If you read my previous post, you learned about the various options of civil rights jobs. Now, the next step is figuring out which one (or ones) is right for you.
In this instance, the answer is both about process and substance.
Types of Civil Rights Legal Careers
If you recall, the types of civil rights legal careers include:
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- Join a private, for-profit civil rights firm
- Join a non-profit that provides legal services
- Become a public defender or a private criminal defense attorney*
- Work for an enforcement division within the government
- Work for a civil rights unit within the government (ex: DOJ Civil Rights)
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Let’s break these down into the advantages and disadvantages for each.
For-Profit Civil Rights Firms
I’ll be honest: I’m the most familiar with for-profit civil rights firms because that is where I have spent my career. That said, I sit on the board of a legal non-profit and have many friends who work in each of the three other fields below. I will share the insight I have learned from them and my other experiences therein.
First off, I love working at a for-profit civil rights firm. We get to select our cases regardless of limitations like the type of client, the client’s financial situation, whether the case is a “test case” for impact litigation, and so on. Basically, if we like the case and have the capacity to take it, we do.
There is a lot of flexibility and variety in the types of cases I work on, and I have the opportunity to do pro bono or low bono work in addition to our practice. Plus, since we do contingent fee work, we never have to a turn away a client because of their ability – or lack thereof – to pay us.
That said, we need to bring in money to survive as a business. So a big question with respect to the cases for-profit firms take is whether they believe they can succeed in securing a financial victory, in addition to the systemic change we wish to see.
Another thing to watch out for in private for-profit firms is whether there is sufficient structure (or lack thereof) to succeed. Generally speaking, the larger a firm is – civil rights or not – the more structure there is (ex: differentiation of roles, orientation and training, annual performance reviews, formal disciplinary systems, etc). And the smaller, less so.
Personally, I thrive off of less structure. I find it lets me be more creative in my work, take more ownership over my cases, and develop professionally. That said, many people I know need structure to succeed. The boundlessness and lack of structured feedback makes it difficult for them to delineate how to achieve results, both for themselves and their clients.
Based on what I know about myself, I have never worked for any large employer. (In fact, I’ve never worked for an employer who has hit the minimum number of employees for Title VII liability!) In the same vein, I’ve had friends who have not been successful at smaller civil rights firms because of the lack of structure.
In my experience, most private, for-profit civil rights firms are on the smaller side. Not all, of course – there are many large ones especially in D.C. and New York. But as you look for the right job for you, keep in mind whether you are a person who needs more or less structure in your day-to-day job.
Non-Profits Providing Legal Services
The next big arena for civil rights attorneys is the non-profit sector. The ACLU is a non-profit. The Innocence Project is a non-profit. Earth Justice is a non-profit.
Non-profit organizations raise funds from outside donors and grants to provide free legal services to those whose cases fall under the scope of their mission. (For example, Earth Justice – which is committed to preserving our environment and combating climate change – would not take on a case to free a woman wrongly convicted of a crime, whereas the Innocence Project would.)
The big plus of non-profits is that they take cases based on their mission and have less need for the case to bring in money given the outside funding sources. In turn, they are able to engage in what is called “impact litigation” by finding test cases (cases with perfect or near-perfect facts) and litigating those cases to see systemic changes. The down side of this is that there are only so many cases that can be brought with the limited resources of most non-profits, and cases with less than perfect facts or less of an ability to create widespread change may not make the cut.
Don’t get me wrong: costs are important. Given that outside funding is limited, many non-profits need to think about whether they can financially afford to bring a case, including whether they might be awarded costs and fees in connection with litigating.
Another thing to note is that non-profits often have more structure than smaller for-profit firms because there is outside governance and oversight through the Board of Directors. That said, if you have a not-so-great Board or Executive Director, that can sink the entire ship. So make sure to do your homework on each non-profit just like you would when applying to private firms.
Criminal Defense Attorney – Public Defender and Private Practice*
Next, we have criminal defense attorneys. I know this doesn’t seem like “civil rights” and technically it would not fall under that terminology. However, in my community we see a lot of overlap between these two groups – especially former public defenders and civil rights attorneys – so I am including them in this list.
I will note that I know the least about criminal defense work, so this post will be short. That said, we all know that criminal defendants have constitutional rights in connection with the defense of the charges against them. For example, they have a right to learn of the evidence against them, to be provided exculpatory evidence, and to cross examine witnesses.
For felonies and other crimes where significant liberty interests are at stake, criminal defendants have the right to a defense attorney paid for by the State. Those are public defenders.
Public defenders are technically part of the State government, and their job is to defend against prosecutions brought by the State. Strange, I know. But that’s what the landmark case of Gideon v. Wainwright calls for, and it’s truly remarkable when you think about it. Their job is to defend those accused of a crime who cannot afford private counsel.
As to private criminal defense attorneys, they provide the same type of defense but to those who can afford to pay. And they provide criminal defense at all levels – including traffic violations and misdemeanors that would not qualify for free legal counsel under Gideon and its progeny.
Most private criminal defense attorneys I know got their start either in the public defender’s office or in the prosecutor’s office. In my experience, those who got their start in the public defender’s office are typically the ones who add a civil rights practice to their repertoire once they go out on their own.
While I can’t speak to private criminal defense firms, the public defenders office is typically highly structured, which provides for key learning opportunities and clear benchmarks for growth.
Enforcement Division Within the Government
While working for the government is typically seen as antithetical to a career in civil rights, I think that view is a bit short-sighted. At the very least, working in the enforcement divisions of certain units within state and federal government is surely a form of civil rights work.
For example, one of my coworkers previously worked for the EEOC as a litigator, and her job was to enforce Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA by bringing lawsuits against employers who had been systemically violating those laws. Unlike the private sector, she was able to not only obtain a financial remedy for the victims of discrimination, but to also effectuate lasting injunctive relief through consent decrees.
Similarly, both the federal Department of Labor and certain states’ Departments of Labor have enforcement divisions where your job would be to investigate allegations of labor law violations and take appropriate remedial steps to effectuate change. I previously applied to work for the NY State Department of Labor because I believe in their mission.
Insofar as you find a local, state, or federal position where your job would be to enforce the local, state, or federal civil rights laws, I see little if any disconnect between those positions and private civil rights careers. And these jobs will almost positively provide far more structure than you would see at a small civil rights firm.
Government Position – Civil Rights Unit
Finally, there is one major type of government position that is considered a civil rights job: those in an agency’s Civil Rights Unit. Many federal agencies have this unit, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and the Department of Human Services.
However, be wary: the limits of what you can and cannot do in your role will vary greatly depending on the administration you work for. Recently, the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties within DHS stated that it could take no action to actually help those in need, but instead could only collect data.
So be cautious in pursuing and taking these roles. Depending on which administration you work for, the job may feel far less like civil rights work and far more like a starring role in Waiting for Godot.
That said, for those who like structure, working for the government will almost positively beget the most structured professional environment. And depending on the administration, you may be able to do wildly fantastic work in this type of role.