Visiting Professor of Law & Director, Criminal Justice Clinic

University of Maine System • Portland, ME

8d • $105,000 - $115,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The University of Maine School of Law seeks a founding Director for its new Criminal Justice Clinic in Portland, Maine. The Director will build the Clinic from the ground up, supervise student attorneys representing indigent adults charged with crimes, and train future Maine criminal-justice practitioners. The Clinic’s goal is to respond directly to Maine’s indigent defense crisis. During its three-year pilot, the Clinic will handle at least 150 cases and train 25 to 30 student attorneys.

This is a full-time, 12-month visiting appointment for a three-year term. The position is funded by a U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance Byrne Discretionary grant, so the appointment and its continuation depend on the grant’s terms and availability of funding. The Director is expected to work on site at Maine Law’s Portland campus and reports to the Dean. The work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with some evenings and weekends as needed. The annual salary range is $105,000–$115,000, based on qualifications and experience.

The Director is the Clinic’s founding faculty member and supervising attorney, responsible for its launch, caseload, teaching, and grant compliance. The role includes developing intake protocols with law school and justice-system partners; recruiting student attorneys; supervising students and interns in casework; designing and teaching a weekly seminar; leading case rounds; building learning opportunities with other criminal-law placements; managing data collection and the federal grant; preparing grant reports and evaluations; and collaborating with the law school’s clinical programs and criminal-justice stakeholders.

Maine Law is Maine’s only law school and part of the University of Maine System. Its Clinics have operated in-house, live-client clinical programs for more than five decades. The Criminal Justice Clinic will be the school’s seventh clinical program. The Clinics’ mission is to train the next generation of lawyers while meeting the acute needs of vulnerable communities.

Requirements

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Licensed to practice law in Maine, or able to obtain a Maine bar license within three months of beginning employment.
• A minimum of 7 to 10 years of trial-level litigation experience, including substantial criminal-law experience and significant courtroom and trial experience.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or training attorneys, law students, or other legal staff.
• Demonstrated commitment to providing high-quality representation to indigent clients.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to build a new program, manage competing deadlines, and work independently.

Nice To Haves

• Experience practicing criminal law in Maine courts, or familiarity with Maine’s criminal justice system and MCPDS.
• Law school teaching experience, particularly clinical teaching or skills instruction.
• Experience managing grant-funded programs, including data collection and reporting.
• Experience collaborating with prosecutors, courts, and public-defense agencies.
• Familiarity with legal case-management systems such as Legal Server.

Responsibilities

• Lead the launch and design of the Criminal Justice Clinic in alignment with the Clinics at Maine Law’s mission and the grant’s funding goals and deliverables.
• Develop case-intake protocols with the Director of the Clinics at Maine Law, the Director of the Youth Justice Clinic, MCPDS, the Maine Judicial Branch, and other stakeholders.
• Recruit and select the inaugural cohort of student attorneys.
• Supervise six student attorneys each fall and spring semester and two paid interns each summer.
• Oversee representation in approximately 150 criminal cases during the three-year grant period and ensure compliance with the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct and Student Practice Rule.
• Provide hands-on supervision of student casework, including client interviews, investigation, motion practice, negotiations, hearings, and trials.
• Design and teach a weekly seminar on lawyering skills and substantive criminal law and procedure.
• Lead weekly case rounds for structured peer and supervisor review of active files.
• Develop joint learning opportunities with Clinic students, students interning in Maine District Attorney offices, Maine Public Defenders, and students in other criminal-law placements.
• Design and manage Clinic data collection and an outcomes-tracking system covering jurisdiction, case types, outcomes, duration of representation, and students trained.
• Manage the federal grant day to day, including monitoring the budget, tracking progress toward targets, and maintaining required documentation.
• Ensure compliance with federal grant terms and conditions in coordination with the University of Maine System’s sponsored-programs office.
• Prepare semi-annual and annual performance reports for BJA, including the final report, and support the University’s quarterly federal financial reporting.
• Lead the mid-pilot evaluation, refine curriculum and intake based on results, and produce a final pilot evaluation.
• Collaborate with directors of Maine Law’s other clinical programs, particularly the Director of the Youth Justice Clinic, on shared issues, client needs, and pedagogy.
• Coordinate with the Director of the Youth Justice Clinic to liaise with MCPDS, District Attorney offices, courts, and the criminal defense bar.
• Participate in law school and clinical faculty activities, including committee service as appropriate to a visiting appointment.

Benefits

• 13 paid holidays plus earned vacation and sick time
• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Short-term disability insurance
• Employer-paid long-term disability insurance
• Employer-paid basic life insurance and supplemental life insurance
• Tuition waiver program for employees and their dependents, including spouse, domestic partner, and dependent children
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer contribution

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree