Public Interest Law Internships: A Gateway to Impactful Legal Careers
Public interest law internships offer invaluable opportunities for law students to gain practical experience, develop essential skills, and contribute to serving the underserved. These internships provide exposure to diverse areas of law, foster professional growth, and allow students to make a tangible difference in their communities. This article explores the benefits and opportunities available through public interest law internships, with a focus on programs designed to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the legal profession.
The Value of Public Interest Law Internships
Public interest law internships serve as a crucial bridge between academic learning and real-world legal practice. They provide law students with hands-on experience in various settings, including legal aid organizations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. These internships offer numerous benefits, including:
- Skill Development: Interns develop and refine essential legal skills such as legal research, writing, analysis, and advocacy.
- Practical Experience: Interns gain practical experience in handling real cases, interacting with clients, and navigating the legal system.
- Professional Networking: Internships provide opportunities to build professional networks with attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals.
- Exposure to Diverse Areas of Law: Interns are exposed to various areas of law, such as civil rights, environmental law, family law, and criminal justice.
- Commitment to Social Justice: Internships allow students to contribute to social justice causes and make a positive impact on their communities.
Promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)
Recognizing the importance of diversity in the legal profession, many organizations offer public interest law internships specifically designed to promote DEIB. These programs aim to ensure that law students from all backgrounds have access to meaningful opportunities to gain experience in public interest law.
BBA Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) Summer Fellowship Program
The Boston Bar Association (BBA) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) Summer Fellowship Program exemplifies a commitment to fostering a more diverse and inclusive legal community. This program provides law students with paid summer internship opportunities in public interest settings.
Key Features of the BBA DEIB Summer Fellowship Program:
- Paid Internships: The program offers paid internships, ensuring that financial constraints do not prevent talented students from participating.
- Meaningful Experience: Students gain substantive work experience in public interest law offices.
- Skills Development: The program focuses on developing legal research and writing skills.
- Professional Networking: Fellows expand their professional networks through interactions with attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals.
- Mentorship: Fellows receive mentorship from experienced attorneys through the BBA’s DEIB Section.
- Professional Development Programming: The BBA provides professional development programming to enhance fellows' skills and knowledge.
Eligibility:
The program accepts applications from students at partner law schools (Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern University, New England School of Law, Suffolk University, and UMass) who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing DEIB in the legal profession and who will have completed their 1L or 2L year by the summer in which they will participate in the program.
Read also: Best Public Health Degrees
Application Process:
The application process involves submitting a personal statement reflecting on the applicant's interest in public interest law and its connection to their dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
Host Site Partners and Internship Opportunities
The BBA DEIB Summer Fellowship Program partners with various organizations to provide diverse internship opportunities. These host sites offer fellows the chance to work on a wide range of legal issues and gain experience in different practice settings.
City of Boston’s Law Department
The City of Boston’s Law Department provides legal services to the Mayor, City Council, and City departments. The Fellow will work with the two main divisions of practice - government services and litigation - providing research and litigation aid to Government Services attorneys across a variety of practice areas in addition to learning about civil defense litigation by conducting legal research, drafting pleadings, and reviewing claims.
Responsibilities:
- Conducting legal research
- Drafting pleadings
- Reviewing claims
- Providing research and litigation aid to Government Services attorneys
Massachusetts Appeals Court
The Fellow’s time will be divided between the chambers of one of the Associate Justices and the Clerk’s Office. The Fellow will perform a variety of responsibilities, including preparing for and attending oral arguments, writing legal memoranda, and assisting in researching and drafting judicial decisions. In addition, the Fellow will contribute to existing programs, design new programs, and lead projects intended to increase equity and inclusion for self-represented court users.
Responsibilities:
- Preparing for and attending oral arguments
- Writing legal memoranda
- Assisting in researching and drafting judicial decisions
- Contributing to existing programs, designing new programs, and leading projects intended to increase equity and inclusion for self-represented court users.
Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
The selected law student will participate in the AGO’s Summer Legal Internship Program. The selected law student will receive substantive work; supervision and skills development, particularly in legal research and writing; and invaluable mentorship and networking in an office committed to serving the needs of the Commonwealth. The intern will be paired with attorney mentors both at the Attorney General’s Office and through the BBA’s DEI Section. The AGO’s Summer Legal Internship Program is a 10-week full-time program for students completing their 1L or 2L years of law school.
Read also: Learn About Public Universities
Responsibilities:
- Legal research and writing
- Assisting attorneys with cases
- Attending training sessions and networking events
Civil Service Commission
The selected intern will assist the Commission’s general counsel and four full-time commissioners in the adjudicatory process - from compiling and summarizing information at the outset of an appeal, to attending evidentiary hearings, researching pertinent questions of law, sifting through the evidence, and helping to draft adjudicatory decisions.
Responsibilities:
- Compiling and summarizing information
- Attending evidentiary hearings
- Researching pertinent questions of law
- Drafting adjudicatory decisions
Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) - Youth Advocacy Division (YAD)
The Fellow will work alongside a team of CPCS attorneys and a social service advocate. Students qualified to appear in court under SJC Rule 3:03 will represent clients in Juvenile Court at arraignments, bail appeals, and pretrial motions, all under the close supervision of experienced attorneys. Out-of-court work includes legal research and writing, case investigation, client meetings, and assisting attorneys with the preparation of trials.
