Careers

Legal Director

Organization: Brown’s Promise

Location: Fully remote; DC or Atlanta preferred; some travel required 

Salary: $150,000 – $200,000, commensurate with experience. Brown’s Promise offers competitive employee benefits: a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, and retirement; flexible work schedules; and generous leave policies. We are a family friendly workplace.

Travel: Up to 10%

About Brown’s Promise

Brown’s Promise is a national initiative working to advance equal educational opportunity by ending racial and economic segregation in public schools. Grounded in the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, the organization partners with communities to advocate for integrated, well-resourced schools where all children thrive.

Brown’s Promise combines litigation, policy advocacy, and community engagement to drive systemic change. We place a strong emphasis on partnerships and collaboration with individuals and organizations in communities most directly impacted by segregation and lack of resources. We focus on statewide policy change.

We are hosted and fiscally sponsored by The Southern Education Foundation, Inc.

Position Overview

The Legal Director is a critical part of the senior team, reporting directly to the Executive Director. This person is a seasoned attorney who thrives on developing and advancing creative legal strategies independently and in collaboration with a variety of partners. You care deeply about making public schools better and fairer, especially for Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds. You take the work seriously but laugh easily, and you are excited about the opportunity to shape an organization committed to education equity and racial justice. 

The Legal Director will lead development and execution of legal strategy, a core pillar of our work to dismantle school segregation and resource inequities. This role will focus on public impact litigation in state courts, and on ensuring alignment between our litigation, policy advocacy, and community engagement.

The Legal Director will be responsible for litigating existing cases as lead or co-counsel; building new cases, and serving as an organizational leader and external spokesperson.

Key Responsibilities

Litigation 

  • Serve as lead counsel or co-counsel on public impact litigation (primarily in state court). This is likely to include one to three cases at a time, and will involve all phases of litigation. Cases are litigated in partnership with pro bono law firm attorneys as well as co-counsel from mission-aligned nonprofits; 

  • Over time, build new cases from scratch, including:

  • Crafting state-specific legal theories grounded in constitutional and statutory law;

  • Fostering relationships and co-counsel agreements with new legal partners;

  • Identifying plaintiffs and developing client relationships;

  • Conducting factual investigations and developing evidentiary records;

  • Litigating the case throughout all stages of motion practice, hearings, settlement negotiations and trial. 

  • In collaboration with other team members, identify and assess opportunities for new litigation and policy advocacy;

  • In collaboration with other team members, identify opportunities to engage with parents, students, community members, and stakeholders; assist with planning and executing such engagement, including facilitating trainings and discussions.

  • Develop trusting relationships with community partners and plaintiffs to ensure cases reflect lived experiences and local priorities.

  • Collaborate with other staff members to ensure litigation, community engagement, and policy advocacy are well aligned and consistent.

Organizational Leadership

  • Serve as a senior leader shaping organizational strategy and growth;

  • Manage legal fellows; build legal team over time; 

  • Support fundraising and development;.

  • Contribute to Brown’s Promise’s “Community of Practice” by connecting our legal work to broader field-building efforts 

External Engagement

  • Represent Brown’s Promise in public speaking, coalitions, and networks

  • Speak to press, write op-eds, and earn media to reinforce national and state-specific narratives on the importance of school integration and resource equity in education.

  • Partner with advocacy organizations, researchers, and local leaders to support strategies across litigation, policy, and organizing

Qualifications

Required

  • J.D. and active bar membership;

  • 5+ years of litigation experience;

  • Experience driving forward progress on litigation teams that span multiple organizations;

  • Demonstrated success at building trust and engagement in historically marginalized communities;

  • Strong commitment to educational equity, civil rights, and racial justice; and

  • At least 1 of the first 3 “preferred” qualifications below.

Preferred 

  • Experience building cases from scratch; 

  • Experience litigating public impact cases in state court;

  • Experience in education law - especially desegregation and/or school finance law;

  • Experience supervising junior attorneys;

  • Public speaking experience and/or experience speaking to press; 

  • Spanish language proficiency.

Application Instructions

Please submit a resume and cover letter to Jobs@brownspromise.org. Materials will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Brown’s Promise is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds.