Policing Project 2024-2025 Legal Fellows

The Policing Project at NYU Law is seeking to hire Legal Fellows to join our team for the 2024- 2025 academic year. This unique opportunity is open to current 1Ls and 2Ls (rising 2Ls and 3Ls). Legal Fellows commit to working approximately 10 hours per week during the Fall and Spring semesters and will receive a stipend of $6,000 for their efforts.

The Policing Project’s Mission

The Policing Project partners with communities and police to promote public safety through transparency, equity, and democratic engagement. We work across a broad range of issues—from use of force and racial profiling, to law enforcement use of AI-powered technology. We do so in close collaboration with groups from across the ideological spectrum and with stakeholders that typically find themselves at odds, including policing agencies, community organizations, governments, and other non-profits. Our work takes us all over the country and is moving the needle in tangible ways. 

We also are deeply involved in efforts to reimagine what public safety should look like. Too often government has turned to the police to address social problems, when armed officers are not the answer, but other social services—governmental and community-based—are. We have a national research and redesign effort underway, including deep engagement with impacted communities, to transform substantially what public safety means and how it is achieved.

We bring a new approach to this fraught area, one grounded in democratic values. In particular, our work focuses on ensuring accountability and democratic participation on the front end. Front-end accountability involves promoting public voice in setting transparent, ethical, and effective policing policies and practices before the police act. The goal is achieving public safety in a manner that is equitable, non-discriminatory, and respectful of public values.

Learn more about our work on our website: PolicingProject.org.

Responsibilities of Legal Fellows

Legal Fellows engage in a wide variety of work depending on the Policing Project’s priorities.

Responsibilities include:

  • Conducting a wide range of factual and legal research for our impact litigation challenging anti-democratic and unlawful policing practices. Past projects include:

    • Conducting legal research about a potential plaintiff’s Bivens claim against federal law enforcement officers for an unlawful search and seizure;

    • Researching the standing requirements to bring a lawsuit challenging the use of automated license plate readers by a government agency.

  • Drafting model policies, statutes, and public-facing materials. For example:

    • Outlining a comprehensive regulatory framework for law enforcement use of robots and drones designed to protect the public’s civil rights and civil liberties;

    • Synthesizing statewide regulatory approaches to police officer discipline and decertification to develop a model statute;

    • Authoring blog posts and explainers for our website.

  • Providing event and meeting support, such as planning agendas and supporting the events and communications teams in organizing closed door and public events. Example events include:

    • Webinar on law enforcement use of pretextual traffics stops spotlighting community voices in conversation about their lived experience of these stops and sharing the Policing Project and peer organizations’ advocacy efforts to rein in this practice;

    • Convening on non-police emergency response that brought together 150 alternative responders, municipal leaders, federal officials, and philanthropic organizations to plan for the future of this growing field.

Legal Fellows will work closely with the Policing Project’s leadership team, including Professor Barry Friedman, and with other members of the Policing Project staff. Our work often requires close collaboration with both community groups advocating for police reform and with active police officials. Legal Fellows should be comfortable with this type of broad engagement.

Legal Fellows must commit to working approximately 10 hours per week throughout the academic year, attend Policing Project weekly staff meetings and any additional meetings pertaining to your projects through the year, and attend Policing Project public events (conferences, salons, etc.) as often as possible.

Application Instructions

To apply to be a Legal Fellow, submit a cover letter, resume, transcript, short writing sample (10 pages or fewer), and at least two references to applications@policingproject.org. Indicate “Legal Fellow Application” in the subject line. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the positions are filled. 

Alumni of our legal fellow program are available to provide additional information and answer applicant questions. They may be contacted at:

  • Tanisha Francis, tanisha.francis@nyu.edu

  • Annie Gersh, ag9343@nyu.edu

  • Leni Kagan, erk9109@nyu.edu

  • Aslesha Parchure, ap6335@nyu.edu

The Policing Project heartily welcomes applicants from diverse background and is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, citizenship status, color, disability, marital or parental status, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.

EOE/AA/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.