Staff Attorney, Democracy

Position Summary:

Are you a highly collaborative and detailed-oriented attorney eager to support the pro-democracy community through legal research, analysis, and engagement? If so, Democracy Forward Foundation ("Democracy Forward") seeks a Staff Attorney to join its Democracy 2025 team. Democracy 2025 is Democracy Forward’s infrastructure to support the entire pro-democracy movement.

The Staff Attorney will support Democracy 2025’s work to serve as a strategic hub to support the pro-democracy community in responding to increasing authoritarianism. This role sits at the intersection of legal analysis, supporting partners in the pro-democracy community, and knowledge management, and is ideal for a junior attorney who is energized by working across a broad network of partners and wants to contribute to the infrastructure of the pro-democracy community.

Key responsibilities include tracking and analyzing litigation and legal developments, supporting and engaging coalition partners, and developing accessible legal resources for the Democracy 2025 community.

This position is full-time. Democracy Forward’s office is located in Washington, DC, and the employee is expected to be in the office an average of 2 days per week. While candidates in the DC area are preferred, exceptional fully remote candidates will also be considered. Occasional travel (e.g., for conferences) is expected.

The Staff Attorney will report to the Deputy Director for Democracy 2025 and work closely with the Democracy 2025 Director, the full Democracy 2025 team, the entire Democracy Forward team, and partners across the pro-democracy legal movement.

Below are the key areas of responsibility for this role. The specifics of each responsibility may vary based on the needs of the organization and department.

Legal Research, Tracking & Analysis:

• Track and analyze developments in litigation and other legal actions across a wide range of subject areas related to responding to increasing authoritarianism, abuses of government power, attacks on civil rights, weaponization of government.
• Conduct legal research and analysis of emerging legal issues in response to the changing legal threat landscape.
• Develop written work product, including memoranda, issue area guides, litigation summaries, and similar resources to support the legal advocacy work of the Democracy 2025 community.
• Review and summarize litigation updates to ensure clarity and accuracy.
• Compose written work that analyzes and explains legal issues to generalist audiences.

Partner Engagement & Support:

• Support and participate in Democracy 2025’s work to support partner organizations, including attending regular working group meetings as a representative of the Democracy 2025 team as needed.
• Brief coalition partners and Democracy Forward staff on legal and litigation developments.
• Maintain relationships with partner organizations across the Democracy 2025 network, engaging with sound judgment and professionalism in both one-on-one and coalition settings.
• Collaborate across Democracy Forward teams to ensure coordinated and effective approaches to emerging threats and opportunities.

Knowledge Management:

• Maintain and update litigation tracking databases, ensuring legal issues are tagged and organized accurately and consistently.
• Convert litigation data into regular summary reports in digestible, clear, and coherent manners.
• Support the team’s public-facing litigation tracking and analysis.
• Proactively monitor litigation trends, current events, and the activities of relevant organizations and agencies.

We recognize that strong candidates may not meet 100% of the qualifications listed. If you believe you can contribute meaningfully to our team, we encourage you to apply.

Required:

• J.D. from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing in the bar of the District of Columbia, or membership in good standing in another state bar with the ability to become admitted in D.C.
• 2–6 years of legal experience.
• Interest in and knowledge of issues related to abuses of government power, civil rights, democratic governance, or related areas.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Clear…