Navigating Legal Intern Vacancies: A Comprehensive Guide

The pursuit of a legal career often begins with valuable internship experiences. These opportunities provide aspiring lawyers with hands-on exposure to the legal field, allowing them to develop essential skills and gain insights into various practice areas. This article serves as a comprehensive guide to legal intern vacancies, focusing on opportunities within the Department of Labor (DOL) and other organizations, offering insights into application processes, required skills, and potential career paths.

The Role of the Solicitor's Office (SOL) at the Department of Labor

The Solicitor's Office (SOL) plays a crucial role within the Department of Labor (DOL). As the Secretary of Labor and other Department officials navigate the complexities of their mission and specific priorities, SOL provides essential legal advice, guiding them on the best courses of action to achieve their goals. SOL ensures that the nation's labor laws are forcefully and fairly applied and enforced to protect the Nation's workers.

SOL's Structure and Reach

The SOL National Office, situated in Washington, D.C., comprises nine divisions that offer program advice and litigation services to Department agencies. These divisions advise client agencies within DOL regarding regulations and legislative initiatives. They also actively participate in litigation in federal courts and/or before administrative law judges.

Approximately half of SOL's attorneys are stationed in Regional and Branch Offices across the country, actively engaged in litigation in federal district courts and before administrative law judges.

Internship Opportunities within SOL

SOL offers internship/externship opportunities for law students through various channels, including the Pathways Program and those receiving stipends or academic credit. Interested applicants can contact individual SOL Divisions or Regional Offices for details on available opportunities. Pathways Program positions are posted on USAJOBS.

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Responsibilities of a Legal Intern at SOL

As a legal intern, you will perform a variety of legal assistance responsibilities including significant legal research and writing related to advice, litigation and/or rule-making projects for client agencies; and analyzing the legal impact of legislative developments, administrative and court decisions, rulings and opinions on Departmental programs. Interns may also attend meetings with DOL client agencies, other SOL divisions, and other executive agencies, as appropriate.

SOL National Divisions: Internship Opportunities

SOL's National Divisions offer diverse internship experiences, each focusing on specific areas of labor law. The following sections provide detailed information on internship opportunities within these divisions:

Division of Black Lung and Longshore Legal Services

Focus: Supports the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) in administering the Black Lung Benefits Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and its extensions.
Responsibilities: Interns work with attorneys on projects related to Courts of Appeals, advise OWCP on legal issues that arise in administering the statutes, prepare regulations implementing the statutes, and enforce the payment of benefits by liable employers or their insurers. Interns work with attorneys on projects in all of these areas. Courts of Appeals Assisting with the drafting of program regulations Helping litigate an enforcement case against a liable employer or insurer
Ideal Candidate: Experience or a sincere interest in public service. Subject matter experience is not required. Research and writing skills, academic achievement, and a positive and collaborative work ethic are highly valued.
Application Deadline: Applications for Summer 2025 are due Friday, January 31, 2025.

Civil Rights and Labor Management Division (CRLM)

Focus: Civil rights, EEO, and labor laws.
Responsibilities: Duties will include significant legal research and writing in connection with advice, litigation and/or rulemaking projects for client agencies, such as drafting memoranda, analyses, and briefs, and may include attending meetings with the client agencies and other SOL divisions as appropriate.
Ideal Candidate: Excellent research and writing skills; a demonstrated interest in civil rights, labor and employment issues; and a strong academic record. Students who can commit to a full-time schedule (35-40 hours/week) are preferred.
Number of Positions: Potentially up to three.

Division of Employment and Training Legal Services (ETLS)

Focus: Legal advice to the Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) and to the Department's Veteran's Employment and Training Service (VETS) staff administering the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).
Responsibilities: The type of assignments and work product will vary, but all involve legal research and analysis. A law clerk typically comes away with a writing sample as well, such as a draft memorandum of referral. In years past, law clerks have spent significant time analyzing foreign countries' laws for compliance with international child labor standards in connection with legal review of an annual report to Congress on the worst forms of child labor in over 100 of our trade partners and that is expected to be a focus of work this summer as well. Law clerks may also work on projects assisting attorneys in ETLS in analyzing other countries' compliance with international labor provisions and with their compliance with international labor standards. participation in international organizations, grants for projects on child labor and forced labor, and Congressionally mandated reports on the worst forms of child labor. For VETS, law clerks may work to research and analyze legal issues arising under USERRA related to veterans' protections against workplace discrimination and their reemployment rights, as well as in regards to issues related to VETS employment programs. Law clerks may also work on projects related to VETS employment programs and ETA programs as needed.
Ideal Candidate: Candidates must demonstrate strong research and writing abilities, and academic achievement.
Application Timeline: Applications for summer internships are accepted from December 1 - January 31, with offers extended by mid-March. Fall-semester applications are due by June 30, and spring-semester applications by September 30.

