Law Clerk

Title: Law Clerk

Department: Legal & Strategic Initiatives

Status: Non-Exempt

Reports to: Associate General Counsel

Location: Flexible (the Law Clerk may decide whether to work remotely and/or from an LCV office)

Duration: 12 Weeks – Expected January 27 – April 18, 2025 (start and end dates flexible)

Schedule and Compensation: 20-40 hours per week, $20.00 per hour (unless otherwise funded)

General Description:

LCV believes our earth is worth fighting for because everyone has a right to clean air, water, and a safe, healthy community. To ensure those rights are protected, we help people use their power to shape policy, hold politicians and polluters accountable, and influence elections. For more than 50 years, LCV has grown into a potent political force for protecting our planet and everyone who inhabits it. We have built a powerful national movement with 30 state affiliates, and grassroots and community organizing programs across the country.

The Legal & Strategic Initiatives department, which serves as in-house general counsel to the organization, consists of three attorneys and advises on a wide variety of legal matters. The department specializes in advising the LCV family of organizations (a 501(c)(4), 501(c)(3), and several PACs) on their advocacy, electoral, and civic engagement activities, as well as legal compliance and risk management in their operations and employment practices.

LCV is seeking a Law Clerk who will support its legal team on a variety of issues ranging from labor and employment law questions, intellectual property, telecommunications, data and cybersecurity, federal and state election law, nonprofit tax law and governance, and ethics and gift rules, etc. Please note that the work of the Legal & Strategic Initiatives department generally does not involve environmental law issues.

The Law Clerk will primarily engage in legal research, writing and analysis of varying levels of formality and complexity, including analyzing legislation and litigation impacting LCV’s activities or operations. The Law Clerk will also be asked to prepare guidance documents on legal issues for non-legal staff and/or to help prepare and conduct training for them. The Law Clerk will also likely get exposure to and a chance to learn more about grantmaking and campaign finance compliance obligations. The Law Clerk will join a Spring 2025 internship cohort that will have access to development opportunities including informational interviews with staff and organization-wide training and discussions.

Law Clerk Will Gain Experience in:

• Conducting complex legal research, writing, and analysis to address live questions presented for the organization, including campaign finance, employment and labor law issues, and the operation of a collective bargaining agreement.
• Analyzing recent or pending legislation and litigation.
• Developing guidance on legal topics for non-attorney staff members.
• Supporting the department’s efforts to provide legal services more equitably and inclusively to all staff.

Qualifications:

• Education: Required – At least one year of law school. Preferred – LCV prefers to hire a law clerk who has either taken employment and/or labor law classes or who has experience on political campaigns.
• Experience: Preferred – Prior internship or work experience with a nonprofit organization, government agency, law firm, or labor union.
• Skills: Highly organized; strong attention to detail; excellent written and oral communications skills; strong legal research, writing, and analysis skills; exhibits solid judgment; critical thinking skills; able to work independently and as part of a team; able to handle multiple tasks; self-starter; proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite and Westlaw; ability to explain legal concepts to non-legal audiences. Preferred – Spanish language competency is a plus.
• Racial Justice and Equity Competencies: Demonstrated awareness of how one’s life experiences influence one’s personal attitudes, biases, and assumptions. Demonstrated commitment to continual learning and ability to successfully deliver culturally responsive services. Commitment to equity and inclusion as organizational practice and culture. Understands how environmental issues intersect with racism, economic and social inequality in the U.S. and has a passion for working to dismantle these systems. Commitment to environmental protection and mission of LCV.
• Working Conditions: Applicants must be located in and legally authorized to work in in the United States.

LCV offers sick leave, voting leave, and paid holidays that the organization observes, including federal holidays.

To Apply: Send your resume, cover letter, and an unedited writing sample1 to hr@lcv.org with “Law Clerk” in the subject line by November 11, 2024. No phone calls, please.

LCV is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a racially just, equitable and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information, or any other protected status. LCV is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please contact hr@lcv.org.

1 The writing sample is usually a document you wrote in the past for a class, job or law/business journal. It should highlight your legal reasoning and analytical skills. It is fine if it has been revised as a result of feedback from others as long as you are the one who made the revisions. Three to twelve pages is appropriate (if possible, provide an entire product, but if you cannot due to the length requirement, please provide the portion that better reflects your legal reasoning).