Legal Council for Health Justice (Legal Council) encourages applications from rising 3L students or other qualified candidates, such as current judicial clerks or LLM students, who are interested in pursuing a postgraduate public interest law fellowship to begin September 2025. Legal Council plans to host a fellow for one or two years. This fellow will serve patients-clients in close coordination with one of our Medical Legal Partnerships (MLPs), with funding provided through a postgraduate public interest fellowship. The fellow will work on-site at a hospital or health center, and at our downtown office, to meet, counsel, and represent patients-clients through the MLP. Typically, our staff attorneys advise and represent clients on issues including eligibility for public benefits, access to healthcare and health insurance, special education needs, and Social Security benefits. For the fellowship position beginning in September 2025, we are particularly interested in fellows developing proposals that will address (1) youth mental/behavioral health needs or (2) immigrant youth access to education and healthcare, though we are open to hearing a range of ideas centered on health equity from candidates.

About Legal Council for Health Justice:
Founded in 1987 during the peak of the AIDS epidemic, Legal Council is a non-profit organization that addresses discrimination and disparities in health care, and works to promote health equity. Today, Legal Council’s team of attorneys and advocates work with clients of all ages and backgrounds who have chronic disabilities and life-changing health challenges. Legal Council’s attorneys and legal advocates use a Medical-Legal Partnership model to provide legal services and to conduct systemic advocacy work that address health disparities. Legal Council partners with safety-net hospitals, medical clinics, and social services agencies working with low-income communities to provide legal services.

Legal Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer: People of color, women, persons with disabilities, older adults, LGBTQ+, and veterans are welcomed and strongly encouraged to apply. Legal Council believes that having a diverse staff is an organizational strength and recognizes and values the identities that staff members bring to our organization. We are enriched by the diverse experiences, beliefs, and ways of thinking that employees of different backgrounds bring.

About this Fellowship Position:
Click on the following links to learn more about the Skadden Fellowship and Equal Justice Works Fellowship. Legal Council also encourages candidates to apply for other fellowship opportunities that may be available at your law school or through other funding sources. Legal Council has a significant history of hosting Skadden and Equal Justice Works Fellows, as well as law-school post-graduate fellows who are sponsored by their law schools for one or two years after graduation. Once Legal Council has interviewed candidates, we will select one or two candidates and work with them to help craft compelling and innovative proposals to submit to funders. Legal Council uses the Skadden Fellowship starting stipend--$65,000 per year in 2025--as the base for any fellow we agree to host; this means that Legal Council will supplement fellowships that may provide a lower annual stipend than the Skadden Fellowship.

Job Requirements:
We seek fellowship candidates with a strong and demonstrated commitment to racial justice and health equity. Prior work or volunteer experience with nonprofit legal, health care, or social services organizations is a plus. Spanish-language ability is a plus. Candidates must possess excellent research and writing skills and strong relationship-building abilities. Relevant experience can include not only professional advocacy on behalf of others, but personal/lived experience with poverty, chronic illness, HIV, mental illness, racism and its consequences, public housing, or other issues affecting our client population.

Candidates will need to have completed law school and have taken the Illinois Bar before their fellowship begins in September 2025. Candidates must be willing to work in partnership with Legal Council to pursue a fellowship during Summer 2024, to discuss and develop their proposal.

Application Instructions:
Interested candidates should submit the following:

Resume, academic transcript, cover letter specifying their interest in a potential project, and two professional references.

Candidates are encouraged to think about project ideas inspired by their interest and experience, which align with Legal Council’s mission and the above requirements. Legal Council attorneys will work with the selected candidates to develop and build project proposals that will advance the existing mission of the organization and are likely to be awarded a fellowship.

Interested candidates should send their application materials to Julie Justicz, jjusticz@legalcouncil.org, as soon as possible and before July 15, 2024. We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis. Please include in the subject line: Fellowship Opportunities.

Note:
We know that very few people truly meet every single qualification for open positions. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization, and to considering a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse work experiences and backgrounds. If you feel you have valuable skills and experience to be successful in this position, we encourage you to apply and mention your strengths and plans for professional growth in a role like this.

Additional items:
Hybrid work is available. Legal Council employees and fellows are required to be on-site twice a week between Monday and Friday.

Legal Council for Health Justice seeks 1L and 2L law student interns to join us this summer. Students are expected to work full-time for 8 to 10 weeks. We do provide hybrid work options, but at least two weekdays per week of on-site work is required.

We’re looking for dynamic applicants dedicated to racial justice, trauma-informed advocacy, and health policy to join our team.

Legal Council is home to three projects:

1. The AIDS Legal Council program provides legal assistance in cases where an individual’s HIV
   status—real or perceived—is the cause of their legal difficulties.
2. The SSI Homeless Outreach Project specializes in providing trauma-informed, legal advocacy to persons who are experiencing homelessness and have disabling medical conditions, many of whom are survivors of significant adverse childhood experiences and other traumas.
3. The Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children partners with pediatric medical providers and uses legal advocacy to improve access to a full-range of social, educational, developmental, medical, and income-support services, removing systemic barriers for patients with significant health challenges.

Our work centers the voices of our clients through direct legal services, community engagement and education, and policy advocacy targeted at systemic injustice. You can learn more about our work here.

To Apply:

All applicants are required to submit a resume and a cover letter expressing their interest in contributing to our work. Please specify in your cover letter which program(s) you’re applying for (if you have a preference). Applications are due by January 3, 2023 and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Law student summer interns may be eligible for funding through PILI and therefore we strongly encourage all interested students to apply through that program by submitting their cover letter and resume through the PILI website.

Interested applicants who have secured funding to support their summer or who plan to seek course credit may apply to Legal Council either through PILI or by emailing a cover letter and resume to: PILIapplication@legalcouncil.org.

Legal Council is dedicated to diversity, inclusion, and accommodation. We strongly encourage people of color, women, persons with disabilities, older adults, LGBTQ+, and veterans to apply. We also invite you to share how your lived experience may make you a better advocate for the families and communities we serve.

Legal Council for Health Justice generally hosts 4-6 service corps members each year. Past partnerships have included AmeriCorps VISTA, Avodah, and National Health Corps. These opportunities are a great way for individuals to gain exposure to life-changing experiences that will prepare them for potential careers in law, medicine, social work, and nonprofit service.

We encourage interested applicants to consult with us if they want to discuss the work of service corps staffers at Legal Council. For inquiries, please contact Ruth Edwards at redwards@legalcouncil.org.

Pro bono legal experts and other volunteers are essential to advancing Legal Council’s mission of using the power of law to secure dignity, opportunity, and well-being for people facing barriers due to illness or disability.

We accept non-law student volunteers including high school, undergraduate, paralegal, social worker, and other professional interns. Pro bono and volunteer opportunities will be based on the needs of Legal Council, your skills, and availability.

To apply to be a volunteer, email volunteer@legalcouncil.org.

To share interest in pro bono legal opportunities, email Ruth Edwards at redwards@legalcouncil.org.