Law Clerks (Legal Department)

The AAUP is seeking qualified law clerks for the fall 2026 academic semester. The AAUP is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1915 that defends academic freedom, due process, professional ethics, and university governance. Membership is about 42,000 faculty members and scholars from all disciplines. The AAUP has been a leader in the fight back against attempts to limit academic freedom and exert ideological control over colleges and universities at both the national and state level. In the legal arena, the AAUP has aggressively challenged the Trump administration’s attempts to punish faculty for protected speech, use federal grants to impose ideological control over universities, restrict the rights of immigrant faculty and students, and cut funding to universities and components of the federal government that advance higher education. We have filed multiple lawsuits challenging the Trump administration, with notable wins including defeating the administration’s termination of grants to Harvard and the University of California and stopping the administration’s policy of targeting immigrant faculty based on speech about Palestine. 

The law clerk position will be in a legal department currently staffed with 2 lawyers and 1 legal administrative assistant. The legal department works with preeminent nonprofit legal organizations and law firms to bring, litigate, and manage cases filed in the name of the AAUP. The AAUP also drafts and files amicus briefs in higher education cases of national significance, provides legal information on a wide range of issues to staff and members all over the country, and acts as a resource on higher education issues. Staff and volunteer lawyers are experts in such areas as the First Amendment, academic freedom, discrimination, affirmative action, intellectual property, and employment. Law clerks can expect to gain knowledge on a variety of legal issues including constitutional law, higher education, collective bargaining, elections, tax, labor, personnel, and contracts.

Law clerks should be in their second or third year of law school and be available approximately 15 hours per week. (We recognize the time available will vary depending on the law clerk’s academic schedule.) Law clerks will be paid $30.00 an hour and will not be eligible for AAUP benefits or paid leave. Law clerks can be located anywhere in the US but must have reliable law internet connection and be available to meet between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. eastern time. Working in the AAUP’s Washington, DC, office is optional. 

Qualified applicants will possess:

• excellent analytical skills
• strong writing and research skills
• interest in higher education issues
• enthusiasm and initiative 

To apply for a law clerk position:

Please send a cover letter, resume, official transcript and writing sample to: AAUP – Legal Department, legal.dept@aaup.org. If applying by email, please address the Subject line as: “Law Clerk Position + Your Name”.

The AAUP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, disability, race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, personal appearance, family responsibilities, genetic information, matriculation, political affiliation, or other characteristics unrelated to professional performance. 

For more information, please see the AAUP’s Legal Program at: http://www.aaup.org/our-work/legal-program.