Senior Federal Relations Counsel

The American Association for Justice (AAJ®) is seeking a Senior Federal Relations Counsel for its Public Affairs department. AAJ works to preserve the constitutional right to trial by jury and to make sure people have a fair chance to seek justice when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others—even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations.

The Senior Federal Relations Counsel assists with legislative and regulatory projects and advocacy on civil justice issues. This position focuses heavily on legislative research, writing, and data entry.

Job duties include:

• Focus on the issues affecting individuals’ access to justice which includes:

• Assist with regular communication with the policy makers.
• Work with allied groups on shared policy goals.
• Draft advocacy material, such as one-pagers and fact sheets, and testimony to promote policy goals.
• Draft regulatory comments and letters in response to rulemaking.
• Create, maintain, and routinely update various tracking databases for purposes of legislation, and victim advocacy engagement.

• Attend political events and fundraisers.
• Heavy focus on legislative and policy research, policy writing, and drafting all the following: legislative materials, advocacy materials, regulatory comments, policy/issue white papers and background memos.
• Brief members of Congress and staff and prepare and provide information to Hill, particularly focusing on the needs of Committees of jurisdiction.
• Analyze and assess legislation to evaluate civil justice implications for our members, including conducting legal research on legislative proposals.
• Monitor the daily progress of legislation affecting access to the courts.
• Assist with monitoring the daily progress of the federal judicial nominations process.
• Assist as needed on regulatory advocacy, including analyzing impact of proposed regulations on AAJ membership, drafting regulatory comments and letters, conducting legal research on proposed regulations.
• Perform administrative tasks as assigned to support the public affairs team including database creation and maintenance, schedule meetings, coordinating
with coalition partners, and creation of presentations.

Requirements:

• JD degree and Bar membership.
• Must have a combined minimum of 5 years’ working experience on a government relations team at a trade association, lobby shop, law firm, and/or working on Capitol Hill.
          o Capitol Hill experience must be at least 1 year.
• Must be (or become) a registered Federal lobbyist.
• Exceptionally detail-oriented and organized.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and in teams.
• Familiarity with MS Office Suite products (i.e., Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Ability to travel to two conventions and various assigned events throughout the work week.
• Commitment to civil justice.

*AAJ is currently working a hybrid schedule.

**The American Association for Justice (AAJ) requires all employees to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. AAJ will allow for exceptions to COVID-19 vaccination based on a medical exemption, disability accommodation, or religious objection; pregnant individuals may also request a deferral if they wish for the duration of the pregnancy.

Unvaccinated staff with approved exemptions or accommodations will be required to comply with weekly testing and to follow CDC guidelines for unvaccinated individuals, which may include wearing a mask at all times.

AAJ offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits. AAJ is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

No phone calls please!

Applications must be submitted on our website to be considered.