Counsel - Building The Bench

Job titleBuilding the Bench CounselReports toHelen Rosenthal Building the Bench DirectorFLSA StatusExempt PositionAlliance for Justice (AFJ) is a national association of over 140 organizations representing a broad array of groups committed to progressive values and the creation of an equitable, just, and free society. AFJ is headquartered in Washington, DC, with remote staff in various other locations. For more information about Alliance for Justice, please visitwww.afj.org.

Job Purpose

AFJ and AFJ Action Campaign are seeking a lawyer with two or more years of experience to serve in the role of Building the Bench Counsel. The Counsel will be an integral part of the Justice Team and will help develop and achieve AFJ and AFJ Action Campaign’s Building the Bench (BtB) goals. Those goals include transforming our courts by developing a pool of highly qualified state and federal judicial nominees to put forward for selection, as well as a complementary campaign to highlight the importance of filling those vacancies with professionally and demographically diverse movement lawyers.

The BtB Counsel will help lead BtB’s tracking, training, advocacy, research, coalition, and Judicial Legacies work, with primary responsibility for tracking systems, research, and event management. At times, the Counsel will also assist the federal court team and the state courts team with post-nomination work like advocacy, nominee reports, substantive reports, and multimedia campaigns.

The BtB program continues to evolve in response to changes in judicial selection and the broader legal and political landscape. We are looking for someone who combines strong legal judgment with intellectual curiosity, enjoys building relationships across the legal community, and is eager to develop thoughtful new approaches that strengthen our research, outreach, and long-term judicial pipeline.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Counsel will report to the Building the Bench Director and will be responsible for the following:

• Identify and research potential qualified candidates for the BtB pipeline, with an emphasis on expanding the professional and demographic diversity of future nominees;

• Oversee the research of potential nominees, including in coordination with law firms, initiative partners, outside counsel, and volunteers;

• Review and edit research, op-eds, fact sheets, and reports for our federal and state courts work, including those about specific nominees as well as substantive topics like judicial diversity;

• Maintain and improve data tracking systems, processes, and workflows — including spreadsheets and databases — that inform strategy and strengthen candidate recruitment, outreach, and the overall effectiveness of the BtB program;

• Identify opportunities to leverage emerging technologies to strengthen BtB’s research, outreach, candidate recruitment and tracking, and operational effectiveness;

• Assist BtB Director to set team strategies, identify geographic priorities, and craft a continually developing work plan for BtB and judicial legacies;

• Draft, review, and edit communications materials for BtB, including fact sheets, blog posts, reports, website content, press materials, and social media;

• Support meetings with key legislative and executive offices in coordination with the state and federal courts teams;

• Liaise and help build relationships with partner groups, nominations coalition, AFJ members, and other thought-leaders and allied organizations;

• Cultivate relationships with attorneys, community leaders, and partner organizations to identify, recruit, and support prospective judicial candidates;

• Coordinate with the state and federal courts teams to develop relationships with key judicial gatekeepers;

• Speak at legal and policy conferences, and brief academics, member organizations, and other audiences on BtB and other initiatives;

• Identify state and federal judges who should be honored for their legacies and do outreach to the clerk networks of those judges;

• Help plan and execute judicial legacies events (in coordination with other internal teams);

• Work with the communications team on the external presence for BtB and judicial legacies initiatives;

• Develop and maintain clear documentation of processes, workflows, and strategic priorities;

• Engage law firms, outside counsel, law students, and non-attorney volunteers to advance BtB initiatives and strengthen the judicial pipeline;

• Coordinate coalition efforts to track and strategize around federal magistrate judge vacancies and nominations;

• Assist BtB Director to engage and support the BtB Advisory Council and AFJ Action board;

• Other duties as assigned.

Desired Qualifications:

• J.D. and 2+ years of experience in legal, policy, or advocacy work. This can include experience working with or for nonprofit organizations, conducting policy analysis, issuebased campaigns, providing legal technical assistance, or similar public interest activities, which may also include the practice of law or judicial clerkship;

• Strong proficiency with spreadsheets (e.g., Google Sheets and Excel) and experience managing data to support programmatic and strategic work;

• Experience managing and analyzing data to inform strategy and decision-making;

• Demonstrated willingness to learn new technologies and adopt practical tools — including AI — to improve research, collaboration, project management, and organizational effectiveness;

• Experience in judicial pipelines, judicial clerkships, civil rights, labor, consumer, public interest and/or constitutional law is preferred;

• Strong legal research skills and a demonstrated ability or willingness to quickly develop expertise on the laws and processes governing state and federal judicial appointments and elections;

• Strong networking experience with progressive coalitions and legal communities;

• Capacity to manage multiple long-term and short-term projects simultaneously;

• Experience coordinating staff across various geographies and issue areas;

• Excellent oral and written communications skills, shifting for different audiences;

• Demonstrated commitment to underrepresented and diverse constituencies;

• Strong comfort and effectiveness in a remote work environment, including responsiveness and willingness to engage on video calls;

• Experience working with CRM databases, project management software, or other collaborative technology platforms preferred;

• Demonstrated initiative in improving processes, developing new approaches, or strengthening organizational systems;

• Ability to keep all job-acquired information confidential;

• Ability to inspire and work collegially with others;

• Ability to work quickly and independently under pressure, with shifting deadlines and priorities;

• Passion for civil rights, social justice, and judicial advocacy; and

• Strong interpersonal skills and positive attitude.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working on federal or state judicial nominations, court reform, or access to justice initiatives;

• Familiarity with the vacancy and selection processes for Article III, federal magistrate, and state appellate judgeships;

• Experience collaborating with national or state-level progressive coalitions and civil rights organizations.

Traits That Will Make You Successful In This Role:

• You apply strategic thinking including the ability to connect day-to-day coordination with broader, long-term programmatic and organizational goals;

• You possess exceptional interpersonal skills with a knack for quickly establishing trust and rapport with the legal community and community leaders;

• You are detail-oriented with the capability and track record to manage complex data and track moving parts across multiple court systems;

• You strive to consistently demonstrate a commitment to civil rights, equal justice under law, and diversifying the state and federal bench.

Compensation:

This is a union position covered under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, CWA Local 32035, which includes salary minimums based on job position category. This position is in Group 5 with a starting salary range of $93,425 to $103,582 depending on qualifications and experience.

AFJ also offers a comprehensive and generous benefits program including:

Health – Full employer-paid medical, dental, vision benefits, as well as an employee assistance program for physical and mental well-being. Other Insurance – Employer-paid life and disability insurance.

Savings – Save for retirement with an employer matching 401K plan. Save on out-ofpocket medical and childcare expenses with a flexible spending account.

Annual Leave – We have a generous paid time off policy. Vacation: 11 days for first year of employment, 15 days for second year, and 21 days after 3 years.

Sick Leave – 10 days per year.

Bereavement Leave – Employees are granted 3 days of bereavement for the deaths of immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.).

Family Leave – We provide up to 16 weeks of parental leave and a range of paid and unpaid family leave programs that allow our employees to bond with and care for their children and other dependents.

Work Environment

Geographic Location:

• Contiguous U.S.

Work Arrangement:

• Remote

Typical setting:

• Office

Physical demands:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use a computer and communicate with others while doing so.

• On occasion, travel by car, train, and/or airplane may be required.

Travel requirements:

• Travel to events, such as staff retreats and other work meetings, will be required approximately one to four times per year.

Schedule:

• Full-time

• Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

• Some occasional evening and weekend hours may be required.

Direct Reports:

This is an exempt position that