Part-Time Fall/Spring Law Clerk (Ongoing)

Please note that this posting is for part-time, school-year internship positions only. All summer 2021 law clerk positions have now been filled and applications for summer 2021 are closed.

Are you a current 1L – 3L looking for a part-time legal volunteer or internship position during the academic year? The Youth Law Center seeks law students to work on a variety of our advocacy projects for between 8 – 15 hours per week during the fall and spring terms. This unpaid position is ideal for students seeking academic credit, externships, clinicals, field-placements, or non-academic volunteer opportunities.

Part-time legal interns and volunteers work closely with YLC’s attorney team on projects such as legislative advocacy, public education campaigns, pre-litigation research, community outreach and engagement, and other projects within our current juvenile justice and child welfare systems-change advocacy strategies. Part-time legal intern responsibilities may include:

  • Attending legal project team meetings
  • Legal research and writing
  • Research and writing on public policy aspects of child welfare and juvenile justice
  • Drafting correspondence and supporting Public Records Act requests
  • Conducting outreach and/or interviews with stakeholders
  • Working on various YLC projects and publications

Students may also wish to propose a specific project that would align well with YLC’s priorities and goals and which would benefit from the supervision of our attorneys.

Due to our limited capacity to host interns and volunteers, our process is selective. Qualified candidates will have excellent research and writing skills, experience and/or interest in child and youth advocacy, and a desire to explore the nonprofit legal aid and systemic advocacy environments as a possible career path. We are particularly interested in hearing from students with personal, lived experience in child welfare and juvenile justice systems and people from historically marginalized identities that are disproportionately represented in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. YLC believes that those who have experienced these systems are best positioned to understand the impacts of systems-change, and we’re committed to developing youth advocates with lived experience through our hiring practices.

To apply, please submit a cover letter describing your interest in the position, a current resume, and a short writing sample. In your cover letter, please describe 1) when you would like to begin your internship/volunteer position, 2) your availability in hours per week, and 3) optionally, any specific project or topic areas you would be interested in working on during your time with us.

Applications should be submitted electronically by emailing careers@ylc.org. (We are experiencing technical difficulties with our contact form, so please avoid using the “Apply” button below or your materials may not be received. Apologies for any inconvenience.)

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and candidates will be considered as positions are available and based on alignment of their background and interests with our current work.

YLC is an equal opportunity employer.