Capital Diversity Fellowship Program Summer 2022
Applications are now open for the Capital Diversity Fellowship Program Summer 2022. The Fellowship Program will seek to enhance the quality of representation provided under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) by creating a pipeline of diverse attorneys qualified to join Federal Defender Offices or CJA panels. Diversity among CJA counsel supports a stronger criminal defense community, increases the effectiveness of defense teams, and increases the cultural competency necessary to meet the needs of a diverse clientele. Diverse defense teams are more credible to clients and the communities they serve, and lead to better case outcomes.
The Capital Diversity Fellowship Program is designed to introduce, familiarize, and train defense counsel in comprehensive federal capital defense trial-level practice. Two fellows will be placed in Federal Defender host offices for two years to work with the Federal Capital Trial Projects to gain experience with strong trial teams on active cases. The program is designed to support continued engagement of practitioners in capital defense work after the Fellowship term and throughout their career. Capital Fellows will have opportunities for joint training, mentoring, and other critical professional development. Capital Fellows will receive a salary and benefits commensurate with their experience and in accordance with the Judiciary Salary Plan (JSP Grade 12-14) for these positions. The salary will also reflect locality adjustments.
About the Capital Resource Counsel Project
The Capital Resource Counsel project (“CRCP”) is a project of the Defender Services Office of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The project assists the federal courts, federal defenders, and appointed counsel in matters related to the defense function in federal capital prosecutions. CRCP counsel are full-time salaried federal defender attorneys who are appointed as learned counsel in capital cases.
Skilled collaboration, strategic litigation, compassionate representation, and unique approaches to the issues affecting our clients are among the values we aim to foster in federal defenders and CJA panel attorneys. High quality representation of a capital defendant requires a team approach, and the capital fellow will work with experienced lawyers, mitigation specialists, paralegals, investigators, administrative support staff, and experts.
To apply, please visit https://diversityfellowship.fd.org/
