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Legal Fellow: Sponsored by Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Justice Corps

This job is no longer available

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Full-time

OJPC will host a fellow over two years as part of the Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Justice Corps. The fellowship should begin on or about June 1, 2018 and end May/June 2020.

The Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Justice Corps is a legal fellowship program designed to increase capacity and access to civil legal help for crime victims. A cohort of approximately sixty fellows are placed at nonprofit organizations across the country to provide direct representation, outreach, and education to victims of crimes, including human trafficking, fraud/identity theft, campus sexual assault, and hate crime, and immigrant victims of crime with meritorious claims for immigration relief. All fellows will incorporate crime victims’ rights enforcement into their practice and will receive training from the National Crime Victim Law Institute and other training and technical assistance providers.

This program is supported by an award from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, Award Number 2017-MU-MU-K131, and private funding.

The fellow will be supervised by OJPC and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Areas of Responsibility: 

The Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Justice Corps Fellow will:

  • Provide direct legal services to human trafficking survivors/ crime victims/survivors affected by fraud and/or identity theft to address the range of civil legal issues that arise from the victimization
  • Provide crime victims’ rights enforcement
  • Conduct outreach and education activities, provide referrals, and leverage pro bono resources
  • Contribute to programmatic reporting required under the federal award
  • Collaborate with other Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Justice Corps Fellows
  • Actively participate in mandatory in-person training programs including two-day Crime Victims Justice Corps Victim Law Boot Camp training on June 28-29, 2018 in Washington, DC; learning event at the end of the Fellowship; annual three-day Equal Justice Works Leadership Development Training in October/November 2018 and 2019 in Washington, DC; and training calls with the National Crime Victim Law Institute
Educational Background: 
JD; LIcensed to practice law in the State of Ohio; if admitted to another State's bar, the attorney must seek admission to Ohio on a temporary basis and then take the Ohio bar.
Skills/Experience: 

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications:

  • Licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio.
  • If admitted to another state’s bar, the attorney must seek admission to Ohio on a temporary basis and then take the Ohio Bar
  • A demonstrated commitment to public interest work and desire to assist crime victims
  • Strong writing, communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills
  • An ability to provide victim-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally competent legal assistance to crime victims/survivors
  • An ability to work collaboratively in a variety of contexts and with multiple organizations to facilitate comprehensive services to crime victims/survivors
  • Ability to begin the fellowship by on or about June 1, 2018 and serve for 2 years
  • Those with legal experience in crime victims’ rights enforcement and victim service are strongly encouraged to apply
  • Law school clinic, externship, summer or other relevant practice experience a plus 

Additional, preferred experience will include the following:

  • Proficiency in Spanish desirable
  • Experience with grant writing, public speaking and fundraising
Compensation/Benefits: 

Salary and other support

The Fellow will receive an annual salary of $48K, as well as medical, dental and vision health insurance, an IRA with corporate matching, 13+ paid Holidays, 27 PTO days, ability to apply for educational loan forgiveness, and other benefits.  Details follow.   

Benefits provided by OJPC

  • Health insurance provided, with corporation subsidy of premium at 93%.  Access to group, low cost dental insurance and vision insurance available at employee’s discretion.  Life insurance provided by corporation.  Simple IRA available at employee’s discretion, with tax-free savings up to $12.5K annual, and corporate match of 3% of base pay. 
  • OJPC observes 13 annual holidays plus a Christmas to New Year’s shut-down.  All employees receive 27 Personal Time Off (PTO, a combination of vacation and sick leave) for each calendar year, earned on a bi-weekly basis. PTO Carryover is permitted as well as PTO Sharing. 
  • Position related travel and training are reimbursed.  Professional fees such as bar dues are provided. 
  • Employees with Federal Direct Student Loans are strongly encouraged to apply for “Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)” through submission of OMB Form #1845-0110.  OJPC is a private non-profit 501(C)3.
  • Relocation assistance offered, up to $1K.
How to Apply: 

Application period will run from April 19 – May 16, 2018.  Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Candidates should respond with a cover memo, resume, writing sample, law school transcript (if within 5 years of law school), and 3 references.  All documents should be in PDF format.

Email application materials to OJPC’s Operations Manager at [email protected].

Job Function: 

Organization Info

Ohio Justice & Policy Center

Overview
Headquarters: 
Cincinnati, Ohio
Annual Budget : 
$1-5M
Size: 
11-50 employees
Founded: 
1997
About Us
Mission: 

OJPC Mission: Creating fair, intelligent, redemptive criminal-justice systems through zealous client-centered advocacy, innovative policy reform, and cross-sector community education.

Programs: 

OJPC uses diverse forms of community lawyering in a three-plank strategy:

  • Substantially and safely reduce the size and racial disparity of the prison population. This new and evolving strategy plank include research, legislative and policy advocacy, collaboration with community organizers, and possibly litigation to directly remedy Ohio’s prison overcrowding crisis.
  • Expand the freedom of people with criminal records to participate fully in their communities.  This strategy plank encompasses our Second Chance Community Legal Clinics and Classes, our CIVICC database, legislative and policy advocacy to improve reentry in Ohio, and our programs to combat sexual trafficking.
  • Protect the human rights and dignity of incarcerated people. This strategy plank contains all of our individual and class-action litigation to protect incarcerated people, policy efforts to limit the use of the death penalty, litigation on voting rights for certain jailed people, and our Constitutional Litigation Clinic (for 3L students from nearby law schools). 
Awards & Accolades: 
NAACP Cincinnati Branch 2017 Freedom Fund Wright-Overstreet Memorial Award, 21 October 2017, to David Singleton, Executive Director, OJPC
Greater Cincinnati National Action Network Equity and Social Justice Award, 8 Oct 2016, to David Singleton, Executive Director, OJPC
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center King Legacy Award, 20 Jan 2014, to David Singleton, Executive Director, OJPC
City of Cincinnati Resolution R/18 2018, recognizing April 2018 as "Second Chance Month" due to OJPC's Second Chance Program
Mayor and City of Cincinnati proclaim 19 Oct 2017 as "OJPC Anniversary Day"
State of Ohio, General Assembly and Senate Honor OJPC on its 20th Anniversary, 9 Oct 2017
Hamilton County Board of Commissions Proclamation in Recognition of OJPC: 9 September 2015 declared OJPC Day
Why Work For Us?: 

The vibe is informal.  The quality of work and commitment to clients is tops.  We live by our motto, "We do not write people off."  We are a small but mighty team -- our sheer output and creativity rivals much larger offices.  If you join us, we guarantee you will be fully engaged and challenged, given autonomy to act, stretched.  Above all, you will not be bored.  

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Listing Stats

Post Date: 
Apr 20 2018
Active Until: 
May 20 2018
Hiring Organization: 
Ohio Justice & Policy Center
industry: 
Nonprofit