civil justice system
- Develop relationships with organizations affiliated with these issues and the broader economic justice and civil rights organizations that need to make this issue a priority.

Criteria: Successful candidates are third-year law school students who: have experience in grassroots activism or advocacy, are excellent communicators (oral and written); have existing or potential media savvy; are organized self-starters with project management skills, and have an interest in the fields of law and public policy. This is an equal opportunity position, and special attention will be paid to minority recruitment.

Stipend: The Fellow will receive an annual stipend of $50,000 with full benefits.

Timeline: The Fellowship is expected to begin in June of 2007.

Expressions of interest should be directed to Andrea Batista Schlesinger at abs@drummajorinstitute.org. Please send cover letter, resume, writing sample, and references by February 15, 2007.