ACLU-NC Staff Attorney

About the ACLU of North Carolina

Founded in 1965, the ACLU of North Carolina (ACLU-NC), an affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union, is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that stands as the state’s guardian of liberty – working in courts, the General Assembly, and communities to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for all North Carolinians.

The ACLU-NC brings together litigation, legislative advocacy, communications, and organizing strategies to empower communities and achieve our objectives in major issue areas including criminal law reform, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ equality, reproductive freedom, and the rights of immigrants. With nearly 30,000 members and supporters across the state, the ACLU-NC has a staff of more than 25 people with an office in the Raleigh/Durham area.

The Opportunity

The ACLU-NC Legal Foundation (ACLU-NC/LF) seeks to hire one full-time Staff Attorney to join a passionate and dedicated team. In light of an escalating civil and human rights crisis for immigrants in our state, we anticipate that the Staff Attorney will spend significant time working to develop and conduct immigrants’ rights litigation in federal courts. The Staff Attorney will work under the legal director’s supervision and in close collaboration with other attorneys, paralegals, law student interns, and co-counsel, as well as staff from the policy and advocacy and communications departments. Staff Attorneys work in a fast-paced environment to address emerging and ongoing civil rights issues through complex litigation, community education, and integrated advocacy. They work as part of a multidisciplinary team whose leadership includes community organizers and other directly impacted people. The ideal Staff Attorney will be able to move fluidly from the courtroom to the community and will be able to work with diverse allies and coalitions to achieve our ambitious goals.

Key Responsibilities

You’ll help us protect and advance the rights of all North Carolinians by:

• Investigating, developing, and litigating high-impact civil rights cases in federal and state courts to protect and expand the constitutional rights of North Carolinians. This includes conducting effective community outreach to impacted people; investigating possible civil rights violations; drafting and filing correspondence, pleadings, motions, and briefs; conducting written and oral discovery; negotiating and enforcing settlements; and presenting oral argument and evidence in hearings and trials.
• Developing and implementing non-litigation advocacy campaigns in partnership with colleagues and coalition partners who are not lawyers.
• Organizing and leading community education events and trainings to advance our strategic priorities.
• Providing expert legal analysis of legislation and legal research and strategy assistance in support of campaigns.
• Working with non-lawyer staff and coalition partners to implement multi-faceted advocacy campaigns.
• Representing the ACLU of North Carolina in coalition spaces.
• Preparing summaries and reports of legal issues and cases for the public, as well as ACLU membership, staff, and leadership.
• Serving as a spokesperson for the ACLU of North Carolina at public forums, meetings, and in the media.
• Providing administrative support in recruiting and managing interns and legal fellows as needed. Occasional other administrative support is required of all team members on an as-needed basis.
• Engaging in occasional travel, and occasionally working evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.

To Be Successful in This Role, the Candidate Will Have

The Staff Attorney will be ready to hit the ground running to expand the organization’s work as a leading advocate for the civil rights of North Carolinians. Other requirements include:

• J.D. degree required
• At least 3 years of experience as a practicing litigator is strongly preferred. Significant complex civil litigation experience—especially experience litigating civil rights cases in federal court
• Membership in good standing with the North Carolina Bar or admission to the North Carolina Bar within one year of hire is required.
• Demonstrated ability to meet tight deadlines while managing a docket that includes multiple cases in various stages of active litigation is strongly preferred. The ability to proactively communicate as part of a team, ask for support, and delegate as needed to ensure all work is completed on time, is critical in this role.
• Demonstrated ability to participate in all stages of complex litigation, from initial investigation through trial and appeal, and readiness to take a leading role in cases is strongly preferred. Successful applicants will be able to identify both well-established and novel legal theories and build cases to advance state and federal constitutional jurisprudence on behalf of marginalized communities.
• Demonstrated commitment to the civil liberties mission and social justice principles of the ACLU is required. “Demonstrated commitment” can include, but is not limited to, prior employment. It can also include significant experience in law school clinics or other volunteer efforts, such as unpaid activism or pro bono work.
• Ability to consistently draft written work products that meet deadlines, reflect thorough legal research, is self-edited, and contains concise, up-to-date analysis of the law is required.
• Demonstrated ability to make successful arguments to courts based on established law, to develop creative legal theories, and to write clearly and persuasively is required.
• Demonstrated personal commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion is required, including a personal approach that values individual lived experience and respects differences of race, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and socio-economic circumstances.
• Ability to think creatively and to use non-litigation strategies to promote objectives is strongly preferred, including building coalitions with ally organizations, engaging in public advocacy, and working under the leadership of non-lawyers and directly impacted people.
• High levels of emotional intelligence, humility, personal accountability, and well-developed listening skills are required in this role to successfully build relationships with clients, co-counsel, and coalition partners.
• Commitment to working collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts is required.
• Excellent computer skills, including knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, are required.

To Stand Out from Others, You Will Have:

• Experience working with diverse and marginalized communities is strongly preferred, including work with immigrant, incarcerated, and/or low-income people, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ people.
• Significant experience in immigrants’ rights advocacy is strongly preferred.
• Experience with one or more of the ACLU of North Carolina's other strategic priority areas: racial justice, criminal law reform, gender equity, reproductive freedom, or LGBTQIA+ equality is preferred.
• Proficiency in Spanish is strongly preferred.

What Else You Should Know

You are welcome here! The ACLU-NC is committed to an inclusive work environment that reflects the population that we serve. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to building an organization where all employees and North Carolinians can be proud. We eagerly anticipate applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, parental status, veteran status, or record of arrest or conviction.

Compensation

The salary range for this position starts at $74,000, with additional salary depending on experience. Excellent benefits include but are not limited to:

• Three weeks paid vacation at time of hire (increasing to four weeks after two years)
• 10 paid office holidays, 1 floating holiday, and winter recess (December 25-January 1)
• 10 paid sick days
• Hybrid work environment
• Generous medical, dental and vision insurance options for staff members, their dependents and spouse/domestic partner
• Flexible spending and dependent care accounts
• Up to twelve weeks of paid medical leave
• Life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance
• Short-term disability and long-term disability insurance
• 401(k) defined contribution retirement plan with employer match
• Annual professional development allotment
• Free on-site parking

This position is exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The ACLU-NC/LF is a unionized employer, and the Staff Attorney position is part of the union bargaining unit. Salary and benefits are subject to a collective bargaining agreement.

To Apply

Applications should include a cover letter that explains your specific interest in litigating complex civil rights cases in North Carolina and your interest and any experience in immigrants’ rights advocacy. The cover letter should also address why, based on your experience, you will be an effective advocate for social justice in this setting. Your application should also include your resume, one legal writing sample (no more than 15 pages, with a strong preference that you provide us with an example of something you filed in court), and a list of at least three professional references, including at least one who has directly supervised your legal work. Your writing sample should be something that you primarily authored and edited, without significant drafting or editing by others.

Applications should include all the materials outlined above and submitted as one (1) PDF via this link ACLU-NC Staff Attorney - American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina - Career Page. Please note that we will only be able to follow up with those candidates under consideration. Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis beginning March 2025 until the position is filled.

The ACLU-NC and the ACLU-NCLF is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. Recognizing that strict minimum requirements tend to disproportionately discourage women and people of color from applying for jobs for which they would otherwise be competitive, we encourage all qualified individuals to apply -- especially people of color; women; people from low-income backgrounds; people with disabilities; people who identify as LGBTQIA+; and people who are formerly incarcerated or otherwise directly impacted by the criminal legal system.