Fellowship, Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic – Yale University

Description:

The Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School invites applications for a summer fellow position. The summer fellow will assist in all aspects of the Clinic’s ongoing litigation and other activities.

The Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic is a law student clinic dedicated to increasing government transparency, defending the essential work of news gatherers, and protecting freedom of expression. It provides pro bono legal services to journalists and news organizations, pursues impact litigation, and develops policy initiatives in support of the Clinic’s mission. More information about our work is available on our website. The Clinic is a program of the Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression at the Information Society Project.

The Clinic’s current matters include, among others:

·      Lawsuits defending the newsgathering rights of journalists, including a challenge to prohibitions on camera use in the Texas drone law and a challenge to President Trump’s use of his official powers to retaliate against disfavored news organizations;

·      Lawsuits to expand and enforce the First Amendment access right, which seek to compel access to lethal injection executions and to preclude secret arrests;

·      Lawsuits seeking access to court records in Guantanamo habeas proceedings and to substantive opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court;

·      Freedom of Information Act litigation seeking disclosure of records concerning such issues as Executive branch conflicts of interest, intelligence gathering authority and surveillance activities, and local law enforcement conduct; and

·      Providing pre-publication and newsgathering advice to small online and non-profit news organizations.

The summer fellow will be responsible for assisting in all aspects of the Clinic’s current matters, including drafting pleadings and briefs in pending lawsuits, drafting FOIA requests and other submissions to government agencies, and conducting legal research in support of current or future cases.  The fellow will also have the opportunity to work on a research project of his or her choosing related to the topics of media freedom, information access, and free speech.

The summer fellow will work under the supervision of David Schulz, Director of the MFIA Clinic and Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP; Charles Crain, Clinical Lecturer in Law and Stanton First Amendment Fellow; Jennifer Pinsof, Clinical Lecturer in Law and Abrams Clinical Fellow; and Francesca Procaccini, Clinical Lecturer in Law and Ruttenberg Clinical Fellow.

Qualifications:

Applicants must have completed at least one year of law school. Applicants should have an interest in issues of press freedom, open government, free speech, law and technology, and/or civil liberties.

Application Info:

The fellows will receive a stipend of $590/week for up to 12 weeks, with a 10-week minimum commitment.

To apply for a fellowship, submit a cover letter, resume, and law school transcript (unofficial transcripts OK). No need to submit a writing sample at this time.

Applications will be accepted immediately and will be considered on a rolling basis until March 15, 2020. The positions may be filled before the listed deadline, and we encourage you to submit your application as early as possible.

Applications or inquiries should be submitted electronically to:

Charles Crain, Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic: Charles.Crain@yale.edu

Application:

Interested applicants can view the posting here.