Visiting Professor of Law & Director - Criminal Justice Clinic

The University of Maine School of Law (Maine Law) seeks a founding Director for its new Criminal Justice Clinic (Clinic) in Portland, Maine. The Director will build the Clinic from the ground up, supervise student attorneys representing indigent adults charged with crimes, and train the next generation of Maine criminal-justice practitioners at a moment when the State urgently needs them.

This is a full-time, 12-month visiting appointment for a term of three years to begin as early as January 2027. Because the position is funded by a U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Byrne Discretionary grant, the appointment and its continuation are contingent on the terms of the grant award and the availability of funding. The Director will be expected to work on site at Maine Law's Portland campus.

About Maine Law and the Clinic

Maine Law is Maine's only law school and part of the University of Maine System. The Clinics at Maine Law has run in-house, live-client clinics for more than five decades and currently offers six clinical programs with the launch of the Criminal Justice Clinic to be the seventh clinical program. The mission of the Clinics at Maine Law is “to train the next generation of lawyers while meeting the acute needs of vulnerable communities.” 

The goal of the Criminal Justice Clinic is to respond directly to Maine's indigent defense crisis. Student Attorneys, certified under Maine's Student Practice Rule, will represent indigent adults in criminal matters. Over the three-year pilot, the Clinic will handle at least 150 cases and train 25 to 30 student attorneys.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with some evenings and weekends as needed. This position reports to the Dean.  

Salary: The annual salary range is $105,000-$115,000, based on qualifications and experience.

Benefits: The University of Maine System offers a highly competitive benefits package that includes (but is not limited to):

• 13 paid holidays plus earned vacation and sick time
• Health, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Short-term disability insurance and employer-paid long-term disability insurance
• Employer-paid basic life insurance and supplemental life insurance
• Tuition waiver program for employees and their dependents (spouse, domestic partner, and dependent children)
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer contribution

To learn more, please review the Benefits Information Summary.

Responsibilities

The Director is the Clinic’s founding faculty member and supervising attorney, responsible for its launch, its caseload, its teaching, and its grant compliance.

Launching the Clinic

• Lead the launch of the Criminal Justice Clinic and bring a vision for its design, ensuring it aligns with the broader mission of the Clinics at Maine Law while meeting the grant's funding goals and deliverables.
• Develop case-intake protocols in consultation with the Director of the Clinics at Maine Law and the Director of the Youth Justice Clinic, the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services (MCPDS), the Maine Judicial Branch, and other stakeholders to direct representation where it will have the greatest impact on the needs of the community while balancing the pedagogical needs of the Clinic.
• Recruit and select the inaugural cohort of student attorneys.

Client representation and supervision

• Supervise six student attorneys each fall and spring semester and two paid interns each summer.
• Oversee representation in approximately 150 criminal cases over the three-year grant period, serving as the supervising professor, and ensuring compliance with the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct and the Student Practice Rule.
• Provide close, hands-on supervision of student case work, including client interviews, investigation, motion practice, negotiations, hearings, and trials.

Teaching

• Design and teach a weekly seminar on lawyering skills and substantive criminal law and procedure.
• Lead weekly case rounds providing structured peer and supervisor review of active files.
• Develop joint learning opportunities that bring together Clinic students, students interning in Maine District Attorney offices, the Maine Public Defenders, and students in other criminal-law placements.
   

Data collection, grant management, and compliance

• Design and manage the Clinic's data collection, including an outcomes-tracking system covering jurisdiction, case types, outcomes, duration of representation, and students trained.
• Manage the federal grant day to day, including monitoring the budget, tracking progress toward grant targets, and maintaining required documentation.
• Ensure the Clinic complies with all federal grant terms and conditions, working with the University of Maine System's sponsored-programs office.
• Prepare semi-annual and annual performance reports for BJA, including the final report, and support the University's quarterly federal financial reporting.
• Lead the mid-pilot evaluation, refine curriculum and intake based on results, and produce a final pilot evaluation.

Partnerships

• Collaborate with the directors of Maine Law's other clinical programs and work especially closely with the Director of the Youth Justice Clinic to coordinate on shared issues, client needs, and pedagogy.
• Work in coordination with the Director of the Youth Justice Clinic to liaison with MCPDS, District Attorney offices, the courts, and the criminal defense bar.
• Participate in the life of the Law School and its clinical faculty, including committee service as appropriate to a visiting appointment.

Qualifications

Required

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Licensed to practice law in Maine, or able to obtain a Maine bar license within three months of beginning employment. 
• A minimum of 7 to 10 years of trial level litigation experience, including substantial experience in criminal law, with significant courtroom and trial experience.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or training attorneys, law students, or other legal staff.
• Demonstrated commitment to providing high-quality representation to indigent clients.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to build a new program, manage competing deadlines, and work independently.

Preferred

• Experience practicing criminal law in Maine courts, or familiarity with Maine's criminal justice system and MCPDS.
• Law school teaching experience, particularly clinical teaching or skills instruction.
• Experience managing grant-funded programs, including data collection and reporting.
• Experience working collaboratively with prosecutors, courts, and public-defense agencies.
• Familiarity with legal case-management systems such as Legal Server.

How to Apply
Materials must be submitted via “Apply Now” (below for external applicants, at the top for internal applicants). You will need to complete an application and upload the following:

• A cover letter that describes your experiences, interests, and suitability for the position.
• A resume/curriculum vitae.

Important items to know about the recruitment process

• Review of applications and materials will begin immediately. The position will remain open until a qualified candidate is hired.
• Materials received after the initial review date will be reviewed at the discretion of the University.
• We cannot consider applicants who require Visa sponsorship.
• Candidates selected to proceed to the final stages of the search process will be requested to provide three (3) names and contact information for references.
• Incomplete application materials cannot be considered.
• The successful candidate is subject to appropriate background screenings.
   

The University of Maine System (the System) is an equal opportunity institution committed to fostering a nondiscriminatory environment and complying with all applicable nondiscrimination laws. Consistent with State and Federal law, the System does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability (physical or mental), genetic information, pregnancy, or veteran or military status in any aspect of its education, programs and activities, and employment. The System provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. If you believe you have experienced discrimination or harassment, you are encouraged to contact the System Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Services at 5713 Chadbourne Hall, Room 412, Orono, ME 04469-5713, by calling 207.581.1226, or via TTY at 711 (Maine Relay System). For more information about Title IX or to file a complaint, please contact the UMS Title IX Coordinator at www.maine.edu/title-ix/.