Management and Administrative Legal Services

Focus: Federal procurement and appropriations law matters.
Responsibilities: During our previous internships, interns have prepared memos, drafted sections of briefs, and assisted with presentations.
Skills/Benefits: Interns will learn about working in a legal office for a federal agency, obtain real-world experience about the practice of law, particularly procurement and appropriations law, and participate in meetings/shadow senior attorneys.
Ideal Candidate: The ideal candidate has expressed interest in working for the public sector as well as experience or interest with federal procurement and/or appropriations law matters.
Application Materials: Cover letter, resume, and a current transcript.

Mine Safety and Health Division (MSH)

Focus: Supports the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in enforcing the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, as amended (Mine Act).
Responsibilities: Analyzing legal questions and writing litigation memos, reviewing rulemaking and guidance documents before they are published, attending meetings and strategy sessions with MSHA, seeking injunctions or temporary restraining orders in federal district courts, trying cases before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission's Administrative Law Judges or Department of Labor's Administrative Law Judges, or in federal district court, writing appellate briefs and preparing attorneys for oral arguments before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission or the federal courts of appeals
Internship Experience: Interns will also learn about the work of the Solicitor's Office and of federal agencies more generally.

Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)

Responsibilities: The law student intern will assist OLC in providing the legal services listed above. Duties may include reviewing testimony and draft legislation, drafting legal advice about ethics-related matters, researching administrative law issues, and writing memos as appropriate.
Additional Opportunities: The intern will also participate in the SOL Summer Intern Program, which includes weekly meetings with guest speakers. The intern may also attend meetings with the SOL Front Office and other SOL divisions as appropriate.
Ideal Candidate: Candidates must demonstrate strong research and writing abilities, academic achievement, and an interest in a career in public service. Prior relevant courses or work experience preferred but not required.
Application Review: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis through November 1, 2024.
Number of Positions: Typically, two interns are hired for each summer.

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Division

Focus: Legal services to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Responsibilities: Assisting OSH Division attorneys in the research and writing of legal briefs to be filed with the US Court of Appeals and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; Providing research, analysis and other appropriate support to a rulemaking team; Researching and preparing legal memoranda on a wide variety of topics covered by the OSH Division; Providing legal advice to SOL Regional Offices and OSHA on litigation and other OSHA enforcement matters; Shadowing OSH Division attorneys at meetings with OSHA to develop client counseling skills.
Skills Development: OSH Division interns will gain practical research and writing skills that will prepare them for legal practice upon graduation from law school.
Eligibility: Applicants must be 2Ls at the time of their application and must expect to have completed their 2L year by the summer of their internship.

SOL Regional Offices

SOL's Regional Offices, located across the United States, also offer internship opportunities. These offices provide legal services and representation in their respective regions, allowing interns to gain experience in diverse areas of labor law. The locations of these offices include:

Arlington, VA
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Los Angeles
New York
Philadelphia
San Francisco
Seattle

Additional Internship Opportunities

Beyond the Department of Labor, various other organizations offer legal internships focused on public service, human rights, and social justice. Examples include:

Capital Habeas Unit (CHU)

Focus: Represents individuals convicted of capital crimes in Florida, seeking post-conviction relief in federal court.
Responsibilities: Researching and writing on capital litigation issues, participating in case strategy sessions, requesting records and documents, drafting legal memoranda, compiling detailed chronologies of information, and examining and analyzing records.
Ideal Candidate: Demonstrated interest in public service, human rights, and/or social justice issues. Prior coursework in criminal law is preferred, but not necessary.

Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA)

Focus: Dedicated to bringing human rights abusers to justice.
Opportunities: CJA partners with outside law firms and investigation firms who provide significant pro bono resources to investigate and litigate large and complex cases on behalf of our clients, to help bring our cases to trial and hold human rights abusers accountable.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Focus: Expanding the fight for civil liberties and civil rights.
Internship Experience: Exposure to impactful civil liberties and civil rights fights, contribution to meaningful work, mentorship from ACLU employees, and a stipend.

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