Please be respectful of the time of our attorneys and staff. Direct any internship inquiries to [email protected] 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 June 4, 2021]:
Summer (typically for an internship May-August): November 15-January 31
Fall Semester (typically for an internship August-December): April 15-June 15
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. All candidates local and remote are encouraged to apply. Local candidates may be able to come into the office for part of week, subject to public health guidance.
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). School-year internships are generally full-time as well, but we require at least 20 hours per week during the school year (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. All candidates local and remote are encouraged to apply. Local candidates may be able to come into the office for part of week, subject to public health guidance. We do not offer 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 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. Generous supporters of EFF's intern fund include 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 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 are no longer accepting applications for the Summer 2022 Intern Class. We will begin accepting applications for the Fall 2022 Intern Class on April 15th.
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.