West Michigan Legal Fellow

Position Description

This two-year, internally-funded position in the ACLU’s western regional office in Grand Rapids starts in fall 2026 and is designed to provide emerging social justice leaders with excellent training and experience in impact litigation and integrated advocacy. The ACLU is committed to developing the next generation of civil rights leaders, recognizes that talent comes from a variety of backgrounds, and has created this position to develop the talent of that next generation. The ACLU is deeply committed to racial equity and social justice and is driven to act on these core values. The fellow must be able to

recognize ways our identities intersect and play out in the work, especially with communities we serve, and must demonstrate the cultural competency to work with a diverse team and effectively partner with historically marginalized communities.

The fellow will work closely with the West Michigan office’s Senior Staff Attorney to help develop and litigate cases at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts on a wide variety of cutting-edge civil liberties and civil rights issues. Recent ACLU of Michigan fellows have worked on Pueblo v. Haas (securing ability of parents in same-sex relationships to seek custody and parenting time for their children); Malam v. Adducci (challenging immigration detention during the pandemic); Hamama v. Adducci (challenging mass deportation and detention of Iraqi nationals to face persecution, torture or death); Does III v. Whitmer (challenging Michigan’s sex offender registry as unconstitutional); Corridore v. Washington (seeking habeas jurisdiction based on lifetime electronic monitoring); and Johnson v. Vanderkooi (challenging police practice of taking fingerprints during Terry stops). Check out our docket for more about how we are fighting to protect civil liberties and civil rights. The West Michigan Legal Fellow will participate in both litigation and non-litigation advocacy activities on a broad range of issues. The Legal Fellow will be involved in investigation, client interviewing, legal and factual research, discovery, and brief writing. In addition, the Legal Fellow will have the opportunity to engage in non-litigation advocacy, including policy work, public speaking, and community engagement. Examples of past fellow activities include writing amicus briefs that led to favorable criminal law rulings in the Michigan appellate courts, organizing to oppose the opening of an ICE detention facility in Michigan, taking and defending depositions in Does III, conducting know your rights trainings for communities across Michigan and for detained Hamama class members, leading advocacy efforts to oppose ordinances targeting the unhoused in Grand Rapids, and arguing in the Sixth Circuit in Corridore.

We want to hear from you: We know that not all strong candidates will have every skill we list. That’s OK (except we do require a JD). We still want to hear from you. Research shows that women, nonbinary people, and people of color are less likely to apply for a position if they don’t meet every skill listed. At the ACLU of Michigan, we believe our collective differences enable us to make better decisions, drive innovation, and deliver better programmatic results. We are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable state and nation, and we know that begins with us doing the work

ourselves.