The Bronx Defenders (BxD) – an innovative, progressive, holistic indigent defense office in the South Bronx – invites third-year law students and recent law school graduates to work with us as Legal Fellows.  

Founded in 1997, The Bronx Defenders is a public defender nonprofit that has developed a nationally recognized model of representation called holistic defense, which provides people with teams of lawyers, social workers, and advocates to defend them zealously in court as well as to address the underlying drivers and enmeshed penalties of legal system involvement.   

Since opening our doors, we have grown into an organization of more than 400 staff members defending nearly 20,000 New Yorkers each year in criminal, family, civil, and immigration proceedings who face incarceration, family separation, eviction, and deportation, among other devastating consequences.  

Today we are reimagining the role of public defense even further, using community organizing and engagement, legislative advocacy, and impact litigation to partner with the communities we represent to bring about long-lasting systemic change.  

We also share our model and lessons learned with current and future public defenders, run legal clinics at NYC law schools, and train public defenders throughout the country on how to move to a holistic model of representation. 

The Bronx Defenders Legal Fellowship 

To work as Bronx Defenders Legal Fellows, candidates will develop project proposals for submission to Equal Justice Works, Skadden, and similar programs, as well as law-school specific fellowships, to do legal work in one of our practice areas while remaining flexible to change based on the needs of our organization and the community we work with. The Fellowship would begin in the Fall of 2026 and run for one or two years, depending on the terms of the funder. Examples of successful fellowship proposals from prior years include: 

• Developing a program to help people litigate in small claims court if they suffered injuries or other damages in encounters with the police (Skadden Fellowship) 

• Ending New York’s practice of suspending the driver’s licenses of individuals who cannot afford to pay traffic tickets through direct representation, litigation, and legislative advocacy (Equal Justice Works Fellowship) 

• Providing direct representation to fathers in neglect, abuse, and termination of parental rights proceedings, as well as conducting Know Your Rights As Fathers trainings to prevent the unnecessary disruption of the father-child relationship and reduce children’s placement in foster care (Skadden Fellowship) 

• Registering New Yorkers under parole supervision to vote and enforcing the new parole enfranchisement law through litigation, education, and advocacy while working towards universal suffrage through legislative advocacy (Equal Justice Works Fellowship) 

• Providing direct representation to individuals experiencing employment discrimination due to criminal convictions by offering assistance in obtaining Certificates of Rehabilitation as well as educating employers and community groups about the employment rights of formerly incarcerated people (Skadden Fellowship) 

An overview of the work of our practice areas can be found below. 

Civil Action Practice  

A sweeping array of civil punishments are triggered the moment someone faces arrest, deportation, or family separation. The people we represent risk losing their jobs, homes, income, property, and basic civil rights – struggles that can be more devastating and long-lasting than the charges themselves. Last year, we helped 2,200 people obtain concrete benefits like maintaining their jobs, homes, income, property, and rights.  

Our Civil Action Practice attorneys and legal advocates represent clients in every forum in New York City – administrative, state, and federal – and provide comprehensive representation to assist people in overcoming civil legal barriers to housing, eviction, employment, and public benefits, as well as addressing instances of police misconduct, criminal record errors, and civil forfeiture.   

Criminal Defense Practice   

The Bronx is one of the most aggressively policed boroughs in New York City. As a result, we represent thousands of people each year, nearly 40% of whom are charged with low-level offenses such as shoplifting, traffic offenses, and drug possession. As part of our holistic approach, we spend time getting to know the people we represent and gaining a deeper understanding of their lives and needs. With that understanding, we advocate for people by thoroughly investigating their cases, raising novel legal arguments, using creative tools of persuasion and storytelling, and addressing needs that go beyond the scope of their cases. 

Family Defense Practice 

As residents of the most heavily disinvested borough in the city, families in the Bronx experience the highest rates of family policing and parent-child separation. We serve as the primary institutional provider defending parents and caretakers against the painful and unnecessary removals of their children in the Bronx. Together, our attorneys, social workers, and parent advocates provide the legal defense and support necessary to keep families together and interrupt generational cycles of family court involvement. 

Immigration Practice 

Nearly a third of the residents of the Bronx were born outside the United States, and many face the unprecedented threat of detention and deportation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Our attorneys help people facing criminal, family, and civil proceedings make informed and strategic decisions to protect their rights. We are also one of the three public defender organizations leading the nation’s first-ever universal representation program for detained immigrants facing deportation.  

