Constitutional Litigator — Children’s Rights

The Center for the Rights of Abused Children seeks an experienced constitutional litigator to help build a nationwide jurisprudence of children’s rights.

This is not a traditional child welfare position.

We are developing strategic litigation aimed at securing and enforcing the constitutional rights of abused and abandoned children in state and federal courts across the country. Our cases involve questions of due process, equal protection, family integrity, permanency, state accountability, property rights, access to counsel, transparency, educational opportunity, and the constitutional limits on government power affecting children and families.

We are looking for a lawyer who has spent years in the trenches of serious civil litigation — someone comfortable taking difficult cases, developing novel legal theories, litigating against government actors, building appellate records, and thinking several moves ahead.

The ideal candidate:

• Has at least 5 years of substantial constitutional, civil rights, appellate, or impact litigation experience;
• Has significant experience in federal court;
• Writes exceptionally well, exercises sound judgment, and thinks strategically;
• Is intellectually curious, entrepreneurial, and mission-driven;
• Is willing to challenge entrenched legal doctrines and conventional assumptions;
• Believes constitutional text and structure matter;
• Understands the judiciary’s role in enforcing constitutional limits on government power;
• Is comfortable litigating high-stakes and potentially precedent-setting cases;
• Can work independently while helping build a long-term litigation strategy.

This position is designed for litigators interested in shaping precedent, not simply processing cases. Experience in child welfare or dependency law is helpful but not required. We are more interested in exceptional litigators than subject-matter specialists.

The position will involve:

• Building and litigating constitutional cases at every stage of litigation — in both state and federal courts — including investigation, pleadings, discovery, motion practice, evidentiary hearings, trial, and appeal;
• Developing affirmative litigation campaigns;
• Working with co-counsel, law firms, academics, and nonprofit partners nationwide;
• Investigating and developing new cases;
• Travel for hearings, trials, strategy meetings, and speaking engagements.