Please be respectful of the time of our attorneys and staff. Direct any internship inquiries to legalintern@eff.org and apply through the link below.

Application Deadlines [updated November 15, 2022]:

Summer (typically for an internship May-August): November 15-February 28

Fall Semester (typically for an internship August-December): May 20-June 30

Spring Semester (typically for an internship from January-May): September 15-November 15

Applications will be evaluated as they are received. You are encouraged to apply early, as we will be accepting on a rolling basis. 

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 (e.g., blog posts). 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/ and https://www.eff.org/work for details about our work preserving constitutional values in the digital world.

Summer legal internships are full-time, 40 hours per week, and last 10-14 weeks (typically May-August). For school-year internships we require at least 20 hours per week (Spring Semester typically runs January-May and Fall Semester August-December). Law students attending schools with non-semester schedules are encouraged to apply as well. 

Although all candidates local and remote are welcome to apply, preference will be given to candidates who are able to work in person at EFF's San Francisco office at least one day per week. Reasonable accommodations will be considered for anyone with a disability that makes in-person work a hardship.

Internships are generally unpaid*, therefore arrangements should be made with the student's law school for work-study stipends.

*In recent years, EFF has been able to offer limited stipends to interns who exhaust other sources of funding and need supplemental funds in order to accept an internship. Application decisions are need-blind, and EFF will allocate any funding on a case-by-case basis. 

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!)

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.

Application

Please include a resume, cover letter, and writing sample in PDF format. Please also answer the extra question in the online form. 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 two references. Please be sure to include both your phone number and your email address in your cover letter. Please upload your writing sample in the same document as your cover letter. The writing sample should be 10 pages or less. Note that writing samples on civil liberties and/or intellectual property issues are highly preferred, as are litigation oriented or otherwise persuasive writing samples. (No phone calls please.)

We will begin accepting applications for the Spring 2024 Intern Class on September 15. 

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.