Employment

Staff Attorney (Pittsburgh)

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) protects and advances the constitutional and civil rights of people incarcerated and detained in Pennsylvania through litigation, advocacy, and legal assistance. PILP is a legal aid organization that provides free civil legal services to over 100,000 people housed in jails, prisons, immigration detention centers, halfway houses, juvenile detention facilities, and state hospitals.

Our organization is committed to ensuring that incarcerated and detained people are treated humanely, have access to medical and mental health care, are safe from violence and sexual abuse, receive accommodations for their disabilities, have the ability to observe their religion, and more. PILP’s litigation is primarily in the federal courts.

PILP is based out of three offices located in Philadelphia, Lewisburg, and Pittsburgh. This position is for the Pittsburgh office. PILP staff work on a hybrid schedule. It is expected that this attorney will be physically present in the Pittsburgh office at least 3 days a week.

PILP is flexible on a start date, but would like the position to start no later than early fall 2025.

Responsibilities:

Litigate statutory and constitutional civil rights claims on behalf of incarcerated people, primarily in federal court.
Conduct visits to prisons and other institutions to meet with clients and monitor ongoing conditions of confinement.
Work closely with PILP’s attorneys, paralegals, and clients to investigate and develop potential cases.
Provide legal advice and pro se assistance to incarcerated people through letter intake and legal calls/video visits.
Collaborate with staff in all three offices on advocacy and legal strategy.
Develop relationships with community partners.
Be engaged with the legal and local community on issues pertaining to incarceration and other related legal issues.

Qualifications:

Excellent research, analytic, legal writing, oral advocacy, and communication skills.
Strong work ethic, initiative, sound judgment, and creativity.
Federal litigation experience (including as a judicial law clerk), especially on the legal rights of the incarcerated, civil rights, or constitutional law, is strongly preferred but not required.
Willingness to travel and work outside of normal business hours.
Proficiency with technology, including Microsoft Office Suite (i.e., Word, Excel, Sharepoint).
Commitment to public interest work and the role of PILP in safeguarding the rights of incarcerated and institutionalized people.
Awareness and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and orientations due to PILP’s diverse client base.
Bilingual capabilities, especially Spanish, are a plus.
Pennsylvania bar admission, or admission to another state bar and willingness to apply for admission to the Pennsylvania bar.

Salary/Benefits: PILP salaries are based on a salary scale. The salary for a newly licensed attorney is $55,000, and salaries for attorneys with 3-5 years of experience are currently in the range of $66,000 – $70,000.

PILP offers a very generous and competitive benefits package including 100% employer paid medical, life, and short/long-term disability benefits, a 403(b) retirement plan with employer contribution (vests after 1 year of employment), cell phone stipend, up to $5000 in student loan repayment assistance, and a generous leave package, which includes 12 paid holidays and 15 vacation and 15 sick days for full-time employees. This position is open to recent law school graduates and new attorneys, but 3-5 years of legal experience is preferred.

Opening/Closing Date: PILP will accept applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

To Apply:

Please send a cover letter, resume, legal writing sample, references, and law school transcript to the email jobs@pilp.org, with the subject line “PILP JOBS: Staff Attorney.”

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) is an equal opportunity employer. PILP does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, sexual or gender identity, age, national origin, disability, medical condition, or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

PILP values a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture and welcomes applicants of all backgrounds to apply. PILP invites applicants to include in their cover letter a statement about how their unique background and/or experiences (professional as well as relevant lived experiences) would motivate them to work toward PILP’s mission, and would contribute to the vitality and perspective of our organization.

Post-Graduate Legal Fellowships (Pittsburgh)

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) seeks to sponsor applicants for project-based postgraduate legal fellowships to start in the Fall of 2026. Applicants should be law students graduating in the Spring of 2026, current law clerks, or other recent law school graduates.

PILP will select an applicant to sponsor, and then together the applicant and PILP will propose a project idea to fellowship funders. PILP does not provide fellowship funding. The purpose of this job posting is to help PILP select a candidate to support in the fellowship funding process.

Applicants are welcome and encouraged to propose their own project ideas, but applying to PILP with a project proposal is not required.

PILP protects and advances the constitutional and civil rights of people incarcerated and detained in Pennsylvania through litigation, advocacy, and legal assistance. PILP is a legal aid organization that provides free civil legal services to over 100,000 people housed in jails, prisons, immigration detention centers, halfway houses, juvenile detention facilities, and state hospitals.