We specifically seek applications from candidates with Spanish language skills and/or those from racially and ethnically marginalized communities disproportionately impacted by the immigration system whose lived experiences contribute to culturally conscious client representation   

Impact Litigation Practice 

The Impact Litigation Practice (ILP) is a collaborative civil rights division of BxD that uses affirmative litigation strategies to advance and strengthen the rights of the people we represent. ILP works closely with direct services staff to identify widespread injustices affecting the people we represent and leverage legal tools—from demand letters to class action lawsuits—to redress and end those injustices. ILP’s work addresses a variety civil rights issues, including but not limited to racial and economic inequity, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, and fundamental freedoms. ILP’s approach to civil rights litigation—from the cases we choose to work on to the change we advance—is guided by engagement with the communities we work with and  lessons learned in our direct services representation. 

Immigration Policy  

The Bronx Defenders Immigration Policy Team works collaboratively with the larger Policy team and the immigration practice to develop and execute legislative and policy work at the local, state, and national levels. Working closely with our Strategic Communications and Data Science Teams, the Immigration Policy Team works to bring transformational change to the state and federal immigration policy. We do this by drafting legislation and policy strategy, developing communications and organizing campaigns, lobbying on behalf of The Bronx Defenders and working collaboratively in broad coalitions with community members and grassroots organizations. Our policy priorities are rooted in, informed by and responsive to the needs and experiences of the people we represent and the broader Bronx community. 

To be eligible, upon hire, applicants must be: 

• Recent law school graduates 

• Admitted to the New York bar or actively pursuing admission to the New York bar and able to practice under supervision as a law graduate 

Applicants must demonstrate: 

• Commitment to directly defending people ensnared in criminal, family, immigration, and civil legal systems 

• Commitment to challenging systemic injustice and carceral systems with fierce advocacy; strategically challenging authority in defense of the people we represent 

• Experience working in and with racially and ethnically marginalized communities of color targeted by systemic injustice 

• Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people from various backgrounds and experiences 

• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team of lawyers and non-lawyers  

• Effective research, writing, and courtroom advocacy skills 

• Strong legal analytical skills and the capacity to employ non-legal resources to support the people we represent 

• Ability to multitask, maintain order and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment  

• Meticulous attention to detail 

• Ability to think critically and creatively, finding innovative solutions to unique obstacles 

• Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection, and shift behavior accordingly 

• Ability to exercise good judgment, discretion, and confidentiality around sensitive issues 

Additional Immigration Practice Qualification: 

• A valid driver’s license--or the ability to obtain one--is required as the role sometimes requires travel to detention facilities outside of NYC where clients are held. Vehicles provided. 

If hired, applicants must: 

• Have taken the New York State Bar Examination 

• Have submitted materials for Pro Hac Vice admission or waiver 

This is an in-person position. 

If selected for a fellowship and sponsorship with The Bronx Defenders, we will supplement the fellowship compensation to ensure a salary consistent with our attorney salary scale, which starts at $83,504. Full-time employees are also eligible for a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to medical, dental and vision coverage; a 403(b) plan with employer contribution; a generous vacation, sick leave, and parental leave policy.   

Approximately 70% of The Bronx Defenders' staff, including attorneys and non-attorneys, are represented by UAW Local 2325 - Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (AFL-CIO). This position is within the bargaining unit.   

This position is exempt. By law, non-exempt employees are compensated hourly based on their annual rate and therefore are entitled to over-time, whereas exempt employees are not.   

To apply, please click APPLY TO THIS JOB ONLINE and upload your resume and a one-page cover letter in one document. Your cover letter should state what practice area(s) you would like to join, as well as provide a brief description of your fellowship project idea or issues facing the people Bronx Defenders represents that you would like to address through a legal fellowship. Your cover letter should share why you want to do this work, some key lived and/or professional experiences that have prepared you for this position, and any additional information you would like us to consider. We would like to understand your distinct perspective, experience and potential beyond the work experience on your resume. If selected for the position, your resume will be used to determine your salary based on your number of years of directly relevant professional experience; therefore, please provide an updated resume. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. The start date for this position is Fall 2026. 

The Bronx Defenders will offer an online information session about our Legal Fellowship on June 27, 2025 from 1:00 PM-2:30 PM EST. Please visit Information Session Link to join. 

The application deadline is July 1, 2025, with interviews taking place in early July.  

The Bronx Defenders is an equal opportunity employer and is cultivating an anti-oppressive workplace that embraces staff with a diversity of backgrounds, identities and experiences. We acknowledge the ways in which systemic oppression and injustice can undermine access to professional opportunities and are committed to conducting hiring and promotion processes that are equitable and accessible to those commonly excluded from the workforce. We do not discriminate against and in fact specifically encourage applicants from marginalized communities to apply, including those who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, disabled, neurodivergent and those directly impacted by criminal, civil, family and immigration legal systems. We value lived as well as professional experience and particularly welcome applications from the Bronx community that we work with.