School of Law, Clinical Assistant Professor, Health Justice Project, Non-Tenure Track

Salary Range: $80,000 – $85,000 Benefits Information: https://www.luc.edu/hr/benefits/

The Health Justice Project (HJP) is an interprofessional program and clinic housed in the Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy's top-ranked health law program at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The HJP offers clinical and other experiential courses focused on access to health care, poverty law, and health equity. The HJP partners with Loyola Medicine and Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine using the medical-legal partnership model to address the health harming legal needs of vulnerable patients through its Maywood MLP project. Students enrolled in the HJP clinic engage in direct client representation and policy advocacy to improve access to health care and public assistance programs, healthy stable housing, and supports and accommodations for persons with disabilities, and address other holistic social and legal needs to improve client health and well-being. The HJP also collaborates with faculty and students from social work, public health, medicine, nursing, and other university programs to provide community education and support and collaborative holistic legal care.

The Clinical Teaching Fellow will work in collaboration with the Director of the HJP, assisting with client representation, research and policy work, and supervision of law students. The fellow will also assist with teaching the HJP clinic course, the weekend HJP clinic course, and possibly other health justice courses. The fellow will engage in interprofessional collaborations with other university programs such as medicine, social work, public health, nursing, etc.

This fellowship offers leadership development, experience collaborating on an interprofessional team, clinical teaching experience, support for research and scholarship, and career growth for public interest attorneys. The fellowship is particularly well-suited for lawyers who are seeking a career in clinical law teaching or social and health justice advocacy. The ideal applicant has experience in an MLP, public interest, or law school clinic setting, is barred in Illinois by the start date (or bar eligible) and has experience in one or more of the following areas of law: public benefits, disability, housing, advance care planning, education, immigration, guardianship, civil rights, race-conscious lawyering, and/or family law. Teaching fellowships are 1-year positions with the possibility of renewal.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following:

• Engage in direct legal representation, research, and policy work to improve access to health care and public benefits, access to healthy stable housing, advocate on behalf of clients with disabilities and chronic health challenges, and address health inequities through holistic legal care;
• Assist the HJP director with strategic planning, management and administration of the HJP clinic as needed;
• Supervise students, volunteers, and staff, including overseeing intake, supporting case advocacy, reviewing drafts of emails, correspondence and pleadings, and attending hearings, court, and meetings with students;
• Train students and healthcare and community partners on poverty law, client counseling, and the social and structural determinants of health;
• Prepare and communicate information to partners, colleagues, students, and volunteers regarding legal and social resources;
• Maintain frequent and professional communication with contacts at community health centers and other collaborating entities and programs;
• Support faculty research, develop materials for publication, and assist with event planning.
• Other clinic and curricular duties as determined in collaboration with the clinic director.

Minimum Education and/or Work Experience:

Bachelor's and J.D. degrees required. Demonstrated interest in public interest law and two or more years of public interest direct legal and/or policy experience.

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret legal sources (including regulations, statutes, case law, administrative decisions, and legislative history), law periodicals, professional journals, and agency procedures. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and legal manuals in a variety of subjects, including housing, public benefits, immigration, education, trusts and estates, guardianship, health equity, and/or health law. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from partners, health center staff, clients, students, and the public.

Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize tasks. Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and as part of a team. Detail oriented. Flexible work attitude, ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment with a small staff and frequent student turnover (due to semester long courses and graduation).

Ability to successfully interact with a variety of people of various socio-economic, racial and ethnic, ability, and education levels and a strong commitment to client-centered lawyering. Excellent judgment, including sensitivity to diverse client and student needs, cultural nuances, and confidentiality. Interest in teaching students, serving low-income clients, and addressing health inequities.

Fluency in written and spoken Spanish is highly preferred.

Job Type: Full-Time