Deporation Legal Fellowship

Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Boston College

Position Available

Human Rights Fellow

Post-Deportation Human Rights Project

The Post-Deportation Human Rights Project (PDHRP), an initiative of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Boston College, seeks applications for a Human Rights Fellow. The position will start on July 1, 2009.

The PDHRP is a pilot program designed to counsel, support, and represent individuals who have been deported from the United States (U.S.); to investigate the effects of harsh deportation policies on families and communities; to advocate, in collaboration with affected families and communities, for fundamental changes that will introduce legal predictability, proportionality, compassion, and respect for family unity into U.S. immigration law and policy; and to reframe deportation policy as a matter of international human rights.

Responsibilities of the Human Rights Fellow include:

• Collaborating with faculty and students from the Boston College Law School, Lynch School of Education and Graduate School of Social Work on inter-disciplinary research projects investigating the effects of deportation on individuals, families, and communities.

• Developing training materials and providing technical assistance to attorneys handling post-removal cases.

• Conducting client intakes and outreach to advocacy organizations to indentify potential new cases.

• Recruiting and mentoring pro bono attorneys.

• Collaborating with immigrant communities, the legal community, the academic community, and legislators to transform the laws governing deportation.

• Supervising law students who assist in the representation of clients with final orders of removal. Legal matters currently being handled by the PDHRP include: motions to reopen removal proceedings; consular processing with waivers; non-immigrant waiver applications; and U-visas.
• Drafting human rights reports focusing on deportation.
• Conducting media outreach and drafting op-eds for publication in newspapers and professional journals.
• Organizing and speaking at conferences and public events focusing on human rights issues related to deportation.

Candidates must have a JD or LL.M., be proficient in Spanish, be licensed to practice law in the United States, and have substantial experience practicing immigration or human rights law. Some background in community organizing is a plus, as is an understanding of the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.

Salary is commensurate with experience and includes full benefits. The position may be full or part-time. Review of applications will begin in April, 2009, and will continue until the position is filled. To apply, please send a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, list of three references, and a writing sample to Anjani Datla at anjani.datla@bc.edu

For more information about the Post-Deportation Human Rights Project at the Center for Human rights and International Justice please visit:

http://www.bc.edu/centers/humanrights/projects/deportation.html

Boston College is an affirmative action, equal employment opportunity employer.

Center Fellow postition at New York University School of Law

Center Fellow
Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
New York University School of Law

The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at NYU School of Law seeks a Center Fellow for the period of one year, beginning in August 2009.

The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice brings together a rich array of teaching, research, clinical, internship, and publishing activities on issues of international human rights law. The Center aims to: generate substantive, cutting-edge and sophisticated contributions to human rights research and legal scholarship on the part of faculty, staff, students, fellows and visitors; and to actively engage in public affairs and make original and constructive contributions to on-going policy debates relating to human rights. The Center is headed by Faculty Director and Chair, Professor Philip Alston, and Faculty Directors Margaret Satterthwaite and Smita Narula; Jayne Huckerby is Research Director; Amna Akbar is Clinical Fellow; and Veerle Opgenhaffen is Program Director.

The Fellow will work under the supervision of the Center’s Directors, but will work in an independent manner on a wide variety of substantive projects and will also be responsible for leading student teams and interns on several of the Center’s projects. Current Center projects focus on human rights violations and counter-terrorism; the right to food and water in Haiti; gender and counter-terrorism; caste discrimination in South Asia; corporate accountability for human rights violations; and racial profiling in counter-terrorism and immigration. Projects may focus on litigation, research, or advocacy, or may be a combination of all of these. The Fellow also supports the work of the Center’s general operations, which includes fundraising, event planning, supervision of the Center’s internship program, and general administrative duties. The Fellow will work closely with the Center’s staff, the International Human Rights Clinic Fellow, staff from law firms and NGO partner organizations, and law school students. The Fellow will not be responsible for classroom teaching.

Qualifications:

Required: The successful candidate will have a J.D. or LL.B, and preferably an LL.M., with a demonstrated legal background in international human rights law and at least one to three years of post-legal training work experience in the human rights field. Advanced legal analysis, legal research, and excellent writing skills are essential. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to independently prepare complex and rigorous international human rights legal analysis under tight deadlines and to manage multiple projects and tasks at once. Candidates must have a demonstrated commitment to advancing human rights, sensitivity to the needs of victims/survivors of human rights abuses, and the ability to work with a wide range of actors, including international and national NGO representatives, civil society groups, professors, students, and partner organizations in the U.S. and abroad. They should be committed to working and learning within a close team environment and must be able to direct research and advocacy projects. Candidates must have a proven track record in conducting academic research, managing projects and coordinating teams, and must be accustomed to working in a fast-paced environment, where supervision may be minimal and where they will be expected to oversee and work closely with law students and interns.

Desired: Training in international humanitarian law and/or public international law is desired. Arabic, French, or Haitian Kreyòl language skills; knowledge of or experience working on human rights issues relevant to the Center’s core thematic areas (transitional justice, human rights and counter-terrorism, racial profiling and counter-terrorism, caste discrimination, unlawful killings, economic, social and cultural rights—particularly corporate accountability and the right to food and water); international human rights fieldwork experience; media and policy advocacy experience; fundraising and grant writing; record of publication; technical knowledge of website management and databases a plus.

Salary and benefits commensurate with fellowship salaries at top law schools.

Application: Apply by email no later than April 30, 2009. Send your application to Ms. Kelly Ryan at ryank@exchange.law.nyu.edu, using the subject heading “Application for Center Fellow Position”. Include a 1-page cover letter addressing the job qualifications, a CV, names or letters of reference, and an unedited writing sample of no more than 30 pages. The position is based in New York, at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (NYU School of Law). Applications are welcome from nationals of any country.