Boston University School of Law is seeking to hire a part-time lecturer to teach and supervise students in the Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic (LP&DC) during the Spring 2022 semester. The six-credit course is scheduled to meet twice a week, in person, on the BU Law campus. The part-time lecturer will work under the supervision of Clinical Professor, Sean J. Kealy, to provide 8-16 students training in policy development and drafting legislation for various clients, primarily Massachusetts legislators and their senior legislative staff. This position represents a unique opportunity to work within BU Law's nationally recognized experiential education program, to mentor students as they develop key legal skills, and to advance legislative initiatives on a wide range of timely and important social issues.
The LP&DC part-time lecturer will:
- Assist teaching the clinic by leading some classroom discussions;
- Collaborate with the director and students to investigate social issues, develop policy options, formulate legislative language, and draft a research reports;
- Assist reviewing student fieldwork product and seminar exercises;
- Provide students advice and feedback on various assignments;
- Help students develop key legal skills such as: research and writing, oral communication, time and project management, problem-solving, law and policy analysis, and leadership;
- Assist the clinic director evaluate the students' overall performance in the clinic.
Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic
The Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic provides practical and theoretical training through classroom and fieldwork components. Weekly classes cover: the legislative process, constitutional considerations and limits to statutory law-making, legislative drafting, lobbying and advocacy, legislative staff ethics, legislative interpretation, and legislative oversight. Students are matched to legislative clients according to their substantive legal interests, and work 150-200 hours on fieldwork projects. At the conclusion of the semester students provide their client a fully drafted bill and research report detailing the evidence justifying the policy recommendations.
During the class and fieldwork components, students learn to:
- Effectively research public policy and related legal issues;
- Draft and revise legislation to address legal and policy issues;
- Negotiate and build consensus;
- Formulate a strategy to guide bills through the legislative process;
- Offer effective oral and written advocacy for a bill or issue;
- Testify at legislative hearings;
- Compile and archive legislative histories.
A J.D. degree and five years legislative drafting experience are required. Experience working full-time for the US Congress, or a state legislature is strongly preferred. The ideal candidate will have a sound understanding of the principles of legislative drafting and an ability to draft legislation that gives effect to the intended policy in clear terms; the ability to work well independently and as part of a team; exceptional research and analytical skills, and a strong ability to convey information orally and in writing.
Applicants should email a cover letter and resume/CV to lclinic2@bu.edu. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Applicants should be prepared to submit a writing sample upon request. Candidates interested in developing the skills necessary to pursue a career in experiential legal teaching are highly encouraged to apply. For further information about the role, please contact Professor Sean Kealy at skealy@bu.edu.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic
