John Caughlan
Summer Law Student Fellowship

The John Caughlan Summer Fellowship is available to students who have completed at least their first year of law school and who are interested in a career that includes civil liberties/civil rights litigation. The fellowship is designed to provide exposure to a range of civil liberties issues and to provide law students concrete litigation experience, working directly with ACLU attorneys on public interest cases.

The student will assist ACLU attorneys in the development of cases for litigation, preparation of cases for trial, and/or submission of amicus curiae briefs in courts of appeal. Depending on the stage of the litigation, the work may include research and preparation of legal memoranda, client/witness interviews, discovery, pre trial motions, handling of expert witnesses, and accompanying attorneys at court appearances.

The John Caughlan Summer Fellowship is the ACLU of Washington’s only fully funded fellowship. It is available to highly capable law students with a demonstrated interest in civil liberties/civil rights. Particular consideration will be given to students who receive financial aid or who attend schools that do not provide summer grants for public interest work. Law students who can obtain public interest grants through their law school are encouraged to apply for an ACLU internship.

Supervision
The intern will work with ACLU-WA staff attorneys and/or with ACLU volunteer attorneys.

Time and Compensation
This is a full-time position, 37.5 hours per week for 10 to 12 weeks at $15/ hr.

Qualifications
Necessary prerequisites include academic standing as a 2nd or 3rd year law student, a demonstrated interest in civil liberties/civil rights, good interpersonal and analytical skills, the ability to write in a clear and concise manner, and a career interest that includes public interest law.

How to Apply
Students should send a letter of application, résumé, writing sample, and list of references by Dec. 31, 2008 to:

Legal Director
ACLU of Washington
705 Second Avenue, Third Floor
Seattle, WA, 98104
legalprogramassistant@aclu-wa.org

Women, people of color, LGTB people, and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.

About John Caughlan

In 2003 two generous ACLU members established a summer legal fellowship at the ACLU of Washington to help train law students who are interested in a career that includes civil liberties and civil rights litigation. They named it after their friend and mentor, John Caughlan.

John Caughlan was one of Washington’s most dedicated civil liberties lawyers. During his long and productive career, he frequently defended activists targeted for their political beliefs. Caughlan was a tireless defender of freedom, never allowing difficult issues or circumstances to prevent him from following his principles.

Caughlan’s mettle and conviction were tested during his very first year practicing law in 1937. He was asked and agreed to represent the Communist Party after the city revoked the Party’s lease of the Seattle Civic Auditorium for a rally and speech. However, when the senior partner at the law firm Caughlan had just started with learned that his recent hire was representing communists, Caughlan was given a tough choice: defend the Communist Party or keep your job. Undaunted, Caughlan chose to defend the First Amendment rights of the Communist Party.

In the 1940s, Caughlan represented a number of persons called before the Washington Legislature’s infamous Canwell Committee, a predecessor to the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities. During the 1960s, he went to Mississippi to represent civil rights activists. In the 1980s, he worked to formulate civil rights conspiracy trial theories and strategies against family and friends of Philippine dictator Marcos for conspiracy to murder union activists in Seattle. In 1987, the ACLU of Washington presented him with its highest honor, the William O. Douglas Award for outstanding and sustained contributions to the cause of civil liberties and freedom.

Caughlan was not only courageous and principled. He was a warm friend and a wonderful mentor to many progressive lawyers in Seattle. He continued his legal activism until his death in 1999.