Dear Colleagues,

Emory Law School is hoping to fill this position as soon as possible. Please share this information widely:

Emory University School of Law seeks a director for the Barton Child Law & Policy Center

Title: Clinical Instructor; Barton Center Director

Reports to: Law School Dean

Classification: Clinical instructor, contract position

Salary: Negotiable; includes the University’s generous benefit package

Start date: early summer 2010

Position Summary:

Emory Law School seeks a clinical instructor to lead a multi-disciplinary children’s law center housing three clinical offerings as well as other student opportunities for engaged learning. The director must have significant experience in child welfare and juvenile justice policy development and client representation, teaching and student supervision, and management and fundraising. The director supervises two to five attorneys serving as clinical instructors or fellows and two support staff. The Director reports to the Dean of the Emory University School of Law.

About the Barton Child Law and Policy Center at Emory University:

Established in March 2000 through the generosity of the Barton Family Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta.
Mission: to promote and protect the well-being of neglected, abused and court-involved children in the state of Georgia and to inspire excellence among the adults responsible for protecting and nurturing these children, and to prepare child advocacy professionals.
Clinics: The Barton Center offers students three for-credit in-house clinical experiences: the multi-disciplinary Public Policy Clinic, offered in the fall semester; the multi-disciplinary Legislative Clinic, offered in the spring semester; and the Juvenile Defender Clinic, offered to third year law students in both semesters.
Engaged learning and employment: The Barton Center offers students two non-credit experiences (one volunteer and one paid). Emory Law students may volunteer in the Know Your Rights Program, which educates at-risk youth about their rights during encounters with law enforcement or during involvement in the juvenile justice system. Law and other graduate students from around the country may apply for the Emory Summer Child Advocacy Program which places students in paid child advocacy internships across Georgia and provides an intensive one-week initial training and ongoing support during the summer.
Classes: Participation in the clinical offerings is preceded by a 2-credit class taught by Barton Center faculty, either “Kids in Conflict” or “Child Advocacy: the Law, the Policy, and the Players.”
Work: The Center assists individuals and organizations involved in child abuse, neglect, delinquency, status and other juvenile court matters with legal research, policy development, legislative drafting and analysis, training, sociological and statistical research and analysis, and litigation matters. The juvenile defender clinic represents juvenile clients in juvenile court, administrative proceedings, and other settings.
Staffing: Staff consists of two to four clinical instructors (attorneys), one or two post-graduate fellows in law, and two part-time programmatic/administrative staff. Each clinical offering enrolls 6-12 students per semester and the Emory Summer Child Advocacy Program includes 15-25 students.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

The Center director oversees the operations of the Center, including supervising faculty and staff working in the Center, developing curricula, teaching students in a classroom setting, supervising students in a clinical setting, participating in local, state, and national policy development, fundraising for Center operations, managing and implementing grant awards, and managing the Center budget.

As the lead faculty member of the Center, the Director develops the curriculum and accompanying syllabus for the 2-credit class on child abuse and neglect and the public policy and legislative clinical offerings, teaches the child abuse and neglect class, and leads one clinic student meeting a week. The Center Director supervises the Center faculty, staff, and public policy and legislative clinic students. The Center Director is expected to develop relationships with organizations and individuals in Atlanta, Georgia, and nationally that work on matters closely related to the Center’s mission. The Director, in coordination with law school and university development staff, is required to raise sufficient funds for the Center budget, the sources for which include major and minor donor solicitation and grant applications. The Director, as a member of the law school faculty, will also be expected to perform regular faculty duties including participation in faculty meetings, participation on faculty committees, support for law school recruitment efforts as well as outreach to the law school and broader legal communities through participation in conferences and panels.

Qualifications:

Experience managing and teaching in a children’s law clinic setting preferred.
Significant experience in relevant aspects of children’s law.
Significant experience in public policy development and legislative work.
Solid intellectual grounding in the law related to child abuse, juvenile justice, status offenses, foster care and other related areas of children’s law, as well as related regulations.
Bar membership in Georgia by summer 2011.
Strong connections to local, statewide and national non-profit organizations, government and industry to facilitate development of clinical projects preferred.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Superb analytical, research, and organizational skills.
High degree of professionalism in dealings with staff, colleagues and opponents.
Interest in mentoring and supervising students in clinic work.
Ability to handle a flexible but demanding work schedule.
Ability to fundraise with donors and foundations.
Excellent management skills, including experience managing budgets.

To Apply:

Send a cover letter highlighting your qualifications, a full resume, writing sample, and list of references to:

Professor Charles Shanor

Chair, Barton Center Director Search Committee

Emory Law School

1301 Clifton Road

Atlanta, Georgia 30322

If you prefer, you may apply to [log in to unmask]. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. The position will remain open until the right candidate is hired.

Karen Worthington

Barton Child Law and Policy Center

Emory University

1301 Clifton Road

Atlanta, Georgia 30322

404-727-0333

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