Christopher N. Lasch Clinical Teaching Fellow, Civil Rights Clinic

College Summary

The University of Denver Sturm College of Law is a national leader in experiential learning whose innovative and highly respected clinical program ranks in the Top 10 in the nation. Located in a dynamic and beautiful urban setting the Sturm College of Law features an outstanding student body a motivated and highly professional staff a faculty that includes some of the most accomplished legal scholars in the nation and roughly 17000 alumni who have achieved careers of distinction in law business government public interest and other professional domains.

Student Law Office

The Sturm College of Law was the first law school in the nation to offer academic credit to students for representing indigent clients. Today its Student Law Office provides second- and third-year law students with the opportunity to refine their lawyering skills and forge their professional identities while providing outstanding legal representation to clients in seven in-house clinics: advancing social change; civil litigation; civil rights; community economic development; criminal defense; environmental law; and immigration law and policy.

Position Summary

The Christopher N. Lasch Clinical Teaching Program (Program) at the Sturm College of Law prepares talented and dedicated individuals to serve as future full-time clinical faculty members at U.S. law schools. Christopher N. Lasch Clinical Teaching Fellows (Lasch Fellows) undertake a rigorous training program involving assignment to a particular clinic within the Student Law Office and an associated three-year course of teaching research and study culminating in an LL.M. degree. The Program honors the life and legacy of Professor Christopher N. Lasch (1965-2021) who served on the faculty of the Sturm College of Law for over a decade. Professor Lasch was a fierce advocate for social justice a nurturing teacher and mentor and a scholar of immense range and significance who took a strong and enduring interest in the training of future lawyers and clinical law teachers.

During the course of the Program Lasch Fellows enroll in a seminar focused on clinical pedagogy; supervise clinical students first as co-supervisors with full-time clinical faculty and then on their own; assist in teaching clinical seminars; engage in client representation; and prepare one or more scholarly articles of publishable quality. Lasch Fellows receive an annual stipend and are awarded LL.M. degrees upon their successful completion of their fellowships.

We seek a Lasch Fellow in the Civil Rights Clinic (CRC) an intensive year-long litigation program in which students represent clients in civil rights cases in federal court under the supervision of clinical faculty. Currently the focus of the CRCs work is on the constitutionality of federal and state prison conditions and current clinic cases are challenging issues such as indefinite solitary confinement the free exercise of religion access to adequate medical care while incarcerated and disability discrimination in prison.

The successful candidate would commence their responsibilities on April 1 2026.

Essential Functions

• Supervision of second- and third-year law students with the goals of training students to become ethical effective and compassionate advocates and of delivering outstanding client representation
• Classroom teaching and curriculum development in collaboration with the other CRC faculty

Required Qualifications

• JD or equivalent degree
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• At least three (3) years of practice experience in civil rights and federal court litigation
• A commitment to inclusive teaching methods
• Membership in the Colorado Bar or willingness to petition for admission prior to the start date of the fellowship
• Note: Lawyers teaching in a law school clinical program are permitted to waive into the Colorado bar upon application.

Preferred Qualifications

• Teaching training or supervision of law students or early-career lawyers
• Experience representing incarcerated people in conditions of confinement litigation

Application Deadline

For consideration please submit your application materials by 4:00 p.m. (MST) December 19 2025.

Special Instructions

Candidates must apply online be considered. Only applications submitted online will be accepted.

Salary Range

The salary for this position is $70000 in Year 1 $72500 in Year 2 and $75000 in Year 3.

The University of Denver has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what the University may pay for the position at the time of posting. The University may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as the qualifications of the selected candidate departmental budget availability internal salary equity considerations and available market information but not based on a candidates sex or any other protected status.

Benefits

Lasch Fellows are covered by the University of Denvers Student Health Insurance Plan available exclusively to students at the University of Denver who are actively enrolled in an on-campus degree-seeking program and are also eligible for a transit pass and certain benefits offered by the University. Lasch Fellows receive a waiver of all tuition and fees associated with the LL.M. program in which they are enrolled as well as a professional development budget. As full-time students Lasch Fellows may also qualify for deferment of their student loans and/or loan repayment assistance from their law schools.

Please include the following documents with your application:

1. Resume
2. Statement of interest of no more than two (2) pages addressing (a) why you are interested in the fellowship; (b) what you can contribute to the CRC; (c) your experience in the areas of civil rights prison conditions litigation federal court and public interest or social justice work; (d) your future professional goals; and (e) anything else you consider pertinent.
3. List of at least three (3) references
4. A writing sample that represents recent challenging legal work. The writing sample should not be a collaborative work or a document significantly edited by someone else.

The University of Denver is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex (including sex stereotypes sex characteristics sexual orientation gender identity and gender expression) marital family or parental status pregnancy or related conditions national origin disability or status as a protected veteran. The University of Denver does not discriminate and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color national origin ancestry age religion creed disability sex (including sex stereotypes sex characteristics sexual orientation gender identity and gender expression) marital family and parental status pregnancy genetic information military enlistment or veteran status and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination under federal state or local law regulation or ordinance in any of the Universitys educational programs and activities and in the employment (including application for employment) and admissions (including application for admission) context as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; the Americans with Disabilities Act; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; the Equal Pay Act; the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act; the Colorado Protecting Opportunities and Workers Rights (POWR) Act; and any other federal state and local laws regulations or ordinances that prohibit discrimination harassment and/or retaliation. For more information please see the University of DenversNonDiscriminationStatement.

All offers of employment are contingent upon satisfactory completion of a criminal history background check.