Federal Capital Appellate Paralegal Two-Year Program

The Federal Capital Appellate Resource Counsel Project is accepting applications for a two-year paralegal position. This position offers an excellent opportunity to gain substantive exposure to criminal law, criminal justice, prison-conditions advocacy, and direct client work, particularly for those with an interest in the death penalty.

The three attorneys who make up the Project, which is part of the Federal Public Defender program, work to overturn federal death sentences across the country. We represent persons sentenced to death in federal courts across the country in their appeal proceedings. The Project attorneys also consult with and train other lawyers handling such appeals, as well as consulting with trial lawyers, recruiting counsel for death penalty cases, and advising courts on appointments. As part of our direct-representation responsibilities, we file lengthy appellate briefs in the federal courts of appeal and the United States Supreme Court — pleadings, often well in excess of 100 pages, that lay out legal challenges to their clients’ convictions and sentences. To assist the attorneys, the paralegal will review and check factual and legal citations and manage physical production and filing of the final briefs and other pleadings. 

Federal capital appeals also involve massive trial records, involving tens of thousands of pages of transcripts, pleadings, and attorney files, in paper and electronic formats. The paralegal will work with the attorneys to collect, organize, and maintain the extensive records from trials, including transcripts, exhibits, motions, and prior attorney files. 

Additionally, the paralegal will be one of the primary sources of support for clients on death row in solitary confinement, which includes being in regular communication with clients through phone calls and visits.

The paralegal’s other responsibilities will include:

•           assisting the attorneys in preparing and organizing materials for training seminars;

•           conducting non-legal research in public and media databases, and some limited legal research; and

•           helping to collect, organize, maintain, and analyze data on federal capital cases.

Ideal candidates are self-motivated, independent workers, with experience or strong commitment to working with and advocating on behalf of indigent clients. We seek candidates with a sense of humor and flexibility, as well as an appreciation of the obstacles faced by our clients, including issues of race, ethnicity, gender, mental health, and sexual orientation. Given the document-intensive nature of the work, organizational skills, attention to detail, and time-management are key, as is the ability to maintain absolute client confidentiality. Also crucial is the ability to handle sometimes graphic and upsetting material, and to work with people who have experienced significant traumas and who are experiencing isolation and severe conditions of confinement.

We are looking for one paralegal to begin in early fall 2023 in our Brooklyn office.