Law Clerks to Support National Education Programs

Root & Rebound seeks law student clerks to support our National Education programs.

This is an unpaid internship position for current and/or recent law students and can be performed remotely from anywhere in the United States.

ABOUT ROOT & REBOUND: R&R is a national reentry advocacy organization that provides know-your-rights education, direct legal services, policy reform and impact litigation to support formerly incarcerated people and people with convictions to navigate barriers to employment, housing, family reunification, obtaining ID, and more due to their record. Our mission is to restore power and resources to the families and communities most harmed by mass incarceration through legal advocacy, public education, policy reform and litigation — a model rooted in the needs and expertise of people who are directly impacted.

LAW CLERK OPPORTUNITY: As a law clerk at R&R, students have the unique opportunity to work holistically on the issues of “reentry law”—directly supporting individuals who are navigating the 48,000 documented legal barriers related to their criminal record. Unlike most legal externships, law students clerking at R&R learn about many areas of law– employment, civil rights, parole and probation, family, housing, immigration, and many other substantive areas of legal practice as they impact justice-involved people.

Those with lived experience are highly encouraged to apply.

Qualifications:

• Currently in second or third year of law school or recent law school graduate. If you are a 1L looking for a volunteer opportunity, please reach out and learn about our incarcerated caller hotline opportunity.
• Desire to work with people with arrest and conviction histories, and on criminal justice issues in a dynamic legal environment.
• Demonstrated interest in racial justice and improving the lives of disenfranchised people and communities.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to distill complex legal ideas into easy to understand educational materials.
• Ability to comfortably and appropriately communicate with a diverse group of stakeholders including currently and formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones, staff, community partners, and others.

Responsibilities:

● R&R’s legal team educates systems-impacted people, their families, social service providers, employers, HR managers, probation departments, attorneys, workforce development professionals, and other stakeholders about reentry legal barriers and how to overcome those obstacles on the path to greater stability and opportunity. R&R has published and continues to create many topic- and audience-specific tools for systems-impacted communities in California, South Carolina, and nationally. Responsibilities may include:

• Conducting legal research and writing about the most current and relevant reentry legal issues to continuously update and improve our Roadmap to Reentry guides, Reentry Planning Toolkit, and other toolkits and resources;
• Assisting with developing surveys and/or focus groups to help continued improvement of R&R’s educational materials;
• Helping staff develop legal trainings in the community and, perhaps, assist with those trainings;
• Other similar responsibilities as needed.

Please note: This is not a direct services position. We are looking for law students particularly interested in legal research, writing, and other processes required for developing legal educational materials for people navigating reentry.

Application Instructions: To apply for a position, please fill out an application at this link. The application will ask for:

1. Resume;

2. Cover letter

   1. Your interest in the position. Please indicate which of the programs you are applying for.

   2. how many hours per week you would like to commit,

   3. which semester you are applying for.

3. Short sample of legal writing (4 pages max.); and

4. At least 2 references with contact information and a description of how they know you.

Incomplete applications–including those without clarifying the semester, hours and location of interest–will not be considered.

No phone calls, please.
Decisions will be made on a rolling basis.

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Root & Rebound is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from all qualified individuals including women, people of color, people with conviction histories, persons with disabilities, ethnic and religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming individuals.