Litigation Director

The Policing Project at New York University School of Law seeks an experienced professional to join our team as our Litigation Director. The Litigation Director will lead a team focused on developing and actively pursuing novel civil litigation theories to bring greater democratic accountability to policing. The ideal candidate will have experience litigating police reform cases; managing a team; and building a litigation strategy that leverages outside partnerships, communications techniques, and other non-litigation tools to achieve positive outcomes.

This position can be based out of the Policing Project’s New York City offices or can be full-time remote, with occasional travel to New York. 

Background on the Policing Project

The Policing Project partners with communities and police to promote public safety through transparency, equity, and democratic engagement. We work across a broad range of issues—from use of force and racial profiling, to facial recognition and predictive policing. We do so in close collaboration with groups from across the ideological spectrum and with stakeholders that typically find themselves at odds, including policing agencies, community organizations, governments, and other non-profits. Our work takes us all over the country and is moving the needle in tangible ways. 

We bring a new approach to this fraught area, one grounded in democratic values. In particular, our work focuses on ensuring accountability and democratic participation on the front end. Front-end accountability involves promoting public voice in setting transparent, ethical, and effective policing policies and practices before the police act. The goal is achieving public safety in a manner that is equitable, non-discriminatory, and respectful of public values.

You can learn more about our work—past and present—at www.PolicingProject.org and www.SafetyReimagined.org. 

Job Description & Responsibilities:

As part of our multi-faceted approach to promoting front-end accountability, transparency, and racial justice in policing, the Policing Project challenges anti-democratic and illegitimate law enforcement practices in court. Our litigation team partners with community groups and impacted individuals to file legal challenges and amicus briefs against government agencies and private companies that infringe on the public’s rights. Rather than pursuing traditional legal theories that often have proven unsuccessful, we look to deploy novel legal arguments—ones rooted in fundamental principles of administrative, constitutional, and private law that are rarely applied to police reform. Our goal is to change the law of police accountability, and in the process fight practices that have not been authorized by democratic bodies and that enable arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement of the law.

Our Litigation Director will lead these efforts, reporting to the Policing Project’s Faculty Director and Executive Director. Specific responsibilities include: 

• Managing an active caseload in federal and state court, including supervising and coordinating full-time staff and pro bono attorneys in several jurisdictions;
• Developing new litigation targets;
• Building outside relationships, both in service of our own litigation efforts and to find opportunities to support ongoing law reform efforts;
•  Supervising and mentoring legal staff and interns; and
• Working with the management team (Faculty Director, Executive Director, Policy Director, and others) on key strategic decisions about the organization, such as: taking on new projects, staffing decisions, communications strategy, development planning, and more; and
  Serving as a spokesperson on legal matters within the Policing Project’s mission.

Desired Experience & Qualifications:

We seek to hire someone with a deep passion for improving public safety and ensuring that policing practices are both protective of civil rights and racially just. We are seeking someone with enough prior litigation experience to manage several cases while actively pursuing new lines of inquiry. Given the cutting-edge and innovative nature of our work, and the fact that it often occurs around fraught social issues, we are looking for someone who is a problem solver with maturity and judgment.

A J.D. and substantial prior litigation experience is required for this position. In addition, we will consider the following qualifications, but do not expect any applicant to have all of them:

• At least 7 years of criminal-system related litigation experience in federal and state courts;
• Strong familiarity and/or interest in constitutional law, criminal procedure, policing, racial justice, and civil rights/civil liberties;
• Strong brief-writing and written communication skills;
• Experience managing multi-member/multi-team projects;
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with legal and non-legal staff, pro bono counsel, plaintiffs, partner organizations, and other stakeholders;
• Strong interpersonal skills and a demonstrated willingness to maintain and develop professional relationships;
• Excellent judgment and the ability to keep many balls in the air without dropping them;
• Collegial, collaborative and curious;
• Proactive, highly organized, and reliable.

The Policing Project heartily encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds, and is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, citizenship status, color, disability, marital or parental status, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. 

This position can be based out of the Policing Project’s New York City offices or can be full-time remote, with occasional travel to New York. 

Application Instructions

To apply please email a cover letter and resume as one PDF to applications@policingproject.org. Indicate “Litigation Director” in the subject line. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and you will be contacted if selected for an interview.

Salary is commensurate with experience. In compliance with NYC’s Pay Transparency Law, the salary is in the range of $160,000 -- $180,000. Please note that the salary information is a general guideline only. Compensation also includes excellent benefits, including medical, dental, and vision. After one year, employees are eligible for tuition remission at certain NYU schools and matching retirement contributions. Further information regarding benefits can be found here.

NYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring process without regard to age, alienage, caregiver status, childbirth, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, familial status, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital status, military status, national origin, parental status, partnership status, predisposing genetic characteristics, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, unemployment status, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of minority sexual orientation or gender identity, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels.

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