Description
The Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School invites applications for summer fellow positions. The summer fellows will assist in all aspects of the Clinic’s ongoing litigation and other activities.
About MFIA
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. 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, challenges to retaliatory discrimination among journalists by public officials, and protection of news sources, including whistleblower defense and challenges to restrictions on government employee speech;
- Challenges to the spread of misinformation, including libel claims against a prime purveyor of false election information;
- Freedom of Information Act litigation seeking disclosure of records concerning such issues as healthcare for inmates in state prison, controversial FDA drug approvals, and the United States government’s torture program in the wake of September 11th; and
- Litigation and policy work raising issues of algorithmic accountability, challenging the lack of transparency and accountability in public agencies’ use of algorithms from school placement to parole.
More information about our work is available on MFIA’s website. The Clinic is a program of the Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression at the Information Society Project.
Summer Fellows
The summer fellows 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 fellows will also have the opportunity to work on a research project of their choosing related to the topics of media freedom, information access, and free speech.
The Clinic anticipates that the summer fellows this year will work in New Haven at Yale Law School. Depending on public health conditions and the summer fellow’s individual situation, the Clinic and the summer fellow may agree to a partial or fully remote arrangement.
The summer fellows will work under the supervision of David Schulz, Director of the MFIA Clinic and Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP; Rachel Davidson, Craig Newmark Fellow; and Kelsey Eberly, Abrams 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.
Salary
A MFIA fellow receives a stipend of $666/week for up to 12 weeks, with a 10-week minimum commitment. Start date is flexible.
Application Instructions:
Submit a cover letter, résumé, and law school transcript (unofficial transcripts OK) – ideally, as a single PDF file. There is no need to submit a writing sample at this time, but one may be requested of applicants.
Applications will be accepted immediately and will be considered on a rolling basis until March 15, 2023. 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:
Kelsey Eberly
Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic
kelsey.eberly@yale.edu
Application Deadline:
March 15, 2023
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