Senior Associate or Counsel

About the firm:

Perseus Strategies is a public interest law firm in Washington, D.C. focused on serving clients in the international human rights, humanitarian, and corporate social responsibility space (www.perseus-strategies.com, new website launching in November). At its core, Perseus Strategies is a law firm, providing legal advisory services to individuals, multilateral organizations, governments, NGOs, and companies. The firm’s mission is to have a positive impact on the world, to help its clients achieve breakthrough results addressing their toughest challenges, and to build a great firm that attracts and develops extraordinary people. It does this through integrated legal, political, and public relations advocacy efforts. The firm spends about one third of its time on pro bono projects.

Perseus Strategies’ expertise includes major international human-rights treaties and standards, United Nations bodies (e.g., Security Council and Human Rights Council), regional organizations, and thematic areas, including arbitrary detention; enforced disappearances; torture; emerging technologies and human rights; U.S. and global sanctions; criminal justice reform; the responsibility to protect doctrine; international criminal law, including mass atrocity crimes; and international parental child abduction. Examples of current and past clients include political prisoners, such as Baquer and Siamak Namazi, American hostages formerly detained in Iran, Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim when he was a political prisoner, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Ales Bialiatski and Liu Xiaobo; the Organization of American States, supporting Managing Director Jared Genser, who serves independently as pro bono Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect; a top candidate for Secretary-General of the United Nations; a former President targeted by his former government with an abusive INTERPOL Red Notice; REFORM Alliance, a U.S. NGO, on developing a UN human-rights approach to the social reintegration of prisoners back into society; and the Neurorights Foundation, on promoting innovation in neurotechnologies while protecting against its misuse or abuse. Currently, its Managing Director is co-editing a new book with former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein entitled The Oxford Handbook on the UN Human Rights System (Oxford University Press, 2025), which has about 70 authors across 50 chapters and is focused on reforming and improving the system.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manage operations of the firm, which includes overseeing workflow and weekly responsibilities of three other full-time staff members and running the firm’s internship program, reporting to the Managing Director
• Identify, develop, and help pitch potential new clients, working with the Managing Director
• Engage in case work for a wide variety of paying and pro bono clients
• Serve as the first point of contact for multiple clients and engage directly with and help manage the relationships with clients of all kinds
• Produce and oversee the drafting of legal briefs to international bodies, book chapters, journal articles, human rights reports, legislation/resolutions (for U.S., foreign, and international bodies), research memoranda, facts sheets, press releases, op-eds, and content specific to campaigns and ongoing initiatives
• Participate in the development of advocacy strategies to assist clients as well as in meetings with decision makers with international organizations, the U.S. and foreign governments, NGOs, and media
• Represent Perseus Strategies as an expert with wide array of stakeholders, at human rights-related events, and in the media

Related Skills and Knowledge:

• Substantial knowledge of international human rights law and United Nations human rights protection systems
• Excellent judgment and discretion as well as strategic-thinking capabilities
• Experience managing others and ability to work independently and collaboratively with a highly-skilled team
• Exceptional organizational, administrative, and problem-solving skills with meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to work under pressure while juggling multiple tasks simultaneously and to work effectively under tight deadlines
• Ability to work comfortably in a variety of settings, including legal, academic, governmental, and media

Experience: A minimum of six years of relevant experience is required. Work experience in an international environment, with culturally diverse teams, and across multiple time zones is a strong advantage.

Location: Washington, D.C. preferred or remote possible

Logistics: If U.S.-based, applicants for this position must possess current U.S. work authorization valid for a minimum of two years from start date. While there can be some flexibility week-to-week depending on specific deadlines and required joint work across the team, Perseus Strategies’ working hours are set to Eastern Standard Time and applicants must generally be available during this working day.

Application Deadline: Open Until Filled