KAP 2024-2025 - Legal Assistant - Center for Individual Rights

The Koch Associate Program (KAP) is a career accelerator for early to mid-career professionals with a drive to tackle our country’s most pressing challenges in more effective, principled ways. KAP equips associates with the tools, mindsets, and community to succeed as social entrepreneurs—individuals excited to find new and better ways to break barriers and eliminate injustice. Associates spend one day each week engaging in experiential learning with Stand Together Fellowships and work at one of our many partner organizations the rest of the week. Our curriculum is designed to supercharge your development and equip you for long-term success as you seek to have an impact on the problems that prevent people from realizing their potential.  

About CIR

The Center for Individual Rights is America’s premier nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual liberties against state and federal government abuse. Celebrating its 35th anniversary year, CIR attorneys have won five of seven cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, including first amendment and racial preference victories and the single most important limit on the scope of Congress’s commerce power—as well as achieving a host of other landmark victories for individual rights in other courts.

Reporting on CIR’s first campus speech victory in the Supreme Court, The Washington Post noted that “the Center for Individual Rights takes particular pleasure in battling politically correct administrators who cut down the free expression rights of students and protestors.” We still do. Indeed, our collaborative team finds joy in all the work we pursue to advance freedom, which is increasingly important as free speech denials, distortions of equality under law, and other individual rights violations have multiplied over the last few years.

CIR believes that enlightenment ideals had their greatest expression in America’s founding documents and post-Civil War amendments, with a charter for limited government and guarantees for civil liberties that protect individual rights and promote human flourishing. Those guarantees include structural limits on government, such as the separation of powers and federalism. CIR team members are principled, zealous advocates for restoring that charter and its attendant benefits.

CIR’s strategic model, which includes partnerships with outside cooperating counsel, has made it a nimble champion able to punch well above its weight. It garnered special attention in Steven Teles’s respected study as a model “second-generation” freedom-based public interest law firm. With new leadership, CIR is updating its strategies and expanding internally in several ways.

About the Role

The legal assistant will utilize his or her passion for defending and preserving individual liberties, admirable work ethic, and strong organizational skills to provide crucial support to attorneys’ litigation efforts and to aid in general office and administrative tasks. The legal assistant will work closely with litigators, potentially on multiple cases simultaneously, taking on tasks such as discovery document indexing, preparing for depositions, document preparation, and basic form drafting for others to review.

The legal assistant will also help with other administrative tasks necessary for CIR’s operations, such as document editing/creation, proofreading newsletters or grant proposals, sorting and documenting donations, and mailing out parcels. The legal assistant will act as a valuable jack-of-all-trades that is crucial to CIR’s capabilities in pursuing its goals on all fronts.

The legal assistant will report primarily to the general counsel and litigation director.

• A demonstrated passion for promoting individual liberty and a reasonable understanding of its constitutional foundations.
• Exceptional writing and editing skills.
• A college degree or its equivalent.
• Flexibility and strong multitasking skills; project management experience or training is a strong plus.
• Strong organizational capabilities and attention to detail.
• Experience with Microsoft Excel/Adobe Acrobat.
• A willingness to travel on occasion to assist in depositions, trials, or related activities.
• A collaborative spirit, leavened with a sense of humor to challenge government malefactors in a relentless and disciplined manner but without forgetting the bright side of life.

The Center for Individual Rights’ mission has a nationwide focus. We select individual cases to set constitutional precedents that have broad applications. CIR has also positively influenced public policy and general public discourse.

CIR’s headquarters are in DC, but we have embraced some flexible and hybrid work arrangements. The ideal candidate would be able to work out of CIR’s DC office on a regular schedule. Fully remote work is likely not possible. The amount of time the legal assistant will need to spend in the DC office is subject to individual discussion.

This is a full-time, permanent position. CIR is an equal opportunity employer that provides a generous compensation package that includes a competitive salary, premium medical and dental insurance, employer-paid retirement contributions, and other attractive benefits. CIR takes pride in its employees and encourages continuous professional growth, a meaningful personal and family life, and the pursuit of other intellectual and creative endeavors.

The projected salary range for this role is $50,000-75,000, contingent upon the specific skills and experience of the selected candidate. We might be willing to explore higher compensation for an exceptional candidate with significant, relevant experience or a lower range for a promising, less experienced candidate.

How to Apply

Qualified candidates should submit the following in one PDF document:

·       A cover letter explaining why you meet each of the qualifications listed above, why you want a career helping to sue the government in the defense of liberty, and what sets you apart from other applicants;·        

·       Your resume, including your educational and professional experience.

Applications must also be submitted to Talent Market via this link: talentmarket.org/apply-for-your-dream-job/.

Questions can be directed to Stephanie Keaveney, Senior Manager of Outreach at Talent Market, who is managing the search process: Stephanie@talentmarket.org.

While we thank all applicants in advance for their interest in this position, we are only able to contact those to whom we can offer an interview. Only direct applications will be considered. No phone calls, please.

Talent Market is a nonprofit entity dedicated to promoting liberty by helping free-market nonprofits identify talent for critical roles. We provide consulting and recruiting services at no cost to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that clearly and directly focus on advancing the principles of economic freedom, free enterprise, free trade, free speech, property rights, rule of law, and limited regulation.

About Stand Together Fellowships 

Learn more about Stand Together Fellowships.

Stand Together Fellowships believes that diversity in experiences, perspectives, knowledge and ideas fuels creativity, broadens knowledge, and helps drive success. Our admissions office treats all program participants and applicants with honesty, dignity, respect and sensitivity. We welcome all qualified applicants regardless of color, race, religion, religious creed, sex, gender or gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, ethnicity, ancestry, age, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy (including medical needs which may arise from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), military and veteran status, genetic information, marital or familial status, political affiliation, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances.