Please be respectful of the time of our attorneys and staff. Direct any internship inquiries to legalinterns@eff.org and apply through the link below.
General Intern Information and Requirements
- EFF does not have paid internships and ordinarily cannot provide stipends* (except for specific things, like travel to an EFF event you are assisting at, etc.)
- EFF is not accredited to sponsor J visas.
- There are no administrative, international, or practicing attorney legal internship positions. To qualify as a legal intern, you must be in law school or have just graduated with a U.S. law degree.
Legal Internship
Application Deadlines [Updated December 11, 2017]:
Summer (typically for an internship from May through July or August): November 15 - February 15
Fall Semester (typically for an internship from August or Sept through Dec): April 15 - September 1
Spring Semester (typically for an internship from Jan through April or May): September 1 - Preferred by November 15 but accepted through January 15th
Applications will be evaluated as they are received. You are encouraged to apply early, as we will be accepting on a rolling basis. Our internship program is based in our San Francisco office; we no longer accept internship applications for our DC office.
Job Description
Legal interns assist in all aspects of litigation, including legal research, factual investigation, and drafting of memoranda and briefs, while also helping with policy research, client counseling, and the development of public education materials. EFF's docket ranges across the technological and legal landscape, from online fair use of copyrighted materials to illegal government spying; take a look at http://www.eff.org/cases/ for details about our work preserving constitutional values in the digital world. Summer legal internships are full-time, 40 hours per week minimum, and last 10-14 weeks (typically mid-May through mid-August). School-year internships are generally full-time as well, but we prefer a commitment of 20 hours a week or more during the school year (Spring Semester typically runs from the beginning of January through mid-May and Fall Semester runs mid-August through December). Law students attending schools with non-semester schedules are encouraged to apply as well. Internships are available at our office in San Francisco for all legal issues. We do not offer remote internships or internships in Washington DC. Internships are generally unpaid; therefore arrangements should be made with the student's law school for work/study stipends.
*In recent years, EFF was able to offer limited stipends to summer interns who exhausted other sources of funding and need supplemental funds in order to accept an internship. We may be able to do so again this summer. Application decisions are need-blind, and EFF will allocate any funding on a case-by-case basis. Generous supporters of EFF's 2016 summer intern fund included the law firms of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Fenwick & West, and Durie Tangri.
Qualifications
U.S. law students of all levels, including LLM students, are encouraged to apply. Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in and enthusiasm for civil liberties or technology-related legal issues, along with excellent research and writing skills and the initiative and energy to see projects to completion in a fast-moving environment. (Being a bit of a geek definitely helps, but isn't required!)
Application
Please include a resume, cover letter and writing sample in PDF format. Please upload your writing sample in the same document as your cover letter. The cover letter you submit should explain why you want to work with EFF and why we should want to work with you, followed by three references. Note that writing samples on civil liberties and/or intellectual property issues are highly preferred, as are litigation oriented or otherwise persuasive writing samples. Please be sure to include both your phone number and your email address in your cover letter. (No phone calls please.)
Use the following link to apply:
We are now accepting applications on a rolling basis for Fall 2018 internships.
International Legal Internship and Volunteer Opportunities
We do not have legal internships available for international law students or volunteer opportunities for international lawyers at this time. Please watch this site or EFFector mailings for internship postings.
