2017 Summer Law Student Internship
The Prison Law Office is a nonprofit public interest law firm founded in 1976 that provides free legal services to incarcerated adults and juveniles to improve their conditions of confinement in prisons, jails, and juvenile halls. With a small staff of attorneys and support personnel, we engage in class action and other impact litigation in California, Arizona, and other states; provide direct legal services to individuals regarding their incarceration; educate the public about jail and prison conditions, and provide technical assistance to attorneys throughout the country. Our offices are located in Berkeley, California.
We have litigated numerous successful institutional reform cases that, among other things, reduced the overcrowding of California’s prisons, improved health care services, guaranteed people with physical and developmental disabