Constitutional Accountability Center Constitutional Accountability Center

Douglas T. Kendall Fellowship Program 2023-2024

About CAC

The Constitutional Accountability Center is dedicated to fulfilling the inherently progressive promise of the Constitution’s text, history, and values.  The Constitution is our national charter, amended over the generations to become more just, equitable, and inclusive.  As a nonprofit law firm and think tank, we work in our courts, through our government, and with legal scholars to make real the rights and freedoms the Constitution provides for all in America, with meaningful justice and equality for all.

To make real the promises of our national charter, we must honor and celebrate different ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds, and especially the contributions of historically marginalized communities.  As an organization, we make every effort to live by these ideals and help create the conditions that will allow all individuals and communities to thrive.

We are committed to the recruitment, development, and retention of talented and diverse staff who believe in true justice and equality for all people.  CAC is an equal opportunity employer, and we particularly encourage people who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latino/Latina or Latinx, Asian American or Pacific Islander, and from other underrepresented communities to join us.

About Doug Kendall

The Douglas T. Kendall Fellowship honors Doug Kendall, progressive litigator, author, activist, non-profit entrepreneur, and founding president of CAC.  Kendall’s mission was to show that the Constitution’s text and history secure the promise of, and in fact require, racial and gender equality, marriage equality, ballot access, an effective federal government, and equal citizenship at birth.  Kendall founded CAC to tell America the story of the Constitution’s arc of progress, through the courts, academia, and public conversation:  from the Founders’ decision to create a national government with the power to solve national problems, to later generations’ essential amendments that ended slavery, enshrined in the Constitution the principle of equal protection, and ensured the right to vote for African Americans, women, and young adults.  Under Kendall’s leadership, CAC produced original scholarship on the text and history of the Fourteenth Amendment’s key clauses and on the demise of stale debates between so-called “living constitutionalism” and “original intent,” among other topics.  Kendall, working with CAC’s current President and then-Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra, also built an influential and creative litigation program that advocates for progressive outcomes with arguments rooted in the text, history, and values of the whole Constitution. 

For more information about Doug Kendall’s legacy and CAC, please see www.theusconstitution.org.  To learn more about the Fellowship, watch how CAC supports the next generation of constitutional progressives.

Fellowship Summary

The Douglas T. Kendall Fellowship is a one-year fellowship designed for recent law school graduates to begin their careers in legal advocacy with a grounding in the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text, history, and values.  The Fellow will join CAC’s litigation team and participate in all aspects of the team’s work.  CAC’s litigation team does significant amicus work in the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, as well as some direct litigation work.

The Fellow will be exposed to CAC’s methodological approach of progressive originalism, as well as to the range of substantive areas in which we work.  The Fellow will provide substantive assistance with the research and writing of briefs and be lead drafter on at least one brief during the year.  CAC will also provide the Fellow with opportunities to work with our think tank and communications teams to see the full range of our work and the various ways in which litigation, policy, and communications can complement each other in progressive advocacy. 

CAC will collect applications starting July 2022 for the Fellowship beginning in September 2023.

The Fellow reports to CAC’s Chief Counsel.

Qualifications

Ideal candidates will have the following qualifications:

  • a recently completed or soon to be completed law degree with an excellent academic record,
  • a completed clerkship is a plus, but not required,
  • strong English reading and writing skills,
  • excellent attention to detail,
  • demonstrated dedication to a progressive vision, and
  • ability to be a team player as well as a self-starter.

Salary and Benefits

The salary for the one-year Fellowship is $70,000.

CAC provides an excellent benefits package to our staff, including health, dental, and vision insurance, FSA, SmarTrip benefits, three weeks of paid vacation, one week of paid sick leave, and paid leave for federal holidays.

To Apply

Please send a cover letter, résumé, law school transcripts, and writing sample to Keo Xiong at keo@theusconstitution.org.