Harvard Law School invites applications to serve as the inaugural Law and Technology Innovation Fellow during the 2017–18 academic year.
UPDATE: We've extended the deadline for submitting applications to May 19, 2017!
Drawing on and contributing to the Law School's dynamic programs at the intersection of law and technology, the Fellow will pursue his or her own technology project that holds promise for improving the law. The Fellowship is intended to serve as a launching pad for a creative, entrepreneurial, and technically savvy law graduate or lawyer who intends to pursue a career in technology innovation and the law.
The Fellowship is co-sponsored by two Law School programs—the Library Innovation Lab and Developing Justice@HLS—that together serve as incubators for innovative ideas designed to improve the law, access to the law, and access to justice. The project proposed by the Fellow should clearly further the mission of the Library Innovation Lab or Developing Justice or both.
During the Fellowship year, the Fellow will identify a discrete problem in the legal field and design, prototype and iterate on a technology-enabled solution. The Fellow's work throughout the year will reflect a bias in favor of action and experimentation, emphasizing committed code over planning, analysis and discussion. The Fellow will be embedded with the lawyers and programmers within the Library Innovation Lab and Developing Justice. And while the Fellow will be expected to do his or her own technical work, the opportunity promises active collaboration with, and feedback from, this community of fellow travelers.
The Lab is a multidisciplinary team of lawyers, programmers, librarians and designers based in the Harvard Law School Library. Its work explores opportunities and challenges at the intersection of libraries, technology and law. Its recent efforts have focused on large technical initiatives like the Caselaw Access Project, Perma.cc, H2O and the Nuremberg Trials Project, as well as smaller explorations like Local Memory and Time Capsule Encryption.
DJ@HLS is a technology initiative embedded within the clinical program of Harvard Law School. Using the Law School's 18 in-house clinics and 11 student practice organizations as sites for experimentation, we use technology to foster innovation and promote access to justice. We collaborate with clinical faculty, instructors, students and partners to develop, test, and deploy new ideas and technology tools. Among our numerous projects, we have built technology to monitor important government websites, to expedite the discover process in litigation, and to expand access to eligibility information for a critical safety net program.
The successful candidate will receive a one-year appointment as a fellow in residence at Harvard Law School, which appointment includes salary, healthcare benefits, office space, a computer with a suite of software development tools, and access to other Law School and University resources and amenities.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Applications are encouraged by May 19, 2017, as the Law School will extend an offer as soon as an outstanding applicant is identified.
To apply, please submit the following materials via e-mail to TechInnovation@law.harvard.edu: