Project Assistant

The ND Lawyer Project 

““When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.” - Alexander Den Heijer

The ND Lawyer Project (NDLP) is an award winning group of volunteers with the aim of creating community for neurodivergent lawyers and those aspiring to be. We run a range of projects to help support individuals in their careers. We believe in lived experience and it bleeds through into everything we do - neurodivergent voices deserve to be heard. 

We run a podcast, a successful social media page, events and more.  We have collaborated with leading firms, organisations and higher education providers. 

Things to note 

We are what we say on the tin - a project. This means that much of the work you will be involved with is ad-hoc and will differ depending upon who we are collaborating with or the audience we are trying to target. We thrive on new ideas and believe in allowing our team to spearhead projects they are passionate about. We are also slowly building back up after a long break (our team is very small!) and we want to drive awareness of the project.  Therefore, it’s key that all members of our team are comfortable using their own initiative and communicating (in whatever ND way you feel comfortable) with a range of stakeholders. 

Whilst we don’t ask for a specific time commitment, we want to ensure that work is spread equally across our team and the burden doesn’t fall unfairly on one individual. Therefore, we ask that you think about whether you have time to get involved. We all have busy schedules and we are very flexible but we want to grow our project to the next level and so some commitment will be required. 

Some weeks may involve only 1 hour of work (or none if we don’t have any active projects) but leading up to a project deadline may involve a few hours work, so please keep this in mind. 

Why sign up 

• We are a friendly, supportive and very neurodivergent team, we all work in the ways that work best for our brain and try to avoid judgment for things like executive dysfunction. Therefore, we hope to welcome you into an environment where you don’t need to mask or be anxious. 
• We work with some amazing businesses and organisations that are leading the way (or want to) in neurodiversity inclusion - we have an opportunity to make genuine change and really make an impact to people’s lives. 
• If you are looking for an opportunity to challenge yourself and grow your skill set and confidence, NDLP offers a unique opportunity to lead your own projects. 
• We often get invited to events or to talk on panels, not only is this great to spread our message, it also helps with your own exposure and network in the profession. 

What are we looking for? 

• You do not strictly need to be neurodivergent to join our team, however, if you are an ally (that’s great!) we need to ensure you have a sufficient amount of knowledge of neurodivergence as you will be working with neurodivergent people, talking with them about their experiences and leading/helping with neurodivergent inclusion based projects. 
• Over 18 - studying law, the gdl, sqe or lpc (or completed either of these) or in the legal profession (any legal career). 
• As we are building the project back up and we are ad-hoc project driven, you will need to have strong initiative and tenacity. 
• Passion for neurodivergent inclusion. 
• Team work and communication skills (in the most neurodivergent way possible!). 
• Creativity and entrepreneurship. 
• Problem solving (we face quite a few!).
• Proficiency in google drive, google docs/sheets, Microsoft teams and CANVA is helpful but not mandatory (we can teach you if you are unsure). 

What will you be doing? 

• Managing relationships with stakeholders on existing projects - including responding to emails and attending meetings 
• Helping with plans, advertising and materials for projects 
• Coming up with new ideas for projects and collaboration
• Attending team strategy meetings 
• Helping with the buddies scheme. This involves matching buddies, advertising the scheme, helping with prompts and structure for buddy meeting and getting firms/universities involved in the scheme
• Helping with event planning and coordination 
• File management via google drive 
• Reporting to relevant director for the project (PR/Educational etc.) 

Optional 

• Attending/speaking on events 
• Contacting new firms and universities 
• Helping write content and create resources for our website 

Next steps 

• Fill out the application form - please don’t worry about making it perfect (just so long as it makes sense), the main thing we want to know is about why neurodivergent inclusion matters to you and your enthusiasm. 
• We will schedule a quick informal phone call to learn more about your motivations and whether you would be a good fit for the team - we will send you the questions a few days beforehand and your welcome to ask for any adjustment to works for you. 
• We will then contact you within the week. 

If you require any adjustments throughout this process, please email us or drop us a message. 

Instagram - @ndlawyerproject 

This is an unpaid volunteer role.