Legal Internships in Philadelphia: Opportunities and Pathways

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a vibrant hub for legal activity, offers a wide array of legal internship opportunities for students and graduates seeking to gain practical experience in the field. These internships span various sectors, including public interest law, government agencies, and private firms, providing invaluable insights into the workings of the legal system and allowing interns to contribute to meaningful legal work. This article explores several prominent legal internship opportunities available in Philadelphia, highlighting their focus areas, responsibilities, and application processes.

Community Legal Services (CLS): Championing Justice for Low-Income Communities

Community Legal Services (CLS) stands as a pillar of legal assistance in Philadelphia, dedicated to providing comprehensive civil legal services to low-income communities. Recognized as one of the nation's most successful programs of its kind, CLS focuses on individual representation, systemic advocacy, and law reform initiatives, striving to create lasting change for its clients.

Roles and Responsibilities

CLS offers diverse employment and field placement opportunities for a range of individuals, including attorneys, social workers, interns & externs (summer & school-year), paralegals, and administrative and development staff.

Legal Interns: Assist attorneys in providing legal representation to clients in various areas of civil law, such as housing, family law, public benefits, and employment.
Social Work Interns: Play a critical role in the delivery of legal services, working directly with clients to address their social and emotional needs, connect them with essential resources, and advocate for their rights. Field placement activities may include individualized case management, home visits, client advocacy, coalition meetings, and court hearings.

Social Work Internships at CLS

CLS also provides diverse field placement opportunities for students of social work in the areas of general practice, family advocacy, and housing. Social work interns gain valuable insight into the intricacies of social work practice in the legal setting, including both direct service and systems advocacy. They develop working relationships with clients and their families and connect them to critical resources to help address current legal issues and prevent future legal problems.

The CLS Advantage

As a large, urban program situated in the nation's 5th largest city, CLS offers substantial opportunities for staff to accept the exciting challenge of delivering high quality legal services to a diverse client population. The organization values diversity and inclusivity, ensuring equal opportunities for all applicants, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetics, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, or status with regard to public assistance.

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Public Interest Law Center: Advancing Civil Rights and Economic Justice

The Public Interest Law Center is dedicated to advancing the civil, social, and economic rights of communities in the Philadelphia region facing discrimination, inequality, and poverty. Through high-impact legal strategies, the Law Center tackles systemic issues and empowers marginalized communities.

Internship Opportunities at the Law Center

The Law Center offers legal internships year-round, providing students with significant responsibilities on substantive legal projects in various areas, including voting rights, education, housing, employment, health care, and environmental justice. Interns typically complete assignments in several of these practice areas and can pursue work related to areas of particular interest.

Responsibilities of Legal Interns

Interns at the Law Center engage in a wide range of tasks, including:

Legal research and writing
Drafting briefs, pleadings, and discovery requests
Reviewing and analyzing discovery responses and documents
Interviewing clients and witnesses
Preparing policy memoranda and proposed legislation

Interns interested in community lawyering also have the opportunity to work alongside community lawyers and organizers to support outreach and relationship building efforts, community meetings and clinics, and collective direct actions.

Application Process

The Law Center reviews applications and extends offers on a rolling basis. For fall internships, the review process begins in early June, while spring internship applications are reviewed starting in early October.

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To apply, candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, unofficial law school transcript, and writing sample. The cover letter should be 1-2 pages long and should include a statement of the applicant's reasons for seeking an internship at the Public Interest Law Center. It is recommended to format the application materials as a single PDF file.

The Clarke Scholars Fund

The Clarke Scholars Fund, named after the Law Center's former Executive Director, Jennifer R. Clarke, provides a stipend of up to $10,000 for one law student each year who would not otherwise have the means to accept a summer internship with the Law Center. In addition to demonstrating a commitment to public interest work and a strong academic record, Clarke Scholar applicants should demonstrate financial need.

