Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project

Seeking to Sponsor Applicants for Post-Graduate Legal Fellowships

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) seeks to sponsor applicants for project-based postgraduate legal fellowships to start in the Fall of 2024. Applicants should be law students graduating in the Spring of 2024, 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 works to ensure equal access to justice for people who are incarcerated and institutionalized in Pennsylvania. PILP provides free civil legal services to over 100,000 people housed in jails, prisons, detention centers, and state hospitals.  We engage in direct representation, class action litigation, legal advocacy, and pro se assistance to incarcerated persons.  Our litigation is primarily in the federal courts.

Our organization is committed to ensuring that the most marginalized members of our community behind bars are afforded their statutory and constitutionally protected rights. PILP’s litigation docket includes a variety of cases focusing on access to medical care, conditions of confinement, safety from violence, First Amendment rights, disability rights, and more. 

PILP is based out of three offices located in Philadelphia, Lewisburg, and Pittsburgh.  There is preference for a fellow to be based in Pittsburgh, but PILP will also consider possible fellows who prefer to be based in Philadelphia. 

PILP staff are currently working on a hybrid schedule, and PILP continues to reassess this as we move forward. 

Responsibilities:

  • Litigate cases on behalf of incarcerated people, primarily in federal court on statutory and constitutional civil rights claims.

  • Conduct visits to prisons and institutions to meet with clients and monitor ongoing conditions of confinement.

  • Work closely with the legal team and clients to investigate and develop potential cases.

  • Provide legal advice and pro se assistance to incarcerated people through letter intake.

  • Collaborate with staff in all three offices on advocacy and legal strategy.

  • Work with staff to develop relationships with community partners.

Qualifications:

  • Excellent research, analytic, writing, and communication skills.

  • Strong work ethic, initiative, sound judgment, and creativity.

  • Any federal litigation experience, especially in prisoner rights or civil rights, is a plus.

  • Prior experience working on racial justice issues is a plus.

  • Willingness to travel and work outside of normal business hours.

  • 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 cultures, backgrounds, and orientations.

  • Anticipated admission to the Pennsylvania Bar, or admitted to another state bar and willingness to apply for admission to the Pennsylvania bar.

Opening/Closing Date:  

Preferred application deadline is August 15, 2023 but PILP will be interviewing and selecting applications on a rolling basis.

To Apply:

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

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project values a diverse work environment and strongly encourages women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and people who have had prior contact with the criminal legal system to apply.  Bilingual capabilities, especially Spanish, are also a plus.

NON-DISCRIMINATION CLAUSE

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, or veteran status.