About CIR
CIR is America’s premier nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual liberties against state and federal government abuse. Celebrating its 35th anniversary year, CIR attorneys have won five of seven cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, including first amendment and racial preference victories and the single most important limit on the scope of Congress’s commerce power—as well as achieving a host of other landmark victories for individual rights in other courts.
Reporting on CIR’s first campus speech victory in the Supreme Court, The Washington Post noted that “the Center for Individual Rights takes particular pleasure in battling politically correct administrators who cut down the free expression rights of students and protestors.” We still do. Indeed, our collaborative team finds joy in all the work we pursue to advance freedom, which is increasingly important as free speech denials, distortions of equality under law, and other individual rights violations have multiplied over the last few years.
CIR believes that enlightenment ideals had their greatest expression in America’s founding documents and post-Civil War amendments, with a charter for limited government and guarantees for civil liberties that protect individual rights and promote human flourishing. Those guarantees include structural limits on government, such as the separation of powers and federalism. CIR team members are principled, zealous advocates for restoring that charter and its attendant benefits.
CIR’s strategic model, which includes partnerships with outside cooperating counsel, has made it a nimble champion able to punch well above its weight. It garnered special attention in Steven Teles’s respected study as a model “second-generation” freedom-based public interest law firm.
With new leadership, CIR is updating its strategies and expanding internally in several ways.
Legal Assistant
Washington, DC
About the Role
The legal assistant will utilize his or her passion for defending and preserving individual liberties, admirable work ethic, and strong organizational skills to provide crucial support to attorneys’ litigation efforts and to aid in general office and administrative tasks. The legal assistant will work closely with litigators, potentially on multiple cases simultaneously, taking on tasks such as discovery document indexing, preparing for depositions, document preparation, and basic form drafting for others to review.
The legal assistant will also help with other administrative tasks necessary for CIR’s operations, such as document editing/creation, proofreading newsletters or grant proposals, sorting and documenting donations, and mailing out parcels. The legal assistant will act as a valuable jack-of-all-trades that is crucial to CIR’s capabilities in pursuing its goals on all fronts.
The legal assistant will report primarily to the general counsel and litigation director.
For more information and how to apply click here.
Individual Rights Litigator
Washington, DC or Virtual Office
About the Role
The Individual Rights Litigator with three or more years of active trial and appellate litigation experience (including any judicial clerkships) will channel his or her passion for advancing individual liberty, deep knowledge of constitutional law, and entrepreneurial skills to help develop and execute litigation strategies in service of CIR’s mission, identify specific opportunities for consequential litigation, assist with client development and case filings, and advance the subsequent litigation docket with other litigators inside and outside of CIR. In short, the Individual Rights Litigator will help incubate, execute, and win major landmark victories that defend or advance individual liberties.
For more information and how to apply click here.
Clerkships and Internships
The Center for Individual Rights’ fellowship and internship programs provide an opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience in cutting-edge public interest litigation while contributing directly to CIR’s cases. Learn how to apply here.