Intern, Pro Bono Program

National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 17,000 - 28,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Scholarship funding

Remote work option

Job summary

Legal Aid DC is seeking a Summer Intern for the Pro Bono Program for a 10-week period in Summer 2027, typically working full-time in our NW DC office with possible remote work approved by a supervisor. The internship offers meaningful, client‑facing assignments and exposure to civil legal issues.

Scholars may receive scholarship funding up to $6,440 for the summer through the Lee Horton Memorial Scholarship for Aspiring Public Interest Lawyers, with outside funding requirements noted.

Qualifications

• Summer law students are required to apply for outside funding to fund their internships in order to receive supplemental scholarship funding.
• Legal Aid DC can provide scholarship funding to ensure that summer law students receive no less than $6,440 per summer, including scholarships from the Lee Horton Memorial Scholarship for Aspiring Public Interest Lawyers.

Responsibilities

• Conduct initial telephone screening of individuals seeking legal assistance.
• Respond to written and email requests for assistance.
• Draft case summaries for circulation to prospective pro bono counsel.
• Meet with and interview clients.
• Assist attorneys in requesting and obtaining clients' records.
• Prepare case materials for referral to pro bono counsel or other legal services providers.
• Filing/copying documents at the DC Superior Court, the DC Court of Appeals, and various local agencies.
• Provide general administrative support.
• Attend program meetings, skills workshops, Legal Aid staff meetings.

Job description

Position Description

Legal Aid DC, a nonprofit organization with an approximately $18 million annual budget and a staff of approximately 125 employees, is seeking a Summer Intern to join our Pro Bono Program.

Since 1932, Legal Aid has provided civil legal assistance to clients in individual cases and engaged in systemic reform. Currently, we provide individual representation in consumer law, domestic violence/family law, housing, public benefits, and immigration matters. We also help people with the collateral consequences of their involvement with the criminal justice system. From the experiences of our clients, we identify opportunities for law reform, public policy advocacy, and systemic impact and appellate litigation. Legal Aid also administers the DC Resource Bridge, a single access point for legal services in the District.

Legal Aid believes that meaningful pursuit of our anti-poverty mission requires an unwavering commitment to racial justice and equity. We aspire both to reflect the rich racial diversity of the communities we serve and to value, respect, and empower our staff and clients to be effective agents of change. For more information about Legal Aid please visit our website, www.LegalAidDC.org.

Our work is supported through public and private grants and private fundraising from individuals, law firms, and other contributors.

Interns at Legal Aid DC have the unique opportunity to receive substantive assignments that will have an immediate impact on our clients. This internship is for Summer 2027 and will be 10 weeks in duration. Summer interns should expect to work full-time (40 hours per week). Interns mainly work out of Legal Aid's NW DC office, with the option to perform some work remotely if approved by their supervisor. Summer interns may be required to perform duties off site, and will be required to travel locally for summer programming events.

The summer term is from May 27th through August 6th.

Legal Aid DC’s wide-ranging Pro Bono Program includes, among other things, specialized projects with individual law firms in the District, case referrals to pro bono counsel throughout the District’s legal community, loaned associates who are embedded at Legal Aid for rotations, co-counseling arrangements, and much more.

Responsibilities

• Conduct initial telephone screening of individuals seeking legal assistance.
• Respond to written and email requests for assistance.
• Draft case summaries for circulation to prospective pro bono counsel.
• Meet with and interview clients.
• Assist attorneys in requesting and obtaining clients' records.
• Prepare case materials for referral to pro bono counsel or other legal services providers.
• Filing/copying documents at the DC Superior Court, the DC Court of Appeals, and various local agencies.
• Provide general administrative support.
• Attend program meetings, skills workshops, Legal Aid staff meetings.

Scholarship Funding

Legal Aid DC can provide scholarship funding to ensure that summer law students receive no less than $6,440 per summer, including scholarships from the Lee Horton Memorial Scholarship for Aspiring Public Interest Lawyers.

Required

Summer law students are required to apply for outside funding to fund their internships in order to receive supplemental scholarship funding. We will provide a scholarship up to $6,440 to summer law school interns when:

• They attend a school that does not provide funding OR they are not approved for at least $6,440 of funding from their schools
• They do not get funding from any other outside sources that gets them to total funding of $6,440 for the summer

Example: if a student receives $5,000 of outside funding, Legal Aid will pay them $1,440 in scholarship funding.

Students may waive funding if they are prohibited from receiving renumeration by their law school.