October 18, 2005

CAREER OPPORTUNITY

Senior Staff Attorney

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Capital Punishment Project

The newly expanded Capital Punishment Project of the American Civil Liberties Union invites applications for a Senior Staff Attorney to work in the Project's Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, office. When fully staffed, the Project is expected to have three full-time litigators, a mitigation specialist, a state strategist, a paralegal and two support staff.

THE ACLU'S CAPITAL PUNISHMENT PROJECT:

Through a nationwide program of strategic litigation and public advocacy, the Project will focus on the unfairness and arbitrariness of capital punishment while working toward its ultimate goal of abolishing the death penalty.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

The Senior Staff Attorney will be responsible for coordinating and litigating cases in federal and state courts under the supervision of the Project's Director. The Senior Staff Attorney will help to identify appropriate cases, draft pleadings and briefs, and appear in court. The work may include monitoring case investigation and mitigation, working with expert witnesses, including mental-health experts, and preparing and trying capital cases, both at the innocence phase and the possible penalty phase. The work will also include supporting and promoting the work of the ACLU's local affiliates on capital punishment issues, engaging in public advocacy, including in the media, at conferences and other public settings, and participating where appropriate on relevant task forces and coalitions.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Applicants must be members in good standing of a state bar with ten or more years of legal experience and five or more years of capital litigation experience (including, preferably, some trial and direct appeal experience and some civil litigation experience); a demonstrated understanding of capital mitigation and mental-health issues; an ability to communicate clearly and persuasively both verbally and in writing; excellent analytic, legal research and writing skills; the ability to solve complex legal questions; the ability to travel throughout the country, including the Deep South; the ability to work collegially within the ACLU and other organizations; and a commitment to the mission and goals of the Project and the ACLU.

SALARY AND BENEFITS:

Salary is commensurate with experience, within the parameters of the ACLU compensation scale. An excellent benefits package is provided

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

Applications should consist of a current resume, a brief statement of the reasons the position is being sought, the names, phone numbers, and addresses of at least three references, and an original legal writing sample. Applications should be sent to:

Capital Punishment Project -Annie Maurer

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American Civil Liberties Union

125 Broad Street, 18th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Or

hrjobs@aclu.org

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, which will not be before December 1, 2005.

Please indicate in your cover letter where you found this job posting.