Policy Counsel

Innocence Project•New York, NY

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Policy Department advances the Innocence Project’s reform agenda by promoting state and federal policies that strengthen the fairness and reliability of the criminal legal system and aim to reduce the risk of wrongful convictions. The team leads advocacy campaigns across key issues, including state-level legal reforms and work on national efforts to improve the scientific foundation and equitable use of forensic and investigative methods. Under the leadership of the Director of Policy, the department sets reform strategy, manages campaigns and external partners, and drives progress toward ambitious policy goals while maintaining an inclusive and values-driven approach to criminal legal reform. The Policy Counsel will play a significant role in advancing the Policy Department’s policy efforts by collaborating in the development of Policy Department strategies, researching and analyzing legislation, managing in-depth legal research, including 50-state comparisons of key criminal justice statutes, analyzing recent case law and court rules, drafting and reviewing legislation in collaboration with the State Policy Advocates and other Department staff, monitoring and analyzing federal policy proposals, executive orders, and proposed rules and directives, leading and managing the high court rules strategy, collaborating across departments, including Strategic Litigation and Post-conviction Litigation, assisting in the development of advocacy materials, and translating complex legal issues for relevant policy messages that are accurate and understandable across multiple audiences. The goal of this position is to accelerate the Policy Department’s impact in achieving transformative policy change. The Policy Counsel must be skilled at legal and policy research, collaborative, an excellent writer, detail-oriented, and highly organized. The Policy Counsel must be self-directed, have sound judgement, be able to operate independently, and have a high degree of knowledge of legal issues impacting wrongful convictions. This position reports directly to the Director of Policy and works closely with the entire Policy team. We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, we are not able to sponsor visas and we are not an e-verify employer. The duties of this position require approximately 40 hours of work per week to be performed virtually/in-office. This position requires the ability to travel roughly 5% of the time. We currently have a hybrid in-office model, with all employees in the office three days per week and the remainder of the week remotely. Wednesday is our organization’s “anchor day” where all staff works in the office. The number of required in-office days is subject to change.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school is required
Current member, in good standing, of the New York bar or eligibility for admission to the New York bar via motion pursuant to Section 520.10 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law within 6 months of start date is required
Must have at least 3 years public policy experience either within government or with an issue-advocacy organization
Possess a high degree of knowledge on court rule-making authority and process; familiar with best practices and strategies for court rule advocacy
Must have experience conducting policy and legal research, including ability to use LexisNexis and/or WestLaw
Ability to travel roughly 5% of the time
Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S.

Nice To Haves

Experience authoring articles, position statements, or white papers on criminal law reform and/or public policy
Experience translating complex information and developing materials for policy initiatives or campaigns
Experience facilitating and assisting with large-scale legal projects
Active participation in coalitions or large groups, proven ability to synthesize group goals and collaborate work

Responsibilities

Track, monitor and analyze, proposed laws, regulations, and emerging legal developments at the federal, state, local levels related to criminal legal legislation, particularly those that affect revealing, correcting, or preventing wrongful convictions.
Support state-based policy campaigns with research and analysis, including: State-by-state comparisons of specific criminal justice laws and policies; Analysis of legislation relating to IP’s policy reforms, including legislative histories & fiscal notes; and Analysis of court decisions and case law that affect our policy reform agenda.
Develop policy materials, such as fact sheets, for use by network partners, respond to requests for information and materials, and provide relevant training for network members in settings such as webinars, the policy symposium, and the network conference.
Perform in-depth legal research and draft policy and advocacy materials, including multi-state landscapes, position papers, reports, memos, white papers, op-eds, and formal comments on proposed rulemakings.
Draft and amend legislation and proposed regulations and court rules in collaboration with state policy advocates and other staff.
Track, monitor, and report on developing areas of case law, active litigation, and court rule amendments in substantive issue areas related to the Innocence Project’s state policy agenda.
Manage the Policy Department’s library of materials and continuously update with new content; conduct periodic audits of library materials; advise the Department and Director of significant developments impacting the Department’s legislative issue areas.
Assume a leading and strategic role in new Department initiatives as assigned by the Director of Policy.
Respond to inquiries by Post-conviction Litigation or Strategic Litigation staff attorneys to provide legislative history research and draft legal memoranda; collaborate with Data Science & Research projects; interface with all programmatic departments.
Draft and submit comments to state court rule proposals, amendments, and executive orders.
Advise the Policy Department on emerging legal, legislative, technological, and other developments in innocence issues areas.
Develop strategy, lead implementation and provide resources for the Innocence Project’s court rule reform agenda; draft and submit state court rule proposals, comments, and amendments; Synthesize and organize complex information into clear and well-written briefing materials for members of the Policy Program.
Assist the Director of Policy with managing the federal legislative agenda and executive branch orders and directives.
Assist Policy Advocates in developing support materials (including case law reviews, testimony, policy advocacy planning, and legal research) for Network partners and lobbyists as needed in service of state policy campaigns.
Aid policy team with the preparation of testimony, briefings, webinars and other external engagements.
Develop external relationships with national criminal legal reform organizations
Partner with internal departments—such as Strategic Litigation, Post-conviction Litigation, and Data Science and Research—to identify emerging issues and opportunities, align policy strategies, and monitor litigation developments.
Review, summarize and educate Policy and other IP staff on relevant legislative and other policy developments.
Lead hiring and supervision of legal interns, externs, and fellows.
Assist, as necessary, with organizing various policy-based working groups with external partners.
Attend conferences, symposia, and other meetings to develop professional relationships that support the mission.
Represent the IP in coalitions, task forces, and working groups
Serve as a legal policy resource to Innocence Network partners.
Attend legislative sessions and hearings in collaboration with state policy advocates
Represent the Innocence Project on conference panels, webinars, podcasts and other media