Applicants for the Clarke Scholars Fund should also submit a one-page personal statement outlining their background, decision to attend law school, interest in public interest law, noteworthy experiences or achievements, and any obstacles or challenges encountered. The statement should also explain the applicant's financial need and how the scholarship will enable them to intern with the Law Center.

Applications for the 2026 Clarke Scholars Fund will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning in July 2025.

A Rewarding Experience

Former interns at the Law Center have lauded the experience as invaluable, citing the opportunity to contribute to community-based impact litigation and work alongside a dedicated and talented team. The Law Center is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and encourages applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including people of color, people with disabilities, people who have experienced poverty or homelessness, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Philadelphia District Office: Enforcing Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws

The EEOC is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. These laws include the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA).

Internship Opportunities at the EEOC

The EEOC Philadelphia District Office offers internship opportunities for undergraduate students (who have completed their sophomore year of college), law students, and graduate students. These internships provide students with hands-on experience in the enforcement of federal anti-discrimination laws.

Enforcement Unit Internships

Enforcement interns primarily work in the Charge Receipt/Technical Information Unit (CRTIU) but may also have the opportunity to observe settlement conferences, mediation conferences, and fact-finding conferences.

Internship duties and assignments may include:

Reviewing correspondence to determine if it alleges a claim under EEOC laws
Inputting data into the information management system
Assisting in screening and interviewing individuals seeking to file a charge of employment discrimination
Drafting charges of discrimination and creating charge files after interviewing parties and reviewing correspondence
Responding to inquiries regarding potential charges
Corresponding with charging parties or employers regarding charges of discrimination
Reviewing and analyzing documents, records, and evidence
Contacting witnesses
Drafting interview questions

The complexity of the work assigned may depend on workload demands and/or the studentâs demonstrated abilities during the internship. While there may be some clerical work relating to the charge investigations, the EEOC is committed to providing students with assignments that further develop their research, analytical, or writing skills.

Hearings Unit Judicial Clerkship

In the Federal Sector, formal EEO Complaints filed against a Federal Government agency after the agency's investigation are adjudicated by an EEOC Administrative Judge upon a Complainantâs Request for a Hearing. The Administrative Judge develops the record and adjudicates the case through settlement, dispositive motion, or hearing.

The EEOC Philadelphia District Office Hearings Unit offers opportunities for law students to participate in the administrative hearing process, working closely with EEOC Administrative Judges. This clerkship provides extensive exposure to civil rights litigation.

The student will prepare legal memoranda, draft notices and orders, respond to motions (including motions for summary judgment), draft findings of fact and conclusions of law, and/or conduct research for use by the Administrative Judge in rendering decisions in Federal Sector employment discrimination cases. The student will have a rare and extensive opportunity to hone legal writing skills in real life situations by drafting actual decisions. This office is committed to ensuring that law students receive an opportunity to develop legal skills.

Specific cases will be identified for the intern that present legal issues, including disability law, retaliation, sexual harassment and other areas of employment discrimination. The student will be assigned progressively more complex casework throughout the summer or semester and work with increasing independence, but always under the direct supervision of an Administrative Judge. The student will meet often with his/her assigned Administrative Judge(s) and there will be frequent interim review of written documents. In addition, the student will have opportunities to discuss general legal matters with the Administrative Judges and may attend oral case presentations and other office discussions.

Application Process and Requirements

Applicants should possess strong analytical, communication, research, and writing skills. During a semester, the EEOC prefers students who can commit a minimum of 10 hours per week for Enforcement Unit internships and a minimum of 16 hours per week for Hearings Unit Judicial Clerkships.

Applications for a spring semester should be received by October 16 of that year, and applications for a summer internship should be received by March 29 of that year. However, positions may be filled as needed, so students are encouraged to apply earlier and throughout the year.

Additional Opportunities

The EEOC also offers externships, where duties range from clerical assignments, including copying, filing, and typing, to actively investigating charges of discrimination. Externs will analyze case files for compliance with federal employment discrimination laws.

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