Linton Joaquin Law Fellow

About the Organization

Founded in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is a leading non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their loved ones. NILC’s mission is grounded in the belief that everyone living in the U.S. regardless of race, gender/gender identity, immigration status, or economic status should have equal access to justice, resources, and educational and economic opportunities that enable them to achieve their full human potential. Together, NILC and the affiliated NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF), a 501(c)(4) organization, work to advocate for federal immigration reform policies. NILC is committed to advancing its mission — which intersects race, immigration status, and class — through a racial, economic, and gender justice and equity orientation.

NILC is at an exciting moment in its organizational trajectory, engaging in substantial impact litigation to protect immigrant rights and through its Democracy Defense Initiative, in tandem with its longstanding work on policy advocacy at the federal and state levels, movement and power building, and narrative change. We are looking for innovative, results-driven, movement-oriented attorneys who are committed to NILC’s mission and shared values of racial justice & equity, diversity, partnerships & collaboration, respect & personal well-being.

About the Role

This two-year fellowship is designed for an attorney who has just graduated from law school or who graduated no more than two years before the Fellowship would start, has spent the intervening time either clerking for a judge or in another fellowship or term-limited position, and has a demonstrated commitment to civil rights, immigrants’ rights, and/or racial justice.

The NILC Law Fellowship is an integral part of NILC’s commitment to supporting and developing the next generation of immigrants’ rights advocates and to advancing cutting-edge immigrants’ rights work. The Fellow will primarily assist with our impact litigation, with opportunities to engage in policy advocacy and narrative change work.

The Fellowship is available for a two-year term from September 2027 through September 2029.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling-basis through Friday, November 6th, 2026 at 9 pm Pacific (12 am Eastern).

This role is a member of the Bargaining Unit.

The Law Fellow will be responsible for driving success in the following key areas.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

· Assist with all aspects of impact litigation, including investigation and fact development, plaintiff outreach, legal research, drafting and reviewing filings and correspondence, discovery, motion practice, and appellate advocacy.

· Work closely with NILC legal team members and external partners and co-counsel to develop litigation with maximum impact on low-income immigrant communities

· Collaborate with and support other departments within NILC’s advocacy department, which may include coordinating with the policy and/or communications departments to use impact litigation to amplify NILC’s policy advocacy, external messaging, and narrative change work.

· Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

· Fellows will be recent graduates (0-2 years) from law school and will have spent any time since graduation in a term-limited position (e.g., judicial clerkship or other fellowship).

· Bar membership or willingness to sit for next state bar required.

· Knowledge of and demonstrated interest in civil rights, immigrants’ rights, and/or racial justice.

· Prior experience working with/ties to low-income immigrant communities, and/or communities of color.

· Excellent oral and written communication skills

· Values working cooperatively with others, both within the organization and in the community

· Proficiency in a foreign language (particularly Spanish, Haitian Creole, Chinese, Vietnamese or Arabic) is desired but not required.

· Prior exposure to civil rights law, administrative law, immigration law, and/or habeas is desired but not required.

To Apply:

Please submit a cover letter, a resume, three academic or professional references, and a legal writing sample (such as a research memo or court filing) no longer than 5 pages. If the legal writing sample is an excerpt from a longer work, please provide context for the writing sample. Please provide a writing sample of which you are the sole author and note the extent of editing received from others.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling-basis through Friday, November 6th, 2026, at 9pm Pacific.

NILC is an equal opportunity employer; people of color and individuals from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. NILC does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, citizenship status, ethnic background, religion, political orientation, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or any other protected class. We consider all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative.

Work Environment

Remote work locations are as follows: (Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin). To be considered, applicants must live in one of the work locations during the fellowship.

Location & Travel:

NILC's office is located in Washington, D.C. For this role, up to 10-20% of overnight interstate travel may be required; travel is typically quarterly to the NILC Washington, DC office or another location within the US for 3-5 nights.

Compensation & Benefits:

NILC’s compensation and benefits philosophy is to provide a competitive offering in the nonprofit sector and ensure equity across the organization. The salary for this opportunity is $72,500.

NILC's benefits package includes medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D, STD, and LTD insurance, healthcare and dependent care FSA, stipends and/or reimbursements for wellness, phone, and internet, generous paid time off, a robust holiday schedule, an employee assistance program (EAP), along with additional voluntary insurance packages.