Summer 2027 Litigation Interns (2L)

Civil Rights Corp; Washington, Northern (District of Columbia, KY); Hybrid; USD 9,643,000 - 12,398,000; Full time

Job summary

Civil Rights Corps in Washington, DC is seeking Summer 2027 interns to work on cutting-edge civil rights cases in a fast-paced environment.

Interns will investigate and challenge systemic injustice in the criminal legal system and/or the family policing system, drafting briefs, conducting legal research, reviewing documents, drafting letters, preparing legal memoranda, and interviewing clients and witnesses.

Qualifications

• Unflagging commitment to the mission and a sense of urgency to disrupt the criminal legal and/or family policing systems.
• Strong research, writing, and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Draft briefs and legal memoranda; conduct legal research and document review.
• Draft letters and interview clients and witnesses; support attorneys in advocacy work.

Job description

• Application deadline: Rolling deadline with priority for applications submitted before Friday, September 18th, 2026.
• Salary: The intern will be expected to apply for any funding offered by their law school, but Civil Rights Corps may be able to provide a salary of $20 an hour in the event that outside support is unavailable.
• Location: Washington, DC or remote.
• Start date: Summer 2027 (anticipated 10-week term Tuesday, June 1st – Friday, August 6th)

About Us

Civil Rights Corps (CRC) is a non-profit organization founded in 2016 that challenges systemic injustice in the U.S. legal system. We have pioneered landmark civil rights litigation that has liberated hundreds of thousands of people from illegal jailing, won tens of millions of dollars for the most vulnerable people in our society, pioneered political education and narrative strategies to change the way our society thinks about mass incarceration and family separation, and set the agenda for innovative solutions to make our communities safer. Our work is guided by a commitment to the people and communities harmed by policing, surveillance, incarceration, discrimination, and the criminalization of poverty. We work with individuals accused of crimes, people currently and formerly incarcerated, their families and communities as well as organizers, policy organizations, and government officials to shift power to social movements fighting for greater equality, freedom, and human flourishing.
For almost a decade, CRC has been challenging pretrial detention, cash bail, debtors’ prisons, mass supervision and surveillance, corporate profiteering, brutality, family separation, and other aspects of the punishment bureaucracy that oppress poor people and disproportionately harm marginalized communities. The goals of this work have centered on reducing the size and power of carceral bureaucracies; reducing the ability of corporations and governments to profit off of caging people; preventing family separation; increasing fairness, equality, and justice in the system; and reimagining health and safety.

Job Description

Summer interns will have a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge civil rights cases in a fast-paced environment. Interns will work closely with Civil Rights Corps staff to investigate and challenge systemic injustice in the criminal legal system and/or the family policing system. Interns will participate in a wide variety of tasks depending on the organization’s needs and the intern’s interests, including, for example, drafting briefs, conducting legal research, reviewing documents, drafting letters, preparing legal memoranda, and interviewing clients and witnesses. Our ideal candidate will have an unflagging commitment to our mission, a sense of urgency about the need to disrupt the criminal legal and/or family policing system(s) that devastate(s) lives every day, and strong research, writing, and communication skills.
Our summer internship program offers an opportunity to work closely with attorneys, along with organized sessions dedicated to cultivating interns’ legal writing and advocacy skills and deepening their understanding of legal career paths, among other discussion topics driven in part by intern interest. In the past, we have invited judges, reporters, attorneys, activists, and others whose work intersects with ours for our lunch speaker series.
CRC is a hybrid work environment, and interns can choose to work out of our Washington, D.C. office or fully remote. This is a full-time, 40-hour per week internship.

Application Requirements

• Cover letter explaining why you wish to work at Civil Rights Corps and what issues interest you in particular
• Legal Resume (please label with your First Name, Last Name, and position title)
• Unofficial Law school transcript
• Legal Writing sample (no longer than 10 pages – may provide an excerpt)
• Two references (with a brief statement of how each reference can evaluate your skills)

Applications for Summer 2027 placement will be reviewed as they are received on a rolling basis, with priority given to applications submitted before September 18th, 2026. We are currently only hiring 2Ls.

Civil Rights Corps is an equal opportunity employer. We greatly value a diverse workforce and management team and an inclusive culture. Civil Rights Corps is committed to promoting an environment free of barriers and discriminatory practices for its clients and staff.