Responsibilities:
- Representing clients in Juvenile Court
- Legal research and writing
- Case investigation
- Client meetings
- Assisting attorneys with trial preparation
Department of Children and Families (DCF)
The Fellow will work in the Office of the General Counsel of DCF. DCF strives to protect children from abuse and neglect and, in partnership with families and communities, ensure children are able to grow and thrive in a safe and nurturing environment. DCF’s Office of the General Counsel provides advice and representation to the agency in appeals of care and protection and termination of parental rights cases, employment matters, tort claims and administrative reviews in Superior court.
Responsibilities:
- Providing advice and representation to the agency
- Working on appeals of care and protection and termination of parental rights cases
- Assisting with employment matters and tort claims
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
The selected law student will participate in the MassDEP’s Office of General Counsel Summer Legal Internship Program. The Office of General Counsel (OCG) encourages interns to attend as many OGC events as possible. These include prehearing conferences, adjudicatory hearings, public hearings, mediation sessions, settlement negotiations, legal practice group sessions (discussions among attorneys focused on a particular area of law), and/or meeting with the program staff.
Responsibilities:
- Attending OGC events
- Conducting legal research
- Drafting memorandums
- Participating in litigation discussions
Executive Office of Veterans’ Services (EOVS)
The selected law student will participate in the EOVS General Counsel’s Office summer internship program. The intern will work closely with EOVS General Counsel and gain excellent experience in legal research and writing, document review and substantive knowledge of and exposure to the practice of administrative law, healthcare law, and public/legislative law.
Read also: Empowering Families in Petersburg
Responsibilities:
- Legal research and writing
- Document review
- Assisting with legal matters related to veterans' services
Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
Legal Interns work under the direction of the OIG’s Office of the General Counsel. Legal Interns will have the opportunity to draft legal research memoranda in various areas of law related to fraud, waste and abuse in the expenditure of public funds as well as law related to the administration of the OIG. Legal Interns may have the opportunity to work with the OIG’s Government Outreach and Public Policy Division, including analyzing legislative matters and attending hearings at the State House.
Responsibilities:
- Drafting legal research memoranda
- Analyzing legislative matters
- Attending hearings at the State House
United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts
The Fellow will intern in the chambers of one of the United States Bankruptcy Judges for the District of Massachusetts. Bankruptcy Court in Boston. The internship is currently expected to be primarily in person. As part of this unique Fellowship, the selected law student will be provided with the opportunity to work directly with a judge and his or her law clerks.
Responsibilities:
- Working directly with a judge and law clerks
- Conducting legal research
- Drafting legal memoranda
Additional Public Interest Law Internship Opportunities
Besides the BBA DEIB Summer Fellowship Program, numerous other organizations offer public interest law internships. These opportunities cater to diverse interests and provide valuable experiences in various areas of public interest law.
Northeast Legal Aid
Northeast Legal Aid provides internship opportunities for law and undergraduate students interested in making a difference in the lives of low-income and elderly clients. Interns assist with client intake, legal research, and community outreach.
Attorney General’s Office (AGO) - Fall & Spring Semesters
The AGO offers legal internships during the academic year for current law students. These internships are assigned based on division needs and provide an excellent opportunity to work closely with our legal teams on a wide range of public interest issues.
Public Interest Law Center (Philadelphia)
The Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia offers internships in civil rights law. Interns gain experience in areas such as voting rights, education, housing, employment, health care, and environmental justice.
PILI Summer Internships
PILI summer Internships are open to law students from any ABA accredited law school in the United States. PILI Interns work on a wide and diverse range of issues depending on the agency where they serve and the issues that agency addresses. In addition to direct client services, PILI Interns also do policy development and analysis, advocacy, impact litigation, and more.
Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS)
Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) offers a variety of legal internships for the Summer term. These internships provide opportunities to work on issues such as housing, consumer rights, employment, and family law.
Specific Units Within GBLS:
- Asian Outreach Center: Focuses on addressing the legal needs of Asian Americans in Massachusetts.
- Cambridge & Somerville Legal Services: Provides legal assistance to low-income residents of Cambridge and Somerville.
- Consumer Rights Unit: Focuses on foreclosure prevention, debt collection, and bankruptcy issues.
- Criminal Record Sealing Project: Assists individuals in overcoming barriers to housing, employment, and licensing caused by their criminal record histories.
- Elder Law Unit: Provides legal assistance to elders on a wide range of issues, including evictions, nursing home discharges, and access to benefits.
- Health & Disability Unit: Represents individuals with disability claims and those facing denial or termination of health care coverage.
- Children's Disability Project: Represents children with disabilities in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits disputes.
- School to Prison Pipeline Project: Works to keep children in school and ensure they receive trauma-informed treatment and non-exclusionary school discipline.
- Workers' Rights Unit: Advances the workplace rights and economic well-being of low-wage workers.
- Family Law Unit: Offers legal services to survivors of domestic abuse with contested custody matters.
- Housing Unit: Focuses on preserving tenancies and increasing affordable and habitable housing for low-income individuals and communities.
- Immigration Unit: Represents individuals seeking asylum or protection from domestic abuse and unaccompanied minors.
- Welfare Law Unit: Represents individuals and families in cases involving benefits administered by the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC).
tags: #public #interest #law #internships
