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Hi everyone. I'm considering a position with a small market ACLU affiliate and wanted to test the board's thoughts on exit options. I would not stay permanently and would likely return to a major market (SF/LA/DC/NY) afterward. I know ACLU National is well-respected in major markets, but I'm not sure if a small market affiliate will carry the same or similar weight. Any thoughts on whether this would help me with civil rights orgs, FPD, DOJ CRD, firms, etc.? I.e., are affiliates looked down upon, or is the ACLU pretty much the ACLU once you put it on your resume? Thanks!

Bump . . . I know everyone is focused on OCI right now, but I'd love to get some feedback on this! Thanks everyone!

I'm just a law student who's worked with the ACLU in the past, so I'm not sure if my take is at all informed, but I'm not sure it matters whether you're in a small or large market. All of the affiliates work closely with national. In some respects, it could be advantageous. Some of the most interesting work is probably in smaller markets, because there are fewer organizations litigating there, and smaller ACLU chapters tend to be in red states, which is where the bad laws are being passed. The ACLU chapters there are also smaller, which means more substantive/meaningful work early on, probably. The only disadvantage is probably limited networking opportunities, but, again, all of the affiliates work with national, with biglaw firms doing pro bono, etc.