Career Development Office Blog

The mission of the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project (DCVLP) is to increase the pool of trained pro bono lawyers donating their services to low-income families in the District and supporting these lawyers with the necessary resources to provide high-quality representation. The DCVLP’s primary goal is to recruit, train and support these attorneys so they can help local women and families achieve stability and security.

Position Description:

The Managing Attorney for the Domestic Violence Practice reports to the DCVLP Management Team (Co-Executive Directors and Managing Director). 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Oversees all aspects of the Domestic Violence practice area
• Designs and implements training programs for volunteers preparing to take CPO cases, and Divorce and Custody cases representing victims of domestic violence
• Serves as primary contact for DCVLP’s partner organization, Survivors and Advocates For Empowerment (SAFE), regarding intake and referral of CPO cases
• Represents DCVLP in practitioner, task force, and other regular and special meetings of local legal services providers and keeps Management Team and volunteers apprised of relevant information arising from such meeting through memoranda, weekly update and other communications as needed 

Minimum Qualifications:

• A J.D. degree from an accredited law school
• Active D.C. Bar membership or ability to become an active D.C. Bar member prior to first day of employment
• Three or more years of relevant work experience, preferably with a legal services organization that provides legal services to survivors of domestic violence
• Experience managing volunteers in a legal setting also is desirable
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Fluency in Spanish is a plus
• Excellent organizational skills, ability to manage multiple priorities at once, and ability to work independently
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to develop good working relationships with volunteers, staff, partner organizations and members of local legal services and domestic violence coalitions
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well with minimal supervision
• Competence in MS Word, MS Excel and online legal research tools and willingness to become competent using DCVLP’s case management system and online pleadings library
• Ability to handle and maintain confidential and sensitive information in accordance with attorney-client privilege requirements and accepted standards for domestic violence service providers
• Monitors changes to judicial process and legal precedent that are relevant to the Domestic Violence Practice and ensures that changes are communicated to attorney volunteers and additional information and/or training is developed as appropriate
• Assists Management Team with recruitment of attorney volunteers, including participation in meetings and conferences for this purpose
• Assists Management Team with special projects (including on-going communications efforts and responses to specific media inquiries) as necessary

To Apply: 

Please send cover letter, resume and writing sample to Claudia Gwilliam.

The application deadline is October 11, 2012.

For additional information, please visit the website.

Application deadline: October 15, 2012

INTERIGHTS is pleased to invite applications for a six-month funded internship for a lawyer or academic with experience working on human rights in Europe.

Established in 1982, INTERIGHTS works to promote respect for human rights through the use of law. They achieve this through a range of activities: strategic litigation through co-representation, legal support to applicants and third party interventions before international, regional and national human rights courts and bodies; advising lawyers on the use of international and comparative human rights law before their domestic courts; building capacity through litigation partnerships, targeted training activities and internships, and through the dissemination of legal information. Thematically, INTERIGHTS’ priorities are equality, security and the rule of law (including counter-terrorism), and economic and social rights (ESR). INTERIGHTS currently focuses its activities in Africa, the Commonwealth, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

The precise nature of internship activities will depend on organisational and programme priorities at the time of the placement; however, it is likely that the main areas in which experience will be offered will include:

• Legal research on international and comparative human rights law and practice to support the preparation of legal submissions in cases to be lodged with or pending before the European Court of Human Rights, as well as other legal      work depending on INTERIGHTS’ needs at the time
• Preparation of materials for INTERIGHTS’ training workshops
• Assistance on INTERIGHTS’ publications
• Where possible, attendance at meetings with human rights practitioners, lectures, or visits to other international/national human rights organisations based in London

The six-month internship will begin on 2 January 2013 and will be based in London.

INTERIGHTS will arrange and pay for travel. The intern will receive a monthly grant of £1,300. Accommodation is not provided but INTERIGHTS can advise on finding a suitable place to stay.

Applicants should check the attached terms of reference to ensure that they fit the requirements before applying. This internship is only open to a practising human rights lawyer. Non-lawyers or lawyers without experience in human rights law should please not apply.

To apply please send a covering letter, a curriculum vitae indicating two referees, a recent writing sample of no more than two thousand words and a completed equality and diversity monitoring form. Short-listed applicants may be interviewed by telephone. Due to the high number of applications for our internships we are unable to contact applicants that have not been short listed.

Applications should be sent to Chloë Marong via email. Please enter the title of the internship you are applying for in the subject heading of your email. The closing date for applications is 15 October 2012. Interviews will take place in the week commencing 29 October 2012.