John Payton Appellate and Supreme Court Advocacy Fellowship

The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the country’s first and foremost civil and human rights law organization. Founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, who subsequently became the first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, LDF was launched at a time when the nation’s aspirations for equality and due process of law were stifled by widespread state-sponsored racial inequality. From that era to the present, LDF’s mission has been transformative — to achieve racial justice, equality, and an inclusive society.

LDF’s litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education programs in the substantive areas of criminal justice, economic justice, education, and political participation seek to ensure the fundamental and basic human rights of all people to quality education, economic opportunity, the right to vote and fully participate in democracy, and the right to a fair and just judicial system. LDF continues to make an impact in the area of public service and was recognized by Fast Company as one of its 2023 Brands That Matter under its public service category.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) seeks a junior attorney with less than four years of practice who is creative and highly motivated for the John Payton Appellate and Supreme Advocacy Fellowship to serve in the D.C., New York, or Atlanta office, with a preference for a fellow to serve in the Washington, D.C. office. The opportunity is a term-limited, two-year fellowship position.

LDF operates in a hybrid work environment where employees are expected to be in the office a minimum of two days per week, unless otherwise indicated. Any candidate selected for this position should be prepared to work in the office location assigned at least two days per week and should be available to begin the position in the Fall of 2026.

John Payton:

John Payton was the sixth President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s preeminent civil rights and racial justice law firm. A brilliant litigator, John dedicated his life to justice, equality, and opportunity. He passed away unexpectedly on March 22, 2012, after a brief illness. Upon his passing, President Barack Obama remembered John as a “legend” and “a true champion of equality,” whose “courage and fierce opposition to discrimination in all its forms” would never be forgotten.

John was one of the finest lawyers in the country. In 2010 alone, the National Law Journal declared him one of “The Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers,” and the Washington (D.C.) Bar Association awarded him the Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit. John was universally recognized and admired for his inimitable approach to advocacy; razor-sharp intellect; commitment to rigor tempered by the ability to reflect and recalibrate; passion for history; deep curiosity; ability to see around corners; and characteristic confidence and optimism.

John demonstrated his signature brilliance when he served as lead counsel for the University of Michigan in defending its affirmative action policy in Gratz v. Bollinger. John handled this extraordinarily important and high-profile case in the trial court, the court of appeals, and in his argument before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court’s decision in the landmark companion case, Grutter v. Bollinger, upholding race-conscious admissions in higher education, represented the vindication of the strategy that John devised and implemented over more than six years litigating Gratz to support the educational benefits of diversity. During his tenure at LDF, John similarly guided the organization to resounding legal victories, including a Supreme Court victory in Lewis v. City of Chicago, which vindicated the rights of over 6,000 applicants who sought to become firefighters in Chicago.

Although John spent his career seeking out and litigating some of the most important and difficult civil rights cases and issues, he maintained an infectious optimism and confidence that made good things not simply possible, but probable. As LDF’s leader, John reset the odds in the fight for equality. He turned the highest stakes cases—those that were declared “unwinnable” by other experts—into victories.

LDF honors John through the John Payton Fellowship by advancing the painstaking work of our democracy’s founding promise to forge “a more perfect union.”

John Payton Fellowship:

The John Payton Fellowship offers attorneys an unparalleled opportunity to engage in civil rights litigation and advocacy with the nation’s leading civil rights and racial justice law firm. The John Payton Fellowship provides a junior lawyer with the opportunity to work as a staff attorney with LDF. The ideal candidate for the Fellowship has two to three years of litigation experience, along with a deep and abiding commitment to John’s passion: fighting for racial justice. The fellowship is for two years.

Responsibilities:

• Litigating the full range of racial justice issues, including educational opportunity, diversity, adequacy, access, and retention; employment and housing discrimination; voting rights; and criminal justice, with a particular focus on appellate and Supreme Court litigation;
• Drafting, and assisting in the drafting of, petitions for certiorari, merits briefs, and amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court, other federal courts, and state courts;
• Participating in motion practice in federal district court;
• Planning and participating in moots for oral arguments;
• Assisting in the management and strategic development of LDF’s appellate and Supreme Court docket with respect to both amicus and merits briefs;
• Updating the President and Director-Counsel, Associate Director-Counsel, Director of Litigation, and legal staff on significant developments in the Supreme Court and other federal courts;
• Collaborating with LDF’s Communications Departments to ensure effective promotion of cases/matters, and coordinating advocacy tactics to complement the litigation strategy;
• Consulting and advising on complex civil rights impact cases in federal and state courts and before administrative bodies;
• Representing LDF in the media, at conferences, and in other public venues;
• Developing and maintaining relationships with community partners, coalition members, and legal allies, including other civil rights organizations;
• Preparing policy reports, memoranda, briefing papers, public education materials, and talking points for internal and external use;
• Travel as necessary; and
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will:

• Possess a J.D degree and be admitted or eligible to waive into the New York or D.C. Bar;
• Have 1-3 years of litigation experience, including appellate litigation experience;
• Have shown a demonstrated commitment to racial justice and civil rights advocacy;
• Be a strategic thinker; and
• Be an excellent brief writer with exceptional analytical, writing, and speaking skills.
• Additionally, a judicial clerkship is preferred but is not required.

Candidates are expected to submit a cover letter, resume, and writing sample for consideration. Writing samples should be a piece of legal writing that you authored yourself. While it may have been reviewed or edited by others, it should primarily reflect your own work and should be no more than 10-15 pages in length.

The salary range for this position is (1 to 3 years post-law school graduate):

New York: $94,000 - $112,000

Washington, D.C.: $90,000 - $107,500

Atlanta: $81,500 - $97,000

This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements, or working conditions associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. This description does not constitute a contract of employment, and LDF may exercise its employment-at-will rights at any time.

LDF offers all eligible employees a generous benefits package. To learn more, click the following link 2026 Benefits Overview.

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The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to you without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, age, veteran status, medical condition or disability, genetic information, gender identity, or any other protected status under federal, state, or local law.