Staff Attorney

IDRA is a national non-profit whose mission is to achieve equal educational opportunity through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college.  Since 1973, IDRA has provided litigation support through courtroom testimony, research and policy reports, friend-of-the-court briefs, and behind-the-scenes strategy in landmark education cases from the San Antonio ISD v. Rodríguez (1973) and the subsequent line of Edgewood Texas school finance cases to the seminal Plyler v. Doe (1982) and the more recent Fisher v. UT-Austin (2016), NAACP v. DeVos (2020) and Texas Dream Act cases (YCT v. UNT (2023) and U.S. v. Students (2025). 

 

IDRA seeks to expand the capacity of its legal team and is looking for a dynamic individual to provide legal support in collaboration with families, young people, and other organizational partners seeking to advance educational justice. The licensed staff attorney will work closely with our Chief Legal Analyst and collaborate with our policy team to advance IDRA's mission.  

 

Responsibilities will include:  

 

• Support IDRA’s coalition amicus advocacy 

• Monitor high-impact education law developments  

• Conduct legal intakes and referrals  

• Create and present know-your-rights trainings  

• Research and draft
  model educational policies  

• Train and coordinate volunteer attorneys and community advocates  

• Provide legal technical assistance
  to our policy team    

• Represent IDRA in state and regional coalitions dedicated to civil rights in education  

 

Experience and Qualifications  

 

We seek an individual with a proven track record who shares our views that no child is expendable, and communities must have a voice in the laws and policies that most impact them. Applicants should understand systemic change
and the current state and federal education policy and legal landscape. The ideal candidate will have experience in
movement lawyering principles.   

 

 Qualifications include:   

 

• At least two years of civil rights and education legal advocacy experience   

• Policy experience preferred 

• Experience conducting legal research and analysis, creating student-centered and community-informed legal resources, and providing litigation support 

 

Compensation is commensurate with experience. 

Applications will be accepted until the consultancy is filled. IDRA is an equal opportunity employer.