2026-2027 Legal Fellow (Student)

The Policing Project at NYU Law is seeking to hire Legal Fellows to join our team for the 2026-2027 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.

  • Assisting with 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;

    • Creating a practical guide for male employees to support women in policing.

  • 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 300 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 the rest 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 throughout 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. 

NYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring process without regard to age, alienage, caregiver status, childbirth, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, familial status, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital status, military status, national origin, parental status, partnership status, predisposing genetic characteristics, pregnancy, race, religion, reproductive health decision making, sex, sexual orientation, unemployment status, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. All interested persons are encouraged to apply at all levels.