The Probate and Family Court is pleased to announce a volunteer judicial
fellowship program starting in January 2011. The volunteer judicial
fellowship program is open to recently admitted attorneys who have not yet
secured employment, as well as attorneys who may have been impacted by the
economic downturn and are currently unemployed. This opportunity is an
unpaid fellowship. Participants in the volunteer judicial fellowship
program are asked to commit to the program for 3-6 months, for a minimum of two
days per week, although a full-time option is certainly available.
Each fellow will assist the justices of the Probate and Family Court as an
adjunct to the Probate and Family Court Law Clerk Program. Working with judges
in various divisions, each fellow will draft findings of fact and legal research
memoranda. Fellows will receive assignments from designated court staff
but will work directly with judges on the assignments. Each fellow will likely
be assigned to a particular division of the Probate and Family Court for the
duration of the fellowship, although some travel or rotation to another
courthouse may be required. Some fellows may also be assigned to the
Administrative Office in Boston.
Fellows must comply with the Probate and Family Court's confidentiality and
ethical guidelines, which, among other things, preclude any outside legal
practice, whether paid or unpaid, while participating in the fellowship. Fellows
must also comply with Probate and Family Court’s guidelines for avoiding
potential conflicts, including those that may arise while the fellow is looking
for full-time legal employment during the fellowship. Accordingly, if a fellow
has interviewed with a prospective legal employer, the fellow will be required
to notify Denise Fitzgerald, Administrative Attorney, as the manager of the Law
Clerk Program, and may be barred from any assignments involving the prospective
legal employer. Fellows will also be subject to a CORI background
check.
Interested attorneys should submit a (1) cover letter, (2) resume, including
two references, (3) official transcript, (4) five- to seven-page legal writing
sample (unedited by others), and (5) a certificate of good standing from the
Supreme Judicial Court, to Denise Fitzgerald, Administrative Attorney, John
Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Mezzanine, Boston, MA, 02108.
During the selection process, applicants will be required to identify those
courthouses to which they would be willing and able to travel if selected.
Probate and Family Court locations include Boston, Barnstable, Pittsfield, New
Bedford, Fall River, Salem, Lawrence, Greenfield, Springfield, Northampton,
Cambridge, Canton, Brockton, and Worcester. Please note that not all Fellows can
be assigned to Boston.