Director of Public Interest, Fellowships, and Judicial Clerkships

Salary Grade

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Case Western Reserve University is committed to providing a transparent estimate of the salary range available for this position at the time of its posting. The salary range is between $60,906 and $77,047, depending on qualifications, experience, department budgets, and industry data.

Employees receive more than just a paycheck. University employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare, retirement plans, tuition assistance, paid time off, and a winter recess.

Job Description

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POSITION OBJECTIVE

The Director of Public Interest, Fellowships, and Judicial Clerkships is responsible for developing and managing the following: strategic programming and high\-impact events for law students seeking mission\-driven legal roles; education of law students regarding nonprofit and government law careers, public interest fellowships, and judicial clerkships; collaboration with external foundations and coordination of the law school's internal fellowship funding process; the promotion of post\-graduate judicial clerkships; and expansion of the law school's resources for judicial clerkship applications. The Director will provide both general and specialized career advising to individual law students and graduates, offering unique insights into the nuanced timelines and requirements of public service and judicial hiring. They will develop mutually beneficial relationships with students, faculty, alumni, public interest employers, and judges to expand professional opportunities and elevate the law school's profile in the public sector.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Build a culture of support, programming, and resources for students seeking mission\-driven legal roles, to maximize employment outcomes. Curate specialized events including panels, workshops, and networking fairs focused on public interest and public sector employment, such as nonprofit and legal aid roles, government honors programs, prosecutor and defender careers, and the "how\-to" of judicial clerkships. Conduct programs that educate both full\-time/onsite and part\-time/remote law students on the multifaceted world of public interest employment, recognizing that nonprofit and government hiring often necessitates different strategies than private sector recruiting. (25%)
• Engage in specialized student career advising for public interest and judicial pathways. Conduct one\-on\-one sessions to help students identify their public interest career goals and navigate the specific timelines and requirements of nonprofit, government, and judicial hiring. Provide expert critique of application materials, ensuring that students articulate their commitment to public service effectively. Deliver tailored coaching on interview strategies for these competitive roles. Serve as the primary department contact for fellowship and clerkship applicants. Guide candidates through the rigorous proposal processes for external fellowship funding. Directly assist students with networking and introductions to public interest practitioners, faculty and alumni clerks, judges, and other professionals. Also maintain knowledge of private sector, law firm, corporate counsel, and ¿JD advantage¿ roles and hiring trends, to provide comprehensive advice to students about all JD career options. Keep contemporaneous records of advising appointments. (25%)
• Strengthen the law school's post\-graduate fellowship pipeline by identifying and advertising local and national fellowship opportunities, managing internal vetting processes, collaborating with host organizations, and providing intensive feedback to students on project proposals. Partner with the law school Dean and external employers to help build a post\-graduate fellowship program focused on in\-house counsel roles. Work closely with external foundations seeking to fund law student and graduate public interest jobs. Manage the law school's internal fellowship funding procedures, for both summer and post\-graduate fellowships, and provide administrative leadership of the faculty committee that makes funding decisions. Oversee the judicial clerkship application lifecycle, including managing faculty letters of recommendation and serving as the law school's administrator for the OSCAR (Online System for Clerkship Application and Review) platform. Identify and promote both federal and state judicial clerkship opportunities, as well as clerkships in specialized courts. (25%)
• Structure and coordinate the department's specialized advising to ensure that all JD students and graduates pursuing public service or public sector roles receive guidance tailored to their specific interests. Identify market trends and periodically educate department colleagues, to ensure that all career advising staff are trained on the unique timelines and resources available for public service hiring. Conduct research and review scholarship on best practices in public interest and clerkship hiring and implement that learning within the department. Establish departmental standards for the review of fellowship project proposals and clerkship application materials. Develop and/or identify tools and resources; such as clerkship databases and fellowship directories, to strengthen the office's career advising efforts. (10%)
• Actively recruit and maintain partnerships with public interest organizations and government agencies to increase participation in on\-campus interviews (OCI) and other recruiting events. Actively build relationships with private sector employers who may offer post\-graduate fellowships in corporate in\-house counsel departments. Partner with internal department staff to follow up on inquiries from judges, government recruiters, nonprofit directors, and in\-house legal departments. Build and maintain a network of alumni clerks and judges to stay informed on judicial clerkship hiring preferences and vacancy trends. Connect students with external mentors who can support them while applying for and working in public interest and public sector jobs. Partner with faculty to identify and champion high\-potential candidates for fellowships and clerkships. Coordinate with staff focused on "online JD" programs to ensure that remote students have equitable access to public interest networking and application resources. Regularly report data on public interest, fellowship, and clerkship placement to the Associate Dean of Career Development. (10%)

NONESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Serve as a representative of the career development office to prospective students, current law student organizations, and law alumni. This includes responding to inquiries, meeting with prospective students and alumni individually, and presenting the office's services to groups of prospective or current students. (\<5%)
• Perform evaluation of essential functions on an annual basis to measure the success of strategies implemented and identify areas for improvement. Ensure that critical information is uniformly gathered, documented, and kept confidential as required. (\<5%)
• Perform other duties as assigned. (\<5%)

CONTACTS

Department: Daily contact with the Associate Dean of Career Development and all office staff. Regular contact with Dean, faculty, staff, and departments, including but not limited to Academic Affairs, Experiential Education, and Alumni Relations and Development.

University: Contact with administrative departments throughout the university (such as University Marketing and Communications and University Technology) as required to perform essential functions.

External: Daily contact with employers, alumni, attorneys, judges, government officials, nonprofits organizations, courts, law firms, and corporations.

Students: Daily contact with law students, including both in\-person and online students.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

None.

QUALIFICATIONS

Experience: A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in a law school career development office, law recruitment, law practice, or law teaching is required. Practice experience that includes a judicial clerkship and/or public interest or government employment is preferred. Technical writing and editing experience are required.

Education: JD degree from an ABA\-accredited law school and admission to the bar of any U.S. state are required.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Proven abilities as a creative, innovative, self\-motivated, and team\-oriented administrator with demonstrated abilities to establish priorities and maintain focus on goals while managing various projects.
• Deep knowledge of the legal hiring market. Ability to draw on legal market knowledge and legal employment experience to counsel students and graduates on career decision making.
• High emotional intelligence. Ability to mentor a diverse student body. Ability, both in demeanor and experience, to successfully engage with current law students, prospective law students, and law alumni in career advising and coaching.
• Ability to interact effectively with colleagues, supervisors, employers, and students face\-to\-face and remotely.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including strong public speaking skills and superior writing skills. Attention to detail and ability to accurately advise students and alumni on resume and cover letter formatting, grammar, and verbiage. Ability to communicate clearly and market the services and programs of the career development office to students, prospective students, alumni, employers, faculty, and staff.
• Strong problem\-solving, organizational, and time management abilities. Ability to handle multiple priorities and meet deadlines. High motivational and follow\-up skills. Ability, desire, and strategies to process, organize, and timely respond to a large volume of email messages.
• High degree of detail orientation. Demonstrated ability to notice, identify, and correct grammatical and formatting issues in students¿ resumes and cover letters.
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively with students, alumni, staff, faculty, and employers.
• Ability to exercise good judgment and display a professional business manner in all interactions.
• Ability to quickly learn the details of the career development office's employer management and student advising software platforms and databases. Competent with spreadsheet and presentation software (e.g., Excel and PowerPoint). Ability to function in a Google Suite\-based and Windows\-based environment and to effectively and efficiently utilize email and listservs. Strong internet search skills.
• Willingness to learn and utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies.
• Demonstrated history of successful support, education, and advocacy for all students, aligned with the values, mission, and messaging of the university, while adhering to the staff policy on conflict of commitment and interest.
• Ability to meet consistent attendance.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Office setting with frequent interaction with students, faculty, and staff. Domestic travel may be required. Evenings and weekends are a part of this position's responsibility on an as\-needed basis. This position is eligible for a hybrid/remote work arrangement of up to 1 remote workday per week after successful completion of a 90\-day orientation period. Remote work may be restricted during certain weeks to enable in\-person participation in certain programs (e.g., presentations to students and on\-campus interview programs), but advance notice of remote work restrictions will be provided by the Associate Dean of Career Development.

Hybrid Eligibility

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This position is eligible for hybrid work arrangement up to one remote day per week at the discretion of the department. New employees may begin a hybrid schedule upon approval from the supervisor, successful completion of an orientation period and signing the remote work checklist certification form.

EEO Statement

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Case Western Reserve University is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants are protected under federal and state laws and university policy from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national or ethnic origin, protected veteran status, disability, age and genetic information.

Reasonable Accommodations

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Case Western Reserve University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the CWRU Office of Equity at 216\-368\-3066 to request a reasonable accommodation. Determinations as to granting reasonable accommodations for any applicants will be made on a case\-by\-case basis.

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