Intern, Systemic Advocacy & Law Reform

National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Scholarship funding

Job summary

Legal Aid DC is seeking a Summer Intern to join the Systemic Advocacy & Law Reform Program in Washington, D.C. The internship runs for ten weeks from May 27 to August 6, 2027, with a 40-hour workweek and partial remote flexibility approved by a supervisor.

Interns will engage in legal research, case support, and policy work across housing, consumer law, public benefits, family law, immigration, and civil rights.

Qualifications

• Current law student or graduate seeking public interest/impact litigation experience.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth legal research on constitutional law, civil rights, environmental justice, housing, public benefits, family law, immigration, and consumer law.
• Draft legal memoranda, pleadings, motions, and other court filings to support cases.
• Assist staff with policy priorities, including drafting/editing testimony and attending hearings.
• Provide support for community engagement and outreach efforts, including tabling at events and attending community meetings.
• Review case-related documents, statutes, regulations, and precedent to support arguments.
• Interact with clients, witnesses, and experts to gather information and provide support.
• Attend court hearings and depositions to observe and assist attorneys.
• Provide administrative support to the Impact Litigation and Policy teams.
• Collaborate with interns, attorneys, and advocacy organizations to advance social justice.

Skills

Legal research

Legal writing

Policy analysis

Public interest law

Education

Law student

Tools

Legal research databases

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 Systemic Advocacy & Law Reform 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.

The intern will be part of Legal Aid’s Systemic Advocacy and Law Reform Program. The Systemic Advocacy Program includes the Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Project and the Impact Litigation, Policy Advocacy, and Community Engagement programs. The intern will be expected to be able work independently; however, support and supervision will be provided by the Legal Director for Systemic Advocacy and Law Reform and a Staff Attorney.

Responsibilities

• Legal Research: Conduct in-depth legal research on a wide range of issues, including constitutional law, civil rights, environmental justice, in addition to Legal Aid's substantive practice areas (housing, public benefits, family law, immigration, and consumer law).
• Case Support: Assist attorneys with case development, including drafting legal memoranda, pleadings, motions, and other court filings.
• Policy Support: Assist staff with policy priorities, including drafting or editing testimony, compiling data for policy work, and observing or attending Council hearings.
• Community Engagement: Provide support for community engagement and outreach efforts, including tabling at events and attending community meetings.
• Document Review: Review and analyze case-related documents, statutes, regulations, and precedent to support legal arguments and strategies.
• Client Interaction: Interact with clients, witnesses, and experts to gather information and provide support as needed.
• Courtroom Support: Attend court hearings, depositions, and other legal proceedings to observe and assist attorneys as appropriate.
• Administrative Tasks: Provide administrative support to the Impact Litigation and Policy teams, including organizing case/legislation files, scheduling meetings, and managing correspondence.
• Collaboration: Collaborate with other interns, attorneys, and advocacy organizations to support collective efforts in advancing social justice and systemic change.

Requirements: Current law school student or graduate interested in public interest and or impact litigation law.

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 of 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.