Volunteer
Application Process for Public Counsel Summer Internship
Public Counsel has seven exciting law projects that will accept law student interns in summer 2025 to work on a variety of direct services, policy advocacy, and impact litigation projects. They 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 gender-expansive individuals
- A consumer rights and economic justice team that focuses on direct services, litigation, and policy advocacy to empower and protect consumers facing debt collection, foreclosure, and predatory lending, including sub-projects focused on bankruptcy and pro se assistance in federal cases
- 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 our practice areas and click on the links above to learn about our specific summer 2025 opportunities
Timeline
Public Counsel’s 2025 summer internship program will run for ten weeks, beginning Tuesday, May 27, 2025, and ending Friday, August 1, 2025. Both 1Ls and 2Ls are eligible for these internships. We will begin accepting applications on November 1, 2024, and we will review them on a rolling basis. We strongly encourage applicants to submit their materials no later than February 1, 2025.
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
Public Counsel aims to provide funding for some of our 2025 summer interns, but we cannot guarantee this financial support. 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
Thank you for your interest in a 2025 summer internship with Public Counsel. We will begin accepting applications via this web page on November 1, 2024. If you would like to receive an email notification when we begin accepting applications, please provide your email address here.
To apply, you will need to provide a transcript, resume, and cover letter. We look forward to receiving your application after Halloween!
