Legal Fellow

African Communities Together•Silver Spring, MD

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

African Communities Together (ACT) seeks to sponsor third-year law students, judicial law clerks, and recent law graduates for Skadden and Equal Justice Works public interest law fellowships starting in Fall of 2027. We will consider projects that fulfill ACT’s mission and are particularly interested in fellowship projects that are timely in responding to emerging community needs and/or explicitly seek to dismantle or mitigate obstacles to overcoming poverty and crisis and impede access to justice for communities who experience disparate outcomes and increased vulnerability. ACT works closely with applicants who we sponsor to develop a proposal once selected. Successful projects will expand the number of individuals impacted by our services, and will propose new models of service that center NYC communities in the design and implementation of the project, advance equity, deepen the breadth of services we provide, identify opportunities for inter-agency collaboration to should comprehensively respond to client needs, and/or leverage impact litigation to break down and systemic barriers and inequities. These legal interventions should focus on immigration and impact on African communities. Each project should include a combination of direct client services, community education, advocacy, pro bono involvement, and/or impact litigation. Projects may want to consider how technology and/or innovative engagement models may expand access to justice.

Requirements

Rising third-year law students or recent law school graduates eligible for Skadden and/or Equal Justice Works fellowship programs.
Passionate about the mission of ACT.
Dedicated to advancing social, racial, and economic justice through legal interventions and advocacy.

Nice To Haves

Fellowship projects that are timely in responding to emerging community needs.
Fellowship projects that explicitly seek to dismantle or mitigate obstacles to overcoming poverty and crisis and impede access to justice for communities who experience disparate outcomes and increased vulnerability.
Projects that center NYC communities in the design and implementation.
Projects that deepen the breadth of services provided.
Projects that identify opportunities for inter-agency collaboration.
Projects that leverage impact litigation to break down systemic barriers and inequities.
Consideration of how technology and/or innovative engagement models may expand access to justice.

Responsibilities

Develop fellowship projects that fulfill ACT’s mission, respond to emerging community needs, and dismantle obstacles to justice for vulnerable communities.
Expand the number of individuals impacted by ACT's services.
Propose new service models centered on NYC communities.
Advance equity and deepen the breadth of services provided.
Identify opportunities for inter-agency collaboration.
Leverage impact litigation to address systemic barriers and inequities.
Focus legal interventions on immigration and their impact on African communities.
Include a combination of direct client services, community education, advocacy, pro bono involvement, and/or impact litigation in projects.
Consider the use of technology and innovative engagement models to expand access to justice.