Volunteer
Application Process for Public Counsel Summer Internship
Public Counsel has eight exciting law projects that accept summer interns who will work on a variety of direct services, policy advocacy, and impact litigation projects. Our projects include:
- A comprehensive children’s rights program that encompasses school climate and discipline, special education, adoptions, guardianships, and transition-age youth
- A community development team that supports and protects affordable housing and assists non-profit and small businesses with a variety of transactional needs
- An immigrants’ rights group that assists undocumented victims of crime, domestic violence, persecution, and torture
- A homelessness prevention unit that defends unlawful detainer complaints, advocates for public benefits, and eliminates outstanding tickets and warrants for persons at risk of homelessness
- A holistic legal initiative that addresses the specific needs of low-income women and girls
- A complex consumer fraud division that focuses on litigation and policies to prevent consumer victimization, including sub-projects focused on bankruptcy and pro se assistance in federal cases
- A veterans’ rights project that helps veterans and their caregivers overcome obstacles to obtaining VA benefits
- An impact litigation department (Opportunity Under Law) that addresses economic injustices on a national level through strategic lawsuits and other means to accomplish systemic reform
- Click here to learn more about each of our practice areas
Timeline
Public Counsel’s 2024 summer internship program will run for ten weeks, commencing Tuesday, May 28, 2024, and ending Friday, August 2, 2024. Both 1L’s and 2L’s are eligible for these internships. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Equity and Inclusion
Public Counsel seeks summer interns who share our commitment to economic and racial justice. The large majority of Public Counsel’s clients are working-class people of color who have experienced a number of intersectional forms of oppression, often barring them from access to legal representation. We seek to have a group of interns who have a personal and/or professional understanding of these experiences. We are especially interested in receiving applications from historically underrepresented students in terms of race, economic background, and other characteristics consistent with our active, ongoing commitment to increasing equity and inclusion within our organization.
Funding
Although Public Counsel does not provide funding to law students for its summer program, please be sure to consult with your law school’s public interest program to learn more about available scholarships and financial awards that might support your summer internship.
Application Process
2024 Summer Internship Applications Closed
Thank you for your interest in a summer internship with Public Counsel. Our application process for 2024 is now closed. We will reopen applications in the fall for next year’s internship opportunities. Please check back then, and we look forward to receiving your application!
