Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation. Founded in 1978, GLAD has a commitment to communication, diversity, racial and economic justice, team work, results orientation, and collaboration, and has classified these as core values that are integral to fulfilling our mission.

Position Description

GLAD’s Legal Assistants play a key role in advancing the mission and goals of the organization by providing key administrative and other support to GLAD’s six attorneys. The Legal Assistant performs legal and social science research, drafts research memoranda, prepares court documents and correspondence, and proofreads and checks citations for complex legal documents. In addition, the Legal Assistant performs regular administrative tasks such as coordinating meetings and travel, filing and maintaining records, scanning, copying, preparing expense reports. This position offers an excellent opportunity to learn about the litigation and legislative process and the legal issues affecting the LGBTQ community and people living with HIV.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional work experience.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Proven research abilities.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment

The ideal candidate will be proactive, organized, and attentive to detail. The ability to work cooperatively in a team is essential. In addition, the ideal candidate will be able to read, analyze, interpret, and summarize legal and social science documents, including case law and statutes. Familiarity with the legal system is helpful but not required.

GLAD requires all new hires to be fully vaccinated (including boosters, if eligible) against COVID-19 by their first day of employment. Employees may request an exemption to this policy as a reasonable accommodation for religious and/or medical reasons.

Compensation

$52,000 plus excellent benefits, including three weeks of paid vacation, fully paid individual health and dental insurance, and disability insurance.

To apply, please send the following materials (Separate PDF documents required):

• Resume
• Cover letter (no more than one page) addressed to Michael Johnson, Chief Legal Officer. This is our opportunity to get to know you better.  It is recommended that you do not restate your resume.
• Writing sample (7-10 pages)

Please send materials to legalassistant@glad.org. Emails should contain the subject line “Legal Assistant Application.” Please indicate in your application specifically where you learned of the position. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled. No phone calls, and no video resumes please.

GLAD is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. GLAD is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic staff committed to working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications from transgender persons, people living with HIV, people of color, and individuals with disabilities.

The fellowship’s primary focus is the constitutional defense of LGBTQ+ rights from ongoing attacks, including attempts to undermine or overturn marriage equality and other legal rights, protections, and rule of law issues following Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This attorney will also be involved in handling other matters within GLAD’s core litigation and legislative work.

About GLAD

For over 40 years, both in New England and nationally, GLAD has used strategic litigation, legislative initiatives, regulatory measures, and public education and engagement to create a more just society free by winning precedent-setting rulings in matters regarding transgender and non-binary rights, HIV status, and sexual orientation.

GLAD’s ongoing advocacy and partnerships have made the New England states leaders and innovators while also making strategic and pivotal contributions nationally, including at the U.S. Supreme Court. In these extraordinary times of fierce attacks on LGBTQ+ people and the hard-won protections for our communities, we continue leading and partnering locally, regionally, and nationally to create a more just society for all LGBTQ+ people.

For example, GLAD attorneys argued in the first breakthrough marriage case of Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health in Massachusetts in 2003 and again at the Supreme Court in 2015, where marriage equality became the law of the land after years of collaboration with movement colleagues and people all around the country. The Obergefell ruling reinforced and expanded our rights to live our lives and make important personal decisions about who we are, including how we organize our families and raise children, and what happens in our homes and bedrooms.

GLAD continues to break through resistance and prejudice to make real progress, whether fighting against HIV discrimination and stigma and for health care; upending all manner of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, working alongside transgender and nonbinary people to blunt attacks and increase legal rights and social acceptance of transgender people; and insisting on the dignity, safety and well-being of all LGBTQ+ people, including both young people and older adults.

In this paradoxical time of both great progress and grave harms and threats to our communities, GLAD is committed to being in the trenches and strategically partnering, while also combatting bias, and engaging the persuadable middle to move us to safety, acceptance, and belonging.

GLAD envisions a nation in which LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV are fully and fairly included within our laws and society. That must also be true for historically marginalized persons who are LGBTQ+ and/or living with HIV – people of color, transgender individuals, people living with disabilities, low-income individuals, youth, and older adults. GLAD is committed to fulfilling this mission through our aspirational values which include justice and lived equality; inclusion, equity, and mutual respect; anti-racism; and collaboration. As lawyers, we are determined and tenacious, and strive for excellence because the work of our communities demands it.

Position Summary

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is accepting applications for a fully funded, one-year fellowship.

The successful Fellowship candidate may work on some or all of the following initiatives:

• Helping to strengthen and support GLAD’s legal and other strategies to defend and expand our constitutional rights and protections, including marriage, with GLAD’s nationally recognized attorneys, through research, analysis, outreach, and collaborations.
• Identifying and tracking opposition efforts to roll back protections or otherwise change the law.
• Supporting and engaging in litigation, legislation, and policy initiatives to defend and expand existing constitutional protections.
• Collaborating with staff members on other advocacy, such as public education and engagement efforts, coalition work, public speaking, investigation and research, and supporting community concerns.
• Support and enthusiastically collaborate with the GLAD team on a range of issues on GLAD’s legal docket as well as on matters of public education and community engagement, coalition work, public speaking, and limited interventions. 

Qualifications

• J.D. degree required
• Excellent research, writing, and analytical skills
• Applicants should be committed to civil rights and liberties, be self-motivated, and work well with a diverse workforce. The successful applicant will be committed to fulfilling GLAD’s mission and aspire to its organizational values.
• Preference given to those admitted to any State bar or the District of Columbia bar.
• Current or recent judicial law clerks are encouraged to apply, but judicial clerkship experience is not required.

Location

This position may be in-person, hybrid, or primarily remote eligible with occasional in-person work in our Boston office.

Salary and Benefits 

Salary for this position is $80,000. Excellent benefits include health, dental, vision, and long-term disability insurance; 401(k) with employer contribution; 3 weeks vacation; supportive and friendly work environment.

Application Process and Timing

Send confidential resume, cover letter, and writing sample to GLAD, c/o Michael Johnson, Chief Legal Officer, 18 Tremont St., Suite 950, Boston, MA 02108, or email mjohnson@glad.org, with the phrase “Law Fellowship” in the subject line. Please choose a writing sample that amply demonstrates your analytical and writing skills; you may select a sample that has been edited or influenced by others, but please note that fact in your application. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

ONGOING: Interns are hired on an academic schedule — for the entire school year, an individual semester, or the summer.

Both full- and part-time internships are available.

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