Public Interest Internship Program
In this document...
What is the Public Interest Internship Program (B547)?
The Law School permits students engaged in unpaid legal work for nonprofit, government agencies, judges, or legal services organizations to receive up to four credits during the summer through this program. In order to participate, a student must secure an internship and complete an academic component for credit. From our end, the purpose of this program is to permit you the opportunity to think reflectively and critically about practice before you are engaged in it for money. From your end, the program has a number of additional benefits:
- It provides challenging legal experience after the first year;
- It permits you to explore a practice setting you might not have otherwise considered;
- It permits you to take fewer hours in the fall semester of a student's second year, when students are typically involved in journals, moot court, and finding paid employment; and,
- It provides a legal reference for that job search.
How do I get an internship?
First, decide what you would like to do. The major categories of internship opportunities include:
- Legal Services for poor/special populations: These organizations provide direct legal services to individuals who fit certain criteria (they are poor, for instance, or disabled, or have HIV/AIDS). Every state has a number of organizations that do this, often called "legal services organizations" or "Legal Aid".
- Advocacy Nonprofits: These organizations provide legal support to individuals or organizations that advance certain law-reform goals. For instance, the Anti-Arab Discrimination League will file briefs in cases involving alleged discrimination against Arabs; the Children's Defense Fund and the NAACP Inc Fund are other examples.
- Other Nonprofits: Universities, arts agencies such as Washington Area Arts, museums, and foundations all have legal counsel, and we have had students work in these settings often during the summer. Most of these organizations are located in major cities.
- Judicial: All level of state courts (trial, appellate and supreme) federal district courts (including magistrates and bankruptcy courts) and some (but very, very few) federal appellate courts accept judicial interns in the summer.
- Government: With government internships, you need to begin by asking whether you are interested
primarily in civil or criminal law.
- Criminal: At the federal level, every state has at least one office of the U.S., and many states also have offices for the Federal Defenders. At the state level, every county has a prosecuting attorney and a public defender's office. In addition, the attorney general's offices of each state often have a role to play in criminal appeals, and many states have an appellate defender's office.
- Civil: At the federal level, most agencies will accept interns (for instance, the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commissions, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Securities Exchange Commission are all
possibilities). Many of these agencies have branch offices located in states. The Justice Department has an internship program
but it is competitive and you should check with Career Services about it. At the state level, most state
offices of the attorney general will accept interns. (If you are interested in the Indiana Attorney General's Office,
please get a resume to Career Services as soon as possible.) In addition, as the sheet of examples attached indicates, there
are a huge number of state offices, from the Office of the Governor to the Hoosier Lottery, that employ attorneys,
many of which are willing to accept legal interns. In the legislative branch, most states also have a legislative services office
that employs attorneys.
At the city level: corporation counsel/municipal(city)attorneys have a varied civil practice and are usually willing to employ legal interns.
Then, decide where you want to be. It is usually possible to find a good internship anywhere in the country. If you think you might want to practice after graduation in another part of the country, an internship is a good opportunity to get a sense of the area and the local legal culture. If you wonder whether you would be happy in an urban practice setting, or think you might be interested in a small town, now's the time to experience it and find out.
Then, investigate what's available at that location. Some good sources include the web pages that every state and federal government maintain, the library's collection of resources on judges, and the Career Services Office, which maintains a large number of resources. You should also check the B547 section at Symplicity .
Follow these steps to request and obtain a public interest internship.
- Determine which organization you want to serve. If after doing research, you can't decide, see Dean Keller or Kim Bunge.
- If you want to receive academic credit for the internship, complete the
permission form. Return that form to the Career
Services Office when you register for the academic credit.
At registration you will be assigned a faculty supervisor and given an informational packet that will contain the instructions from your faculty supervisor. Please read this carefully. If you have any questions, see your faculty supervisor BEFORE you leave for work.
- DON'T FORGET TO APPLY FOR STUDENT LOANS if you need them for the summer.
- Remember, you are not required to apply for academic credit. If you choose to pursue an unpaid internship purely out of interest, or if you prefer not to pay tuition, you may do so. We will be glad to help.
What do I say when I call a potential placement?
The first conversation with a placement can be awkward: you must find the right person to speak with, communicate lots of information about our program, and get a feel for whether it would be a good match for you before you commit yourself.
Here is a partial script you can use/adapt as you wish:
Opener:
"Hi, I'm a __ year student at the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington. I have an opportunity to do an unpaid academic internship this summer, and would like to talk to someone at your office about the possibilities."
Questions:- I understand from ____________ (how you found out about the placement) that your office does _____________ (type of work). I'm interested in that type of work because _______________________. Is this the area where I would be assigned? Are there other areas where I might also be assigned?
- What type of tasks does your office usually assign to interns? For example: legal research, intake, initial client interviews, fact investigation, document drafting, or _____? If I were to intern with your office, what would probably be the task I'd be doing the most?
- Since I'm a law student, I would need to be supervised by an attorney licensed in the state where your office is. Is there a licensed attorney who could meet with me regularly to help me coordinate my assignments and provide feedback on my work?
- Part of the internship experience is learning how different types of law offices work. Is there a regular staff meeting I could attend, or is there another way I could get to know the folks at the office? Would it be possible for me to attend other events with the staff at your office, for example, training sessions, meetings with community groups, etc.? I want to learn as much as I can about being a _______ attorney.
- I can do the internship for up to four credits, one credit for every two weeks' worth of full-time work. I'm interested in doing a __ credit internship, which would be ____ weeks of full-time work. Would that arrangement work for your office?
- The Law School requires that I complete an academic requirement for the internship and I would likely have to keep a journal of my experience or do a research paper relevant to the experience. Is there a place at your office where I could work and have access to a computer and phone?
- Has your office had interns in the past? Do you know how many you might have this summer?
- Ask any other questions you wish, then make a decision about where you'd like this to go.
Closings:
If you definitely are not interested: "Thanks for your time. I'm looking at a couple of different sites for my internship and need to talk to them before I make a final decision. I'll keep you posted." [It is good manners--thus imperative--to send a follow-up letter letting the contact know that you have decided on another placement.]
If you might be interested: "Thanks for all your help. I am interested pursuing your office as a possible internship. Would you like me to send in a résumé and cover letter?"
If you are definitely interested: "Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me today. I am definitely interested in doing an internship with your office. Would you like me to send in a résumé and cover letter?"
Keep in Mind:
It is a lot of work for an office to have an intern. Yes, you are working for free, but the office must give up valuable time to orient and supervise you, valuable space for you to work in, and valuable trust that you will work hard and ethically for its clients.