2L Legal Internship

acludc; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 20,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

The ACLU-DC is seeking second-year law students for full-summer internships in summer 2027. Interns will research and draft materials to advance civil rights, interview clients, and support discovery and case development. Mentorship and feedback are emphasized, with potential stipends to defray room and board.

These internships offer exposure to litigation, strategy sessions, and court proceedings, reflecting the ACLU-DC’s mission to protect civil liberties in the District of Columbia and beyond.

Qualifications

• You are a second-year law student with strong research and writing skills.
• You can analyze cases, statutes, and authorities, and synthesize findings.
• You communicate clearly and listen to clients and colleagues.
• You welcome feedback and work well in a fast-paced, collaborative setting.
• You show dependability, ownership of projects, and diligence.

Responsibilities

• Conduct legal research for current and potential cases.
• Draft memoranda, pleadings, motions, and discovery requests.
• Interview potential clients and help investigate facts.
• Participate in legal strategy sessions and observe court proceedings when possible.

Skills

Legal research

Legal writing

Analytical reasoning

Oral and written communication

Empathy and interpersonal skills

Ownership and diligence

Receptive to feedback

Education

Second-year law student

Job description

The ACLU-DC seeks second-year law students for full-summer internships in the summer of 2027. (A posting for first-year law student internships, if available, will follow later in the fall semester.)

The ACLU-DC is an affiliate office of the American Civil Liberties Union, a national nonprofit organization devoted to the protection of civil liberties and civil rights through litigation, legislation, and public education. The ACLU-DC works primarily on issues that directly impact people who live in, work in, and visit the District of Columbia, and also on challenges to certain federal government policies and practices where they fall within the jurisdiction of the D.C. federal courts.

Among the matters currently on our docket are: representing Black Lives Matter-DC and individual activists in challenging the attack by federal and local law enforcement on civil rights demonstrators in Lafayette Square on June 1, 2020; a lawsuit seeking to reform the District’s practice of sending police and not trained mental health professionals to respond to individuals experiencing mental health crises; the representation of two D.C. agency workers who faced discrimination based on their family responsibilities (child care) in the application of remote work policies; a challenge to the D.C. police department’s practice of retaining arrestees’ cell phones for months or years after the owners are released or charges are dropped; and eighteen cases against policies and practices of the second Trump administration including on immigration, trans rights, voting rights, federal workers’ rights, and freedom of speech.

To learn more about our work, visit acludc.org.

NATURE OF INTERNSHIP

Legal interns will be exposed to and participate in the process of developing and litigating impact cases to advance civil rights and liberties. The legal intern’s primary duties will be conducting legal research for current and potential cases, and drafting memoranda, pleadings, motions, and/or discovery requests. Legal interns will also likely interview potential clients and help investigate the facts of potential cases.

Depending on the state of our docket in summer 2027, interns are likely to have additional opportunities to become immersed in the work of the ACLU-DC’s Legal department, including legal strategy sessions; and court proceedings, depositions, and client meetings. ACLU-DC staff believe strongly in mentorship and in thorough and timely feedback on all work product.

Financial stipends may be available for candidates not receiving summer funding from their law schools to assist them in covering room, board and other similar expenses (not as compensation or wages for any time spent working).

QUALIFICATIONS

• You are currently a second-year law student.
• You have excellent work ethic, including dependability, diligence, the ability to take ownership over projects, and the commitment to see projects through to completion in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
• You are receptive to feedback, enthusiastic about learning and self-improvement, and eager to incorporate feedback into future work.
• You have (or are well along in developing) excellent legal research skills, including the judgment to discern what cases are relevant to a particular research question, and thoroughness in covering the question asked.
• You have (or are well along in developing) the capacity to engage in thoughtful and perceptive legal analysis, including the ability to build a logical argument, to read and understand legal decisions and statutes, and to grasp whether and how legal authorities apply to a new set of facts.
• You have (or are well along in developing) excellent legal writing skills, including the ability to present ideas in a clear and organized manner and to write a memo that teaches the reader what you have learned through your research by synthesizing (rather than just summarizing) the relevant authorities.
• You have the empathy and interpersonal skills necessary to connect with, listen to, learn from, and ask questions of clients and other community members.

The ACLU-DC is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The ACLU-DC encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by the D.C. Human Rights Act or federal employment law. If you have a disability and need any reasonable accommodations, please email [e-mail].