Legal Fellow (Spring 2027)

Overview

This legal fellowship is designed for current law students or recent law school graduates interested in free knowledge and open source issues. Fellows complete immersive, in-house legal work with education and training focused on Internet law and free knowledge organizations.

Projects are assigned based on interests and strengths and may include researching legal issues, drafting licensing agreements, and developing internal and external policies. Each fellow receives individualized projects to spearhead under the supervision and guidance of an attorney from the Legal Department.

Responsibilities

• Lead individualized legal projects under the supervision and guidance of an attorney from the Legal Department
• Research legal questions and support legal decision-making
• Draft licensing agreements and contribute to internal and external policies
• Attend and participate in internal and external meetings with the supervising attorney
• Collaborate with attorneys and stakeholders on project work
• Receive feedback and support while learning the practical dimensions of practicing law in-house
• When opportunities exist, coordinate with the fellow’s university to facilitate earning academic credits and/or receiving funding for the fellow’s time

Fellowship Duration

• Fall and Spring fellowships: 18 weeks
• Summer fellowships: 12 weeks

Requirements

• Strong commitment to the free knowledge mission, including an interest in areas such as free culture issues, digital rights, open source software, and Creative Commons licensing
• Good sense of humor and the ability to excel in a fast-paced, multitasking environment with fast turn-arounds
• Intellectual curiosity and flexibility to tackle difficult and ambiguous problems in creative ways; strong research backgrounds are preferred
• Experience working with large online user communities (or a strong desire to); experience with wikis or Wikimedia projects is preferred
• Ability to thrive in a highly transparent and collaborative environment and work in a team with diverse demographic and cultural characteristics; multilingual candidates are a plus
• Excellent writing skills, including the ability to communicate complex legal concepts to a broad audience with varying (or no) backgrounds in law; experience and/or coursework in drafting agreements and and/or policies are preferred
• Completed coursework in some or all of the following areas of law: internet law, freedom of expression (domestic and international), intellectual property, contract drafting, international law, privacy, data security, and/or licensing; coursework is not required, but students with experience in these areas are heavily preferred

Preferred Qualifications

• Background or experience related to free culture, digital rights, open source software, and Creative Commons licensing
• Strong research background
• Experience with wikis or Wikimedia projects
• Coursework or experience drafting agreements and/or policies

Pluses

• Being a Wikimedian (share your username in your cover letter)

Compensation & Benefits

• Anticipated annual pay range (applicants based within the United States): US$37.42 /hourly to US$45.6 /hourly
• Factors affecting offered pay include cost of living in the location
• For applicants located outside of the US, the pay range will be adjusted to the country of hire
• Salary history will not be requested or taken into consideration

Location

• Remote-first organization
• Staff members and contractors are based in 40+ countries
• Hiring is currently available in the following places:
  • US States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming (District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are referenced as US territory or federal district)
  • Countries: Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom
• Non-US employees are hired through a local third party Employer of Record (EOR) and must have current work authorization in their location (Kenya and Singapore include a note for citizens/permanent residents only)

Equal Opportunity

The employer is an equal opportunity employer and values a diverse workforce. No discrimination is made based on legally protected characteristics.