Who We Are

IJ is a group of passionate, entrepreneurial individuals who come together in our commitment to helping people – free of charge – when the government violates their most important civil liberties. Whether someone is processing payroll, conducting original research, recording a podcast, editing a video, or speaking before the Supreme Court, every member of the IJ team plays a vital role in the success of our organization. 

Benefits and Perks

Health

  • Four medical plans; vision plan; dental plan  
  • Life insurance, short term disability, long term disability, and AD&D insurance at no cost to you  
  • IJ covers 100% of individual health premiums 
  • Employer HSA contributions  
  • Medical plan bonuses 

Savings

  • Dollar for dollar match up to 4% 
  • Profit-sharing contributions 
  • Safe Harbor contributions 
  • Standard and Roth plans 

PTO

  • Accrual of paid sick and vacation time
  • 12 paid holidays 
  • Paid personal day 

Flexible Schedule

  • Create your own schedule around our core office hours 
  • Hybrid work model- two work from home days each week for most roles  
  • Four “work from anywhere” weeks per year for most roles

Professional Memberships

  • IJ pays for one membership to a professional organization or pays for the required dues and fees for each attorney to maintain membership on one state and one voluntary bar association. 

IJ Extras

  • Casual dress code 
  • Pre-tax commuter benefits
  • Opportunities to earn referral and other bonuses
  • Creative workspaces
  • Staff retreats
None of my friends understand why I prefer my office days over my work-from-home days. IJ has such a welcoming environment that I genuinely look forward to going to work in the morning!
I love the knowledge that my 9-5 work is helping real people, and that I have opportunities to meet our clients face to face and hear directly from them how the work we do at IJ has made a positive difference in their lives.
Laura Maurice-Apel
Assistant Director of Design
Each day of work at IJ serves a real purpose to someone somewhere. When I go home at the end of the day, I know it was time well-spent.
I enjoy working at IJ with people who have similar outlooks on life. We’re all working together with defined goals in mind. It’s rare for every single person in an office to share the same enthusiasm and passion for wanting to see real change in the world. No one is motivated by money, and that makes all the difference.
Kenzie Jaicomo
Major Giving Manager

Our Teams

The Institute for Justice is more than just a law firm—we also offer opportunities in public policy research, community outreach and activism, communications, production, design, operations and administration, and development. Check out our different teams and see where you could have meaningful impact every day.

IJ’s activism team works to empower and mobilize entrepreneurs, property owners and parents to advocate for their rights. We manage multiple grassroots campaigns at the state and local levels, draft online and media content, testify in the courtroom, organize trainings and public demonstrations, and develop promotional materials and information campaigns, all to provide activists with the tools and strategies needed to effectively fight for their rights both in their communities and in the statehouse. Learn more about our current activism opportunities here!

IJ’s administrative team keeps the organization firing on all cylinders, ensuring every team is able to excel in its respective role. We’re also responsible for IJ’s training programs, speaking engagements and external conferences—ensuring attorneys, law students, undergraduate and master’s candidates, and other liberty-minded individuals are able to learn from and partner with IJ on multiple levels. Learn more about our current administration opportunities here!

IJ’s communications team helps IJ shape and share its message with supporters, the media and the general public. Through sophisticated media relations, and appealing production and design, we help personalize, humanize and dramatize IJ’s message in the court of public opinion, specifically through earned media coverage and engaging publications and videos. Learn more about our current communications opportunities here!

IJ’s development team ensures that IJ has the financial resources it needs to pursue its mission. We’re responsible for raising IJ’s budget each year by soliciting donations from current and new individual and foundation donors. We also maintain relationships with supporters, providing them with regular updates on IJ’s efforts and what their contributions are making possible in our fight for liberty. Learn more about our current development opportunities here!

IJ’s Clinic on Entrepreneurship trains and educates future lawyers to be fierce small-business advocates. Based at the University of Chicago Law School, we pair law students with entrepreneurs to offer free, top-notch transactional and regulatory legal assistance. When we’re not helping our clients draft contracts, negotiate financing or navigate a maze of regulatory red tape, we’re hosting events to expand our impact beyond our clients or building coalitions to address laws that hold small businesses back. Learn more about our current CJE opportunities here!

IJ’s legislation team engages in carefully selected efforts across the country to pass pro-liberty legislation and defeat anti-liberty legislation by employing IJ’s arsenal of legal analysis, strategic communications, activism and research. Sometimes we stand alone at capitols as the only advocates of government reducing the things it does. In other cases, we join forces with other organizations to advance liberty. Learn more about our current legislation opportunities here!

IJ’s litigation team does more than just write briefs or research case law; we find and meet with clients, talk with reporters, write model legislation, and record podcasts and videos. We’re also in oral arguments in state and federal courts, taking depositions, working with expert witnesses, and developing IJ’s next cutting-edge legal theory. Learn more about our current litigation opportunities here!

IJ’s research team brings data-driven policy and social science research to IJ’s big litigation issues. Our work informs policy debates nationwide, and we love digging into detailed data and coming up with creative solutions to hard problems. And we stop at nothing—not even suing the IRS—to get the information we need for our research. Learn more about our current strategic research opportunities here!

Open Positions

The Institute for Justice employs over 100 staff in six states. We have openings in our headquarters in DC as well as the State Offices. Find your place on the IJ team!

view openings

Photo credit: Judy Davis

Our Locations

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming District of Columbia
  • IJ’s Headquarters
  • Regional Office

The Institute for Justice is headquartered in Arlington, VA—just seven miles from the heart of our nation’s Capitol. With our office spanning the entire floor of our building, we like to say that we have an entire city block solely dedicated to fighting for individual liberties. We also have four state offices and the IJ Clinic on Entrepreneurship in Chicago.