Legal Director and Clinical Supervising Attorney, Gilbert Global Justice & Human Rights Center

University of Southern California•Los Angeles, CA

1d•$143,194 - $180,000•Onsite

About The Position

The University of Southern California, Gould School of Law seeks a highly motivated Legal Director and Clinical Supervising Attorney to help establish and operate its new Justice & Accountability Initiative, a core pillar of the Gilbert Global Justice & Human Rights Center. This is a fixed-term position. The initial contract term is one year, renewable for additional one-to-three-year terms full-time, based on funding. The position will report to the Center’s Faculty Director. The Gilbert Center’s mission is to engage students, scholars, and practitioners in education, research, and projects that promote respect for human rights while strengthening international law and institutions for preventing atrocities, holding perpetrators accountable, protecting refugees, and providing transitional justice for impacted communities in the wake of serious violations of human rights. The Justice & Accountability Initiative (JAI) will prioritize research and projects that focus on atrocity prevention, accountability and transitional justice such as documenting crimes against humanity and genocide (building on lessons from Nuremberg), drafting legal documents and instruments for progressive development of international law to uphold human rights while preventing and punishing atrocities, and engaging in strategic litigation before national and international courts and tribunals as well as human rights mechanisms. The Initiative will harness and mobilize expert legal advocacy, research, and education for holding perpetrators accountable before national, regional and international courts, mechanisms and human rights bodies, while representing and centering the voices of victims and survivors in the pursuit of holistic, transformative justice for impacted communities. The project will also provide tools, training, and resources for expanding the global community of current and next generation advocates in the pursuit of justice and peace for atrocity situations. The Center supports conferences, symposia, and reasonable travel associated with Center programs such as the Justice & Accountability Initiative. The Center expects to host or sponsor annual events with the goal of bringing together leading academics, practitioners, and policymakers from across the country and around the world to discuss critical problems and challenges that exist within the realm of human rights and international law. We are seeking a visionary leader who will work with the Center’s Faculty Director to launch its Justice & Accountability Initiative. The ideal candidate possesses the desire to have national and global impact on the critical and urgent conversations surrounding atrocity prevention/accountability, refugee protection, transitional justice and human rights, particularly in contexts of rising authoritarianism. The candidate must possess strong entrepreneurial skills and be self-motivated, well organized and a collaborative leader with management experience. Candidates must possess superb legal research and writing skills; excellent oral and written communication skills; and be willing to engage in external outreach in collaboration with the law school’s communications and development teams. Candidates must also have a passion for educating, mentoring and supervising law students as the next generation of human rights advocates. In addition, the Legal Director will assist with both final exam administration and proctoring at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters and commencement each year and perform other related duties as assigned or requested. The university reserves the right to add or change duties at any time.

Requirements

J.D from an ABA accredited U.S. school.
Excellent academic record which includes education in international law, specifically international criminal law, and international human rights law and institutions.
Membership in the California Bar or another U.S. bar certification.
At least five to seven years’ experience pursuing litigation for justice and accountability for atrocity crimes or serious human rights abuses including before the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court or other international criminal justice courts and tribunals, human rights mechanisms and national courts through universal jurisdiction or other domestic statutes.
A strong record of collaboration in litigation with local counsel, law firms, or human rights organizations and advocates.
Experience working with families of victims or survivors of atrocity crimes or serious human rights abuse.
At least two years’ experience supervising junior attorneys.
Demonstrated management and organizational skills.
Experience presenting at public events on key legal and policy issues for advancing accountability and justice for atrocities.
Project development experience.
Atrocity accountability work experience specifically focused on corporate accountability, justice for crimes of gender-based violence or refugee protection in particular.
Clinical legal education or teaching experience.
Advanced degrees from schools in the U.S. or globally in international law and human rights.
Prior experience working in the university setting.
Fund-raising experience.
Legal publications.
Fluency in languages other than English.

Responsibilities

Lead case-building, legal strategy, investigations or open-source evidence collection work for atrocity prevention and accountability projects.
Develop key intergovernmental, government and private sector partnerships.
Manage legal work and supervise students in the Center’s International Human Rights Clinic.
Mentor students interested in careers in human rights and international criminal justice and help place them in relevant internship/externships.
Design and teach Executive Education, CLE accredited courses for professionals—judges, prosecutors, journalists and pro bono law firm attorneys.
Engage in research that advance legislation and policies on accountability, prevention and transitional justice for atrocity situations.
Lead high-level convenings that advance thought leadership and strategies for advancing justice for atrocity situations.
Advance and grow the center through fundraising efforts, including grant-writing and donor relations.
Assist with both final exam administration and proctoring at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters and commencement each year.
Perform other related duties as assigned or requested.