Postgraduate Fellow

Position Title: Postgraduate Fellow
Reports to: Director of Economic Justice
Location: Chicago, IL

The Shriver Center on Poverty Law fights for racial and economic justice. We litigate, shape local policy, and train and convene multi-state networks of lawyers, community leaders, and activists to advance opportunity for all — not just the few. Over nearly 60 years, we have secured hundreds of law and policy victories with and for people experiencing economic instability in Illinois and across the country.

Our country is rife with laws and policies that systematically disadvantage certain groups while advantaging others based on their race, gender, and other facets of their identities. We believe laws and policies — and the institutions that apply them — should be designed to support people. Together, we’re turning this ideal into reality.

We are building a future where all people, families, and future generations have equal dignity, respect, and power under the law. Join the fight at povertylaw.org.

Position Overview: The Shriver Center seeks rising third year law students (3L) interested in a postgraduate fellowship in public interest law. Other qualified candidates include current judicial clerks or master of laws (LLM) students. The project would begin in August or September of 2025.

The fellow would develop a proposal focused on economic justice. The Shriver Center believes that every person deserves to live with dignity and have their basic needs met. To that end, the economic justice team focuses on providing a range of economic supports for people with low income. Our strategies include increasing access to higher paying jobs, raising the minimum wage, providing paid leave, creating new tax credits, and promoting guaranteed income programs. Through the development of progressive tax policies, we seek to fund a more equitable future for Illinois and eliminate government revenue dependent on fines and fees.

The project’s primary focus must be consistent with our racial justice and community-driven advocacy, but we encourage creative ideas that cut across traditional practice areas or involve intersectional issues.

Specific responsibilities may entail conducting legal research and writing, developing legal strategies, providing community training and education, and assisting with grassroots advocacy and coalition work. There may also be components of direct legal aid and advocacy work.

To deepen their learning experience, the fellow will have opportunities to network, develop their skills, and receive subject area training.

The Shriver Center has a significant history of hosting Skadden and Equal Justice Works Fellows. We have also hosted post-graduate fellows who are sponsored by their law schools. We encourage you to consider these options.

Qualifications:

·       Law school graduation no later than May/June 2025.

·       Strong commitment to racial equity and social justice.

·       Demonstrated interest or experience in working with communities of color.

·       Background in economic justice a plus but not required.

·       Excellent research and writing skills.

·       Experience with public interest law.

·       Ability to work well as a team member.

·       Self-direction and self-motivation, creativity in problem solving, and ability to work collaboratively and independently.

·       Multilingual skills a plus but not required.

This list of qualifications describes those of our ideal candidate. We recognize that these qualifications can be gained through education, work experience, and/or lived experience, and that no one person necessarily has all of these qualifications. We encourage all interested candidates to apply.

Salary/Benefits: Fellowship positions at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law offer a competitive annual salary of $75,470 and a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, generous paid leave, flexible work schedules, pre-tax flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, and a 401(k) plan.

Opening/Closing Date: Open immediately; closed when filled. Applications are accepted and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. A candidate will be selected by early August, leaving a month to work with the Shriver Center’s economic justice team to complete fellowship applications due in early September.

Applications: Send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample of no more than 10 pages with the subject header “2025 Fellowship application” to hr@povertylaw.org. In your cover letter, highlight project topics (specific or general) you are interested in and why, and what has prepared you for a career in public interest law.

At the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, we know that a richly diverse mix of professionals makes organizations more effective. As such, we make demographic and experiential diversity a hallmark and priority of all our work.