Senior Fellow, Equal Justice Works Civil Rights

Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc.; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) seeks experienced Civil Rights Senior Fellows for an Equal Justice Works (EJW) Fellowship based at SPLC. This mid-career fellowship is a pilot program designed to strengthen civil rights enforcement through litigation and advocacy in the nonprofit sector.

Senior Fellows will design and implement defined, time-bound projects aligned with SPLC's impact goals and participate in structured peer engagement, training, and evaluation coordinated by EJW.

Qualifications

• Experienced litigators with complex cases in federal, state, and administrative courts.
• Advocate with community organizations, grassroots campaigns, and impacted communities, especially in the Deep South.
• Committed to client-centered, non-hierarchical advocacy.
• Analytical ability to synthesize legal and policy developments.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct legal research and factual investigations.
• Ability to draft briefs, memos, and other documents in support of litigation and advocacy.
• Creative thinking for strategic interventions.

Responsibilities

• Articulate clear objectives and measurable indicators of success for the fellowship project.
• Design and implement defined, time-bound litigation or advocacy projects.
• Engage in peer collaboration, training, and evaluation coordinated by EJW.
• Collaborate with SPLC's Advocacy and Litigation Teams (ALITs) to advance the work.

Skills

Litigation experience

Advocacy

Commitment to social justice

Analytical thinking

Legal research

Legal writing

Creative thinking

Job description

The SPLC is seeking experienced Civil Rights Senior Fellows who are committed to social justice!

This unique mid-career Equal Justice Works (EJW) Fellowship, based at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), is a new pilot program designed to address urgent gaps in civil rights enforcement resulting from recent reductions in federal capacity. SPLC's EJW Civil Rights Fellowship will mobilize former government civil rights attorneys in strengthening litigation and advocacy efforts in the nonprofit sector.

Through this Fellowship, Senior Fellows will design and implement a defined, time-bound litigation or advocacy project. The project will align with one or more of SPLC's four impact goals: Protecting Democracy, Combatting Hate and Extremism, Eliminating Poverty, and Ending Unjust Incarceration. Each Senior Fellow’s project is expected to advance systemic civil rights enforcement priorities, respond to pressing unmet needs, and contribute to lasting impact within the broader civil rights ecosystem.

Senior Fellows are responsible for articulating clear objectives, establishing measurable indicators of success, and executing strategic interventions over the course of the Fellowship. In addition to advancing their project within SPLC, Senior Fellows will participate in structured peer engagement, training, and evaluation coordinated by EJW, contributing to collective insight and field-wide impact.

Senior Fellows will collaborate as part of a cohort of EJW Civil Rights Fellows and with SPLC's Advocacy and Litigation Teams (ALITs) to advance this work.

This is a 2-year fellowship that will end in 2028.

Who You Are

• Experienced. Demonstrated experience litigating complex individual, multi-plaintiff, and/or class action cases in federal, state, and administrative courts. Demonstrated experience in litigation based on the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes.
• Advocate. Experience working with community organizations, grassroots campaigns, and impacted communities, particularly in the Deep South. Experience conducting outreach activities related to litigation and campaigns.
• Committed. Demonstrated interest and commitment to community-oriented and movement-supportive lawyering. Dedicated to a non-hierarchical, client-centered approach to advocacy and ability to work on sensitive issues in a compassionate and empathetic manner.
• Analytical. Ability to synthesize complex legal and policy developments, analyze requests for legal assistance, and provide technical assistance to communities and partner organizations.
• Researcher. Demonstrated ability to conduct legal research and factual investigations.
• Writer. Ability to draft briefs, memos, and other documents in support of litigation, advocacy, and public education with a team and independently.
• Creative. Ability