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Research fellowship

Fellows program

A seventeen-month research fellowship on how civil rights compliance actually works. Fellows take on questions from the firm's research agenda, under the supervision of the practitioners who carry the matters, and publish what they find.

See the research agenda

At a glance

  1. TermSeventeen months, full term
  2. CohortTwo fellows at a time
  3. IntakeRolling, dates announced ahead
  4. PayHourly, plus a $2,000 stipend
  5. OutputPublished, with your name on it

The full terms

Why it exists

The field runs on practice nobody has studied.

The cost shows up years later, in a resolution agreement that reads like a list of process failures.

Coordinators arrive from student conduct, from human resources, from a dean's office, and are handed a portfolio with real legal consequences and almost no evidence about what works. Most of what the field knows about its own processes lives in individual offices and is never written down.

The Fellows program exists to change that. Fellows study the work rather than do it, and what they find goes back to the people doing it: in published research, and in the tools practitioners use every day.

A fellow is

  • A researcher on the firm's agenda
  • Supervised by practitioners who carry the matters
  • Published, under their own name

A fellow is not

  • Assigned to client matters or casework
  • An employee of the firm
  • Promised a role afterward

The research agenda

The firm sets the questions

Each cohort works from questions drawn from what practitioners keep running into. The agenda for the next cohort is published with its dates.

  • 01ProcessWhere investigations and grievance processes break down, and what the strongest ones do differently.
  • 02EnforcementWhat resolution agreements and enforcement actions reveal about the offices that signed them.
  • 03The roleHow people come to hold the coordinator role, what holds them in it, and what it costs them.

What fellows produce

Research that is read, and research that is used

Every fellow's work goes two places.

Published research

  • AuthorshipA paper or report, with the fellow named as author
  • PublisherFractional Coordinator
  • ReviewBy a supervising practitioner before release

Findings in the firm's tools

  • The PlaybooksFindings written into the four volumes
  • The Knowledge HubDecision frameworks and case studies
  • TrainingThrough the Learning Institute, with the fellow credited

The terms

Six terms, the same for every fellow

Stated in full before you write to us. None of them is negotiated case by case. If a term changes, it is put in writing before a fellow starts, and it does not change once they have.

  • TermSeventeen months. There is no shortened track.
  • CohortTwo fellows at a time. Supervision at this standard does not scale.
  • IntakeRolling. Dates and the agenda are announced ahead of each cohort.
  • PayHourly, for every hour worked, plus a $2,000 research and support stipend on completion.
  • StatusNot employment, and not a guaranteed role afterward.
  • ScopeResearch only. Fellows do not work on client matters.

Who this is for

Curiosity about the work, and the discipline to study it

We are less interested in credentials than in whether you can take a hard question, hold it for seventeen months, and write down what you find.

  • Graduate studentsIn law, education, public policy, or the social sciences.
  • Recent law graduatesWho want to study the practice, not only the doctrine.
  • PractitionersStudent conduct, HR, and deputy coordinators who want to study the field they work in.
  • ResearchersAlready working on civil rights, equity, or institutional process.
  • Career changersWith research or analytical skills that transfer.

Who fellows work with

Supervised by the people who carry the matters

Each fellow is assigned a supervising practitioner from the core team or the contracted practitioner network, the same people carrying institutional engagements. They shape the research question, review the work as it develops, and sign off before anything is published.

Meet the firm

How to apply

Four steps to a research plan

Cohort dates, the agenda, and the application window are announced ahead of each intake. Write to us at any point and we will tell you where the next cohort stands.

  • 01Write to usA short letter on which part of the agenda draws you, and what you have already done that prepares you for it. A writing sample helps, but the letter is what we read first.
  • 02A working conversationNot an interview. We put a research question in front of you and talk through how you would approach it. Saying you do not know is a legitimate move.
  • 03Screening and placementBackground screening is completed before you start, as for everyone working under our name. You are placed on the agenda question where you can contribute the most.
  • 04StartYou are assigned a supervising practitioner and agree a research plan for the seventeen months.

Questions

Before you apply

More in our questions

Do fellows work on client matters?

No. The fellowship is research only. Fellows study how compliance works; they are not assigned to engagements or casework.

Who chooses the research question?

The firm sets the agenda for each cohort. You tell us in your letter which part of it draws you, and we place you on the question where you can contribute the most.

Will my name be on the research?

Yes. Fellows are named as authors on what they publish, and credited where their findings go into the Playbooks, the Knowledge Hub, or training.

Can I keep my current job during the fellowship?

Fellows are paid hourly for the hours they work, and the fellowship is not employment. Tell us your situation in your letter and we will tell you plainly whether the schedule fits.

Does the fellowship lead to a role at the firm?

No role is guaranteed. Completing a fellowship is not a promise of an engagement or a position.

If the fellowship is not the right fit

Other ways into the work

For practitioners already in the role, or anyone who wants to start with less commitment.

Apply

Study the work that shapes the field.

Two fellows, seventeen months, a supervising practitioner, and published research with your name on it. Start with a short letter.

See the agenda

Trust, operationalized

Work here

Most people who join this firm arrive through the practitioner network rather than a posting. Tell us what you have carried and what you want to carry next, and we will tell you plainly whether there is a fit.

See open roles