2025 Legal Fellow – Justice & Equity Team
The Position
National Center for Youth Law
The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) works to amplify youth power, dismantle racism and other structural inequities, and build just policies, practices, and culture in support of young people. Our efforts advance justice through research, community collaboration, impact litigation, and policy advocacy that fundamentally transforms our nation's approach to education, health, immigration, foster care, and youth justice. Our vision is a world in which every young person thrives and has a full and fair opportunity to achieve the future they envision for themselves.
While NCYL welcomes project proposals (see Call for Fellowship Proposals posting), NCYL’s Justice & Equity Team is particularly interested in sponsoring a legal fellow for the Skadden, Equal Justice Works, and other fellowships to work on one of the two below projects.
Elimination of Fees & Fines (preference for location in Missouri): This project will focus on how schools charge students and families for items imperative to achieving educational goals (e.g., laptop use, uniforms, school IDs) and how harmful these fees and fines are to students’ educational outcomes, especially for students of color. The project may involve public records requests and analysis, development of viable legal claims, and policy advocacy and youth outreach strategies in partnership with local partners.
Restitution imposed on youth (preference for location in Iowa): This project centers on how monetary restitution orders to youth in contact with the juvenile legal system contribute to harmful financial and emotional outcomes for those youth and in particular Black, Latino, and Indigenous youth including in Iowa where restitution orders can be as high as tens of thousands of dollars. This project may involve research on alternative programs, data analysis on restitution orders and payments, and development of an advocacy strategy in collaboration with local partners on local and/or statewide reform.
Please explain in your cover letter which project you are interested in working on and why.
Essential Functions
In collaboration with NCYL staff, develop a proposal for a project that advances justice for children and youth who have been marginalized.
Develop a fellowship project in partnership with NCYL staff.
Apply to the public interest fellowships for which NCYL agrees to sponsorship.
Once a fellowship is awarded, join NCYL as a fellow in September 2025.
Implement the fellowship project under the supervision of NCYL staff.
Respond to requests for assistance from the public and Qualified Legal Services Projects.
Attend organizational and team meetings and retreats.
Qualifications
Graduating from law school in Spring 2025 or have been clerking since graduating from law school in a prior year.
Interest in working in one or more of NCYL’s general areas of focus.
Commitment to advancing justice by protecting the rights of children and youth and improving the systems that impact their lives.
Commitment to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Physical Requirements
Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer. This position requires the ability to work remotely and requires some travel.
Salary, Benefits and Location
This is a full-time, exempt position with a competitive salary of $76,313.00 annually. A geographic salary differential may be applied if the candidate resides somewhere other than Oakland, CA, Los Angeles, CA, New York City, or Washington, DC metro areas. This means that the salary would be reduced if the candidate resides in an area where the cost of labor is less than that of the San Francisco Bay Area.
NCYL provides robust benefits package including health, dental, vision, life, generous vacation and sick benefits, flexible spending account, commuter benefits, employer contribution to a retirement plan and short-term and long-term disability insurance.
Candidates must reside in, or be willing to relocate to, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington DC, or Wisconsin at the time the fellowship begins in September 2025.
How to Apply
Please submit a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and law school transcript at the link below. (You will need to click on “Upload Additional Files” to submit the writing sample and transcript.)
Please, no emails or calls.
Applicants who meet the above criteria with lived experiences within any of our practice areas, including Black, Indigenous, or other people of color, are strongly encouraged to apply.
It is the policy of NCYL to provide equal employment opportunities to all Applicants (including Employees) regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, breastfeeding, national origin, age, abilities/disabilities, neurotypicality, socioeconomic status, veteran status, marital status, prior convictions, or any other protected classifications under federal, state, or local law.
Meet The Team
The JET uses a variety of strategies to accomplish the goals of our clients, including litigation, policy advocacy, coalition building and grassroots organizing. We work in numerous states and local jurisdictions on a range of issues, including ending the assessment and collection of court fees and fines and ending the criminalization of students. Much of our work is done in partnership with national, state and local advocates who are part of the Debt Free Justice Campaign.
