Associate Research Scholar / Supervising Attorney

Columbia Law School seeks an experienced human rights advocate with a strong interest in clinical teaching to join the Human Rights Clinic as the Clinic's Associate Research Scholar / Supervising Attorney, beginning in the summer of 2024.

The Human Rights Clinic trains students to be leaders in human rights advocacy. Students work on social justice advocacy around the world, in partnership with civil society, communities, and those directly affected by abuse. Through the Clinic, students learn the main tools to advance human rights as well as the theory and critique of human rights.

The Supervising Attorney will work in the Human Rights Clinic, with its directors, staff, and students to advance human rights and address global power imbalances around the world. They will do this through a range of activities including implementing clinical projects, syllabus development, teaching, scholarly research and writing, and human rights programming.

The Supervising Attorney will be an integral part of the Columbia human rights community, and will play a key role in fostering this community, especially through the Law School's Human Rights Institute (HRI), the hub of human rights research, advocacy, and education at Columbia. Over the course of their appointment, they will undertake increasing responsibility in the Clinic, including designing and teaching clinic seminars; building and leading clinic projects in partnership with civil society organizations and impacted communities; providing close supervision, guidance, and feedback to teams of students working on those projects; and conducting scholarly research and writing. Through this work, they will be equipping students with the skills necessary to be strategic and creative human rights advocates, critically analyze human rights, and advance innovative human rights methodologies. The Supervising Attorney will be provided extensive professional, teaching, practice, and scholarship mentoring from the Clinic Director and other senior staff at the Clinic and HRI.

The duration of the appointment is for a period of three years, which may be renewable for up to two years based on performance. This is a non-tenure track position. The Associate Research Scholar / Supervising Attorney will hold the University title of Associate Research Scholar. They will also hold a secondary instructional appointment, pending faculty approval, as a Lecturer in Law for each semester in which they teach in the Clinic.

Minimum Qualifications:

• J.D. or equivalent legal degree (e.g. LLB).
• Strong academic qualifications
• A minimum of three to five years of experience working as an international human rights advocate

Preferred Qualifications:

• A deep commitment to rigorous, pragmatic, creative, and self-reflective social justice and human rights work;
• A deep commitment to teaching and mentoring new generations of advocates, a passion for education, and a strong interest in pedagogy theory and practice;
• Strong interest and ability in challenging existing norms and methods in the human rights field, and an interest in pursuing new interdisciplinary and critical research and scholarship;
• A strong education in and awareness of critiques of human rights, and a commitment to integrating those critiques into human rights practice;
• Experience, initiative, and ability to undertake independent research;
• Substantive legal and practical knowledge across multiple human rights issues;
• Strong interest and commitment to fostering an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive environment within the clinic, as well as to empowering others to bring their full identities, backgrounds, and perspectives to seminars and projects;
• Knowledge of and exceptional ability to implement the wide range of tactics and tools employed in the human rights field, and commitment to the strategic use of these to challenge existing injustices and hierarchies, including within the human rights field itself;
• Project, team, and time management skills, and excellent interpersonal skills;
• Deep personal commitment and ability to work in mutually empowering, collaborative, and rights-respecting partnerships and coalitions, including in particular with communities affected by human rights violations; and
• Second language abilities.

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Pay Transparency Disclosure

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.