Wikimedia Foundation, USA is inviting applications for a Remote Legal Fellowship from current law students or recent law graduates.
About Wikimedia Foundation, USA
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a 501 nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, registered as a charitable foundation under US law. It owns the Wikimedia projects – which are written and curated by thousands of Wikipedians and other unpaid volunteers – and the MediaWiki wiki software.
About Remote Legal Fellowship Opportunity
If you’re a current law student or recent law school graduate passionate about free knowledge and open source issues, applying to our legal fellowship program can provide an immersive in-house experience with specific education and training in the areas of Internet law and free knowledge organizations.
Role and Responsibilities
- The Foundation faces various legal issues ranging from complex copyright questions to international freedom of speech issues to mobile development to internal corporate compliance.
- Because of the wide array of legal issues, the fellows will be assigned challenging projects based on their particular interests and strengths.
- These projects range from researching various legal questions to drafting licensing agreements to develop internal and external policies.
- Each fellow will receive individualized projects that they will be expected to spearhead under the supervision and guidance of an attorney from the Legal Department.
- Fellows will work closely with their supervising attorney – attending and participating in internal and external meetings, collaborating on projects, receiving feedback and support, and generally learning about the practical dimensions of practising law in-house at a web-based company.
- When the opportunity exists, the Legal Department will work with a fellow’s university to facilitate earning academic credits and/or receiving funding for the fellow’s time at the Wikimedia Foundation.
Eligibility
- High energy for and commitment to the Wikimedia Foundation’s free knowledge mission, including an interest in free culture issues, open source software, Creative Commons licensing, etc.
- A very good sense of humor and the ability to excel in a fast-paced, multitasking environment that demands fast turn-around.
- Intellectual curiosity and flexibility make them enjoy tackling difficult and ambiguous problems in creative ways. Students with strong research backgrounds are preferred.
- Experience working with large online user communities (or at least the desire to). Students with experience with wikis or Wikimedia projects are preferred.
- The ability to flourish in a highly transparent and collaborative environment and work on a team with diverse demographic and cultural characteristics. Multilingual students (especially German, French, and/or Italian) are a plus!
- Excellent writing skills that can be adapted to communicate complex legal concepts to a large audience with varying (or no) backgrounds in law. Students with experience and/or coursework in drafting agreements and/or policies are preferred.
- Completed coursework in some or all of the following areas of law: internet law, freedom of speech (domestic and international), intellectual property, contract drafting, international law, privacy, data security, and/or licensing. While coursework in these areas is not required, students who have experience in these areas are heavily preferred.
- Being a Wikimedian! (Please share your username in your cover letter.)
How to Apply?
Please find the link at the end of this post.
Location
Remote
Required Documents
- Cover Letter
- Resume/CV
