Practitioner in Residence, Health Law Clinic

The Practitioner-in-Residence (PIR) role is a non-tenure track faculty position within Suffolk’s nationally ranked Clinical Programs. The PIR will be a part of a collaborative group of clinical faculty and staff, who strive for excellence in clinical and seminar teaching, student supervision, the delivery of legal services, and engagement within the community. The PIR will be responsible for developing and maintaining the docket of cases and projects within the Health Law Clinic (HLC), and for teaching the year-long clinical seminar. The PIR may have the opportunity to teach a course outside of the clinic, depending on expertise and curricular needs. The PIR will have the opportunity to participate in workshops, programs, and conferences on clinical pedagogy, scholarship, legal education, health law, and other topics.    

The PIR will work independently (if full-time) or with the assistance of a part-time clinician (if part-time) to supervise approximately 8 full-year clinical students in the Health Law Clinic. The PIR will be responsible for managing and overseeing the caseload and project-based work of the Clinic, including intake, case and project opening and closing procedures, assignments, review of all student work product, and appearing with students at case and project-related events. While the PIR will have flexibility in shaping the docket, students in the HLC have historically represented low-income individuals with disabilities and/or their family members in a range of health-law matters, including adult guardianship matters, supported decision-making agreements, Social Security Disability matters, public and private health insurance appeals, and medical debt cases. Students have also worked on MLP-based research and public policy projects aimed at addressing the social determinants of health. The PIR will help students develop their professional habits and essential lawyering skills, such as client interviewing and counseling, case theory development, fact investigation, drafting, advocacy, and resolving ethical dilemmas in practice.    

The PIR will be expected to foster collaborative partnerships with healthcare providers, other clinical programs, legal services organizations, government officials, and/or community advocates to advance the work of the Clinic and benefit its students.   

Qualifications:    

• Must be a member in good standing of the Massachusetts Bar and qualified to represent clients in Massachusetts state courts, or able to waive into the Massachusetts Bar under SJC Rule 3:04, prior to the commencement of the position;
• At least three to five years of civil litigation/legal services experience in health law (broadly defined) is required; strong preference for experience in mental health law and disability rights, public benefits law (especially Social Security and/or Medicaid), health insurance appeals, and/or probate litigation (especially adult guardianships and supported decision-making);
• Experience working directly with historically marginalized clients and communities is required, including experience working with individuals with racially, ethnically, and/or socioeconomically diverse backgrounds. Experience working with individuals with disabilities is strongly preferred;
• Teaching and/ or significant mentoring experience is strongly preferred, as is experience participating in a law school clinic;
• Scholarly engagement and production is highly encouraged, but scholarship is not a requirement in this role.

Hours and Duration: This position will begin on or about July 1, 2024, and is a 12-month position with the possibility of renewal for additional years, depending on programmatic needs and funding. The position can be full-time, in which case the PIR will serve as the sole director of the HLC; or the position can be part-time, in which case the PIR will be supported by a part-time Clinical Fellow or Adjunct.  

Required Application Documents:Cover Letter  

Resume or CV  

List of three references  

Teaching Evaluations (if applicable)