Equal Justice Works Fellow - Hybrid Position

Maryland Legal Aid (MLA) announces a full-time, two-year Equal Justice Works (EJW) Attorney Fellowship (EJW Fellow) who will work closely with MLA colleagues to implement this statewide, ground-breaking law that will provide a right to legal assistance and representation to tenants facing eviction or termination of their housing subsidy. The EJW Fellowships are immediately available for hire.

The EJW Fellows’ work will be directly supervised by the chief attorney for the Cecil/Harford office in collaboration with the Advocacy Director of Human Right to Housing and Deputy Advocacy Director of the Tenant Right to Counsel Project in MLA’s Statewide Advocacy Support (SAS) Unit. This two-year position is funded by Equal Justice Works, Maryland Legal Services Corporation, and MLA.

The EJW Fellow will be placed in the Cecil/Harford office to work predominantly in Cecil County. The Fellow will implement access to counsel through same-day representation in district court and conduct targeted outreach efforts to increase the visibility and utilization of ACE and MLA’s role.

General Information: Maryland Legal Aid (MLA) has operated under the Access to Counsel in Evictions Program since October 2022, implementing the right to counsel in eviction proceedings and housing subsidy terminations. We dramatically increased our representation in landlord-tenant matters through our phased rollout of the Tenant Right to Counsel Project (TRCP). We provide legal representation for all case types covered under the law; however, our priority population is tenants living in subsidized housing, as eviction judgments pose severe consequences.

Cecil County is experiencing significant gaps in housing justice services due to a lack of service provision. MLA has implemented same-day representation in other jurisdictions, ensuring tenants receive immediate legal assistance. This has proven to be an effective strategy for preventing involuntary displacement. However, same-day representation alone does not reach tenants facing subsidy terminations at the same rate.

For this purpose, MLA seeks an organized, proactive, and collaborative individual as an EJW Attorney Fellow who can assist in developing MLA’s approach to this work and help execute its implementation. Excellent candidates are attorneys interested in serving low-income clients, specifically addressing tenants’ needs to promote housing stability and providing tenants’ access to counsel as outlined in the Maryland State law. In addition, the EJW Fellow candidate will have a foundational knowledge of housing-related legal issues and experience working in community settings with tenants and service providers alike. Candidates will also have the opportunity to learn about national best practices through training provided by MLA and Equal Justice Works, which provides programmatic support and training for the EJW Attorney Fellows through its Housing Justice Program.

MLA’s and EJW’s Collaboration to Provide Access to Counsel in Evictions

To implement the work noted above, MLA has been selected by Equal Justice Works as an implementing partner of Equal Justice Works’ Housing Justice Program. Equal Justice Works is the nation’s largest facilitator of opportunities in public interest law. The Equal Justice Works Housing Justice Program is a program comprised of Attorney EJW Fellows and EJW Organizer Fellows who, over the course of a two-year EJW Fellowship term, will be part of a targeted initiative to address the justice gap in Maryland through responsive, context-specific innovations and interventions focused on housing justice. Specifically, EJW Attorney Fellows and Organizer Fellows will serve at one of the participating community-based and/or legal services organizations and work as a unified front to fight a variety of injustices related to housing instability and involuntary displacement in Maryland, particularly due to eviction.

An Equal Justice Works EJW Fellowship is an opportunity to transform your passion for equal justice into a career. As a Housing Justice Program Fellow, you will be part of a prestigious program that, since its inception in 2019 in Virginia, has successfully improved housing stability in served communities by preventing more than 4,000 tenants from being evicted and conducting education and outreach efforts for more than 40,000 people. Most critically, former EJW Fellows of the Housing Justice Program helped generate momentum for tenants to have the right to be represented by counsel in housing cases – a legal right to counsel – something that seemed inconceivable in Virginia just two years ago. Building on the success of EJW Fellows in Virginia, Equal Justice Works is expanding the Housing Justice Program to Maryland.

As a Fellow, you will develop experience and skills to be a leader in social justice while promoting tenant protections and working directly with households experiencing housing instability. As a cohort, EJW Fellows are expected to participate in peer-to-peer learning and required training delivered by Equal Justice Works and training partners throughout the year. In addition, EJW Fellows will attend Equal Justice Works’ Leadership Development Training in October 2025 and 2026.

Each selected Fellow will be employed by Maryland Legal Aid to fulfill all EJW Fellowship duties at a local and/or state level. Each Fellow will report to MLA’s Assistant Director of Advocacy for the Access to Counsel in Evictions (ACE) Program for day-to-day supervision, mentoring, and performance evaluation.

Qualifications:

• Licensed to practice law in Maryland.
• Commitment to social justice.
• Excellent writing, communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with diverse populations.
• Strong oral and negotiation skills and a demonstrated ability to collaborate and work as a team member.
• Prior experience in managing independent projects or assignments.
• Experience with delivering training and presentations a plus.
• Work with diverse economic, social, and cultural populations, including having worked in a law school clinic, externship, summer program, or other relevant practice experience.
• Ability to speak a second language preferred.
• Knowledge of housing benefits law and/or experience with housing and benefits agencies.
• An ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary setting to facilitate a coordinated community response and provide holistic services to clients.
• Creativity and flexibility in solving problems and meeting challenges.

NOTE: All EJW Fellows are expected to fulfill the entire duration of the EJW Fellowship and will be required to sign the EJW Fellowship Agreement with Equal Justice Works.