PILP’s litigation is primarily in the federal courts.

PILP is based out of three offices located in Philadelphia, Lewisburg, and Pittsburgh. This position is for the Pittsburgh office. PILP staff work on a hybrid schedule. It is expected that the legal fellow will be physically present in the Pittsburgh office at least 3 days a week.

Responsibilities:

Litigate statutory and constitutional civil rights claims on behalf of incarcerated people, primarily in federal court.
Conduct visits to prisons and other institutions to meet with clients and monitor ongoing conditions of confinement.
Work closely with PILP’s attorneys, paralegals, and clients to investigate and developpotential cases.
Provide legal advice and pro se assistance to incarcerated people through letter intake and legal calls/video visits.
Collaborate with staff in all three offices on advocacy and legal strategy.
Develop relationships with community partners.
Be engaged with the legal and local community on issues pertaining to incarceration and other related legal issues.Qualifications:
Excellent research, analytic, legal writing, oral advocacy, and communication skills.
Strong work ethic, initiative, sound judgment, and creativity.
Federal litigation experience (including as a judicial law clerk), especially on the legal rights of the incarcerated, civil rights, or constitutional law, is a plus.
Prior experience working on racial justice issues is a plus.
Willingness to travel and work outside of normal business hours.
Proficiency with technology, including Microsoft Office Suite (i.e., Word, Excel, Sharepoint).
Commitment to public interest work and the role of PILP in safeguarding the rights of incarcerated and institutionalized people.
Awareness and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and orientations due to PILP’s diverse client base.
Bilingual capabilities, especially Spanish, are a plus.
Anticipated admission to the Pennsylvania Bar, or admission to another state bar and willingness to apply for admission to the Pennsylvania bar.

Opening/Closing Date: Preferred application deadline is July 31, 2025, but PILP will be interviewing and selecting candidates on a rolling basis.

To Apply:

Please send a cover letter, resume, legal writing sample, references, and law school transcript to the email: jobs@pilp.org, with the subject line “PILP JOBS: Fellowship Sponsorship.”

Positions for Law Students

SEMESTER AND SUMMER POSITIONS FOR LAW STUDENTS

We are now accepting applications for Fall 2025 and Spring 2026..

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) seeks to ensure equal access to justice for indigent institutionalized persons in Pennsylvania. PILP provides civil legal services to over 100,000 persons housed in jails, prisons, detention centers, and state hospitals. There are three offices, located in Philadelphia, Lewisburg, and Pittsburgh. We engage in direct representation, legislative and administrative advocacy, and providing incarcerated persons with legal reference materials and referrals. Our litigation is primarily in the federal courts.

PILP’s litigation docket includes cases involving physical and sexual assault, disability rights, transgender rights, freedom of religion, mental health and medical care, and other conditions of confinement. PILP is currently involved in class actions relating to mental health care at Allegheny County Jail, unconstitutional conditions in the Philadelphia jails, and solitary confinement in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Other currently active cases involve denial of transgender healthcare, religious accommodations, excessive force, inadequate medical care, and denial of medication for opioid-use disorder, among other issues.

Position Description:

The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh offices of PILP welcome law students to apply for semester externships and summer internships. Semester externships are generally part-time, with the precise number of hours typically determined by law schools’ requirements. Summer internships are full-time, generally for a minimum of ten weeks.

Law student interns and externs are responsible for legal research and writing, reviewing and answering intake letters, case development and investigation, assisting with discovery, and other related duties. Interns and externs are supervised by one of the attorneys and taken to client meetings, depositions, and court whenever appropriate.

PILP has previously been an approved site for credit-based externships at multiple law schools. Please familiarize yourself with your law school’s policies and procedures regarding externships before applying for a semester position. As for summer internships, while PILP is unable to offer paid internships, PILP encourages students to seek outside funding through work study, law school,or foundation public interest fellowships, or similar programs.

Application Process:

To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and current academic transcript (if available). 1Ls who do not yet have law school grades are welcome to apply for summer internships without submitting a transcript. Applicants should submit their materials to Matthew A. Feldman at mfeldman@pilp.org (Philadelphia) or Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz at amorgan-kurtz@pilp.org (Pittsburgh). Applicants willing to work in either office should submit their materials in a single email to both offices and note any preference in office. Remote, hybrid, and in-office arrangements will be considered.

Applications are reviewed, and positions filled, on a rolling basis.