Constitutional Accountability Center Constitutional Accountability Center

Douglas T. Kendall Fellowship Program 2025-2026

About CAC

The Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) is a nonprofit, public interest law firm and think tank dedicated to making real the progressive promise of our Constitution’s text, history, and values.  We work in our courts, through our government, and with legal scholars to preserve the rights and freedoms of all in America.

At the Constitutional Accountability Center, we view the Constitution as an inherently progressive document—amended over the generations to become more just, equitable, and inclusive.  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.  The Constitutional Accountability Center 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.

CAC has adopted a hybrid work schedule with all staff working in the Washington, DC office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 

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.

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 principally amicus work in the Supreme Court and lower federal courts.

The Fellow will be exposed to CAC’s methodological approach of using constitutional and statutory text and history, 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 collect applications starting May 2024 for the Fellowship beginning in September 2025.

The Fellow will report to CAC’s Deputy 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,
  • membership in the DC Bar or the ability to apply for membership by the start of the fellowship,
  • 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 transcript, and a relevant writing sample that includes a cover page briefly explaining the context in which it was written, and whether and how the sample was edited based on suggestions from others.

Please email your application materials as one PDF to Olurotimi Odewole at olurotimi@theusconstitution.org.