Pro Bono Counsel (Access to Justice Expert)

$170/hrrate as listed

Mercor is recruiting attorneys with pro bono and civil legal services backgrounds to review AI-generated legal analyses across housing, family, consumer, foreclosure, and debt matters. You write structured evaluations flagging doctrinal errors, bad procedural guidance, and access-to-justice blind spots; observed pay is around $170/hr.

Summary, eligibility guidance and screening preparation are prepared by Sidequest from the platform's posting. Check the source listing before applying.

What the work involves

You receive AI-generated outputs responding to civil legal scenarios — an eviction defense timeline, a debt collection statute-of-limitations question, a foreclosure mediation pathway, a pro se litigant asking how to respond to a family court order. Your job is to judge whether the reasoning holds up: is the cited authority real and current, is the procedural sequence right for the jurisdiction, does the answer account for what a self-represented person can actually do without counsel?

Evaluations are written, not conversational. Most tasks ask for a rating plus a structured rationale: what specifically is wrong, why it matters, and what a correct answer would have said. Rubrics vary by project — some emphasize hallucinated citations and doctrinal accuracy, others emphasize safety and unauthorized-practice concerns, others ask you to rewrite a model answer as a gold-standard reference.

What the platform screens for

Verifiable credentials. JD plus active U.S. bar admission; expect to name your jurisdiction and bar number.
Real pro bono depth. Formal Pro Bono Counsel or Pro Bono Partner roles, legal aid staff experience, clinic supervision, or sustained volunteer caseloads — the screen probes for specifics, not participation counts.
Breadth across civil practice areas. Housing, family, consumer, and debt are the recurring domains; comfort in more than one is a meaningful advantage.
Evaluation judgment. Whether you can distinguish a stylistic weakness from a material legal error, and whether you calibrate consistently rather than penalizing everything.
Writing that survives scrutiny. Rationales are read by researchers without legal training; vagueness gets flagged.

Logistics

Fully remote and asynchronous. Work is project-based and arrives in batches — typical commitments run 10–20 hours per week, though volume fluctuates with client demand and there are quiet stretches. You choose your own hours within task deadlines. Compensation has been observed around $170/hr for this role; rates are set per project and are not guaranteed. Expect an onboarding calibration set before paid work begins, and periodic quality review throughout.

What they look for

Juris Doctor (JD) with active U.S. bar admission
Pro bono program leadership or sustained legal aid practice
Substantive civil practice experience in housing, family, consumer, foreclosure, or debt
Strong legal writing and structured analytical feedback
Familiarity with pro se and self-represented litigant contexts
Prior AI evaluation, annotation, or legal technology exposure

Before you apply

Would you pass this screen?

Drawn from what this listing actually requires. Answered in your browser — nothing is sent to us, and we do not store your answers.

Do you hold a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an ABA-accredited law school?
Juris Doctor (JD) · required
Are you currently admitted to the bar in at least one U.S. state or territory, with an active license (not inactive or suspended)?
Active U.S. bar admission · required
Have you managed or directly participated in pro bono legal work—whether through a legal clinic, law firm initiative, or independent pro bono practice—for at least one year?
Pro bono legal experience · required
Have you spent at least two years of your legal career actively practicing in one or more civil law areas (e.g., housing, family law, consumer law, foreclosure, debt, or related civil matters)?
Civil law practice background · required
Are you authorized to work in the United States and able to provide documentation of work authorization if required?
U.S. work authorization · required

0 of 5 answered

Included with this listing

Interview prep — 11 questions

Matched to what this platform's screening actually measures. Answer each out loud in 60–90 seconds: claim → concrete example → implication.

What it tests: Whether the candidate has genuine, sustained hands-on experience with civil legal aid work, not just a single project or peripheral involvement. The listing requires 'managing or participating'—this separates real pro bono practitioners from those who volunteered once.
A strong answer: A strong answer names specific practice areas (housing, family law, consumer, debt, foreclosure), describes measurable caseload or client volume, and clarifies the scope of their role—whether they managed a clinic, supervised other volunteers, or handled cases directly. Numbers matter: '50+ pro bono cases' or '3 years coordinating a legal clinic' anchors credibility.
Where people lose it: Candidates often say 'I did pro bono work' without substance: no practice areas named, no volume given, no timeline. A one-off volunteer shift or a law school clinic semester masquerading as 'pro bono experience' signals they're padding résumé rather than demonstrating the repeated, substantive exposure this role needs.