Litigation Fellow

Fellowships & Summer Associates; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Alliance Defending Freedom in Lansdowne, VA, seeks a Litigation Fellow to support the Legal Advocacy Team in a yearlong, full‑time program. You will assist seasoned practitioners on constitutional cases, draft filings, review discovery, and contribute to public policy through legal scholarship.

The role emphasizes collaboration across disciplines, opportunities to argue at trial court levels, and travel as needed. Strong research, writing, and Microsoft Office/Westlaw skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Experience in legal research and legal writing.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Westlaw.
• Ability to travel occasionally.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the team to strategically assess, develop, and initiate legal advocacy that advances the objectives of ADF.
• Litigate complex cases at trial court levels, including preparing research, strategy, pleadings, briefs, and related documents; and participating in oral argument.
• Serve as a resource for legislative and policy work that is aligned with ADF objectives.
• Provide legal advice for individuals, businesses, and organizations.
• Network and develop relationships with allied attorneys and/or potential allied attorneys.
• Perform related duties or special projects as assigned by your Team Leader.
• Travel occasionally

Skills

Legal research

Legal writing

Travel occasionally

Tools

Microsoft Office

Westlaw

Job description

Make a difference with us! At Alliance Defending Freedom, we believe God has brought you here for His purpose—to stand for truth and defend the God-given right to live and speak it. Together, we protect religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, marriage and family, and parental rights. Review ourStatement of Faith to ensure we’re a fit for you.

Location: Lansdowne, VA

Team Overview

As a Litigation Fellow, you are vital to the Legal Advocacy Team and will advocate within a multidisciplinary, collaborative environment. In a yearlong program, Fellows will work full-time, assisting seasoned practitioners on constitutional cases, largelyin federal district courts. Their assistance may include developing clients, evaluating legal strategy, reviewing discovery, drafting legal filings, preparing for depositions, and providing legal analysis. A Litigation Fellow will collaborate with legal teams from multiple disciplines. Fellows may also contribute to public policy through legal scholarship and public advocacy.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the team to strategically assess, develop, and initiate legal advocacy that advances the objectives of ADF.
• Litigate complex cases at trial court levels, including preparing research, strategy, pleadings, briefs, and related documents; and participating in oral argument.
• Serve as a resource for legislative and policy work that is aligned with ADF objectives.
• Provide legal advice for individuals, businesses, and organizations.
• Network and develop relationships with allied attorneys and/or potential allied attorneys.
• Perform related duties or special projects as assigned by your Team Leader.
• Travel occasionally

Minimum Qualifications

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Westlaw.
• Experience in legal research and legal writing.
• Ability to travel occasionally.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior judicial clerkship experience, at the state or federal level

Want to Know More About ADF?

Statement of Faith

Based on our adherence to the inspired, infallible, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God in Scripture, we profess with the Christian Church throughout time and around the world the faith expressed in the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

Doctrinal Distinctives

• We believe in the spiritual unity and equality of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
• We believe that the Lordship of Christ requires us as disciples to seek to conform our actions, thoughts, and desires in obedience to Him.
• We believe God creates each person with an immutable biological sex — male or female — that reflects the image and likeness of God.
• We believe God designed marriage as a unique conjugal relationship joining one man and one woman in a single, exclusive, life‑long union, and God intends sexual intimacy only to occur within that relationship.
• We believe God endows all human life with inherent dignity, and it must be respected and protected from conception to natural death.
• We believe that God has endowed all humans with the natural, and inalienable right of religious freedom to believe, pursue truth, and live within ordered liberty such that no civil government may justly infringe upon it.
• We believe that God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, calls all of us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him, knowing that he promises us abundant and eternal life.