Clinical Fellow, Housing Discrimination Testing Program & Accelerator Practice

Suffolk University is a private, urban university located in the heart of downtown Boston. Our college green is the Boston Common and we are steps from dozens of historic sites including the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, City Hall and the Massachusetts State House. We have no real boundaries to our campus—Boston and Suffolk blend together.

Suffolk has been committed to creating an exceptional learning experience since 1906. Our vision is to be recognized as a dynamic institution that fosters engaged learning, rigorous scholarship, innovative thinking, and community collaboration across disciplines. We will ensure that Suffolk graduates are versatile and prepared for modern society and the new world market. We will provide rich curricula, experiential learning opportunities and professional mentoring through increased collaboration with alumni and community partners. We will recruit, mentor, and support a diverse faculty of teacher-scholars who are passionately committed to preparing our students to be leaders in the global community. We will inspire investment in a Suffolk community that is built on ethical, forward-thinking leadership, teamwork, and cooperation.

We compete for the best talent. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse community. We are actively seeking applicants from groups that might be under-represented because of race/color, gender, religion, real or perceived disability, national origin or LGBTQ status. As part of our commitment we encourage you to complete the demographic portion of the application in addition to submitting your cover letter and resume/CV as it will assist us in targeting our recruitment efforts.

Please note that Suffolk University conducts background checks as a condition of employment.

We are also committed to the well-being of our employees. Our terrific benefits package for benefits-eligible positions include, but are not limited to:

• Generous paid time-off programs and commitment to work-life balance
• Tuition free course benefits in the College of Arts and Sciences and in the Sawyer Business School for employees with additional tuition benefits for spouses, domestic partners, and children
• Top-notch well-being care available through Harvard Pilgrim Medical/Delta Dental and a Flexible Spending Account
• Pre-tax commuter benefit
• Employee Assistance Program that provides employees and their family members with initial assessment, referrals and short-term counseling for personal and work challenges
• Discounted home and auto insurance

Description

Suffolk University Law School is pleased to announce a career opportunity working with law students as they obtain practical skills for their legal careers.

Qualifications:
• Must be a member in good standing of the Massachusetts Bar or ability to waive in by the fall of 2021, and qualified to represent clients in Massachusetts courts;
• Experience in clinical supervision is preferred;
• At least two years of civil litigation experience and/or legal services work is required;
• Experience in fair housing, civil rights law, and landlord/tenant law is preferred;
• Experience with legal technology and law practice management is strongly preferred; and
• Experience working directly with racially, ethnically, and/or socioeconomically diverse backgrounds is also strongly preferred.

Position Description: The Clinical Fellow will work within Suffolk’s nationally ranked Clinical Programs, as a member of both the Housing Discrimination Testing Program (HDTP) and the Accelerator Practice. Specifically, the Fellow will work to redress discrimination and to teach law students to represent individuals in the justice gap. The Fellow will provide direct case supervision to student attorneys in the Accelerator Practice working on a range of fee-shifting matters, with a focus on housing and landlord/tenant practice and, in particular, fair housing matters. This work will be done as a part of HDTP’s enforcement grant. Supervision of student attorneys will include managing and overseeing the caseload of the Accelerator Practice, including in summer months, and attending all court and major case-related events, providing detailed and regular feedback to the students, and performing formal and informal assessments. The Fellow will assist with the two-credit year-long seminar to accompany the Accelerator Practice and also assist in the administration of the multi-year Accelerator-to-Practice Program. The Clinical Fellow will have the opportunity to hone their teaching skills and will be afforded opportunities to work with colleagues and the Suffolk University Center for Teaching and Scholarship Excellence to enhance teaching, course design skills, and scholarship. The Clinical Fellow will also have access to support in the areas of clinical supervision, research, scholarship, and grant writing/development.

The Clinical Fellow’s work will be supervised by the incoming faculty director of the Accelerator to Practice Program, James Matthews. The position will report directly to Professor Sarah Boonin, Director of Clinical Programs, and Professor Kim McLaurin, Associate Dean for Experiential Learning.

Hours and Duration: This position will begin as soon as possible after July 1, 2021. The position is a full-time, 12-month contract. The Fellow will have an annual review, and renewal of the appointment will be subject to curricular needs, financial considerations, performance in carrying out the position’s responsibilities, as well as adherence to the relevant terms of employment of the University and Law School.

Equal Opportunity:

Suffolk University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. The University is dedicated to the goal of building a diverse and inclusive faculty and staff who contribute to the robust exchange of ideas on campus, and who are committed to teaching and working in a diverse environment. We strongly encourage applications from groups historically marginalized or underrepresented because of race/color, gender, religious creed, disability, national origin, veteran status or LGBTQ status. The search committee is especially interested in candidates who, through their research, teaching, service and/or experience, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community. For more information on Suffolk Law’s commitment to diversity, please see https://www.suffolk.edu/about/mission-history/diversity-inclusion .

Required Application Documents: Cover Letter, Resume or CV and
List of three references

Suffolk University does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, genetic information, or status as a veteran in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs, activities, or employment. Suffolk University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. The University is dedicated to the goal of building a diverse and inclusive faculty and staff that reflect the broad range of human experience who contribute to the robust exchange of ideas on campus, and who are committed to teaching and working in a diverse environment. We strongly encourage applications from groups historically marginalized or underrepresented because of race/color, gender, religious creed, disability, national origin, veteran status or LGBTQ status. Suffolk University is especially interested in candidates who, through their training, service and experience, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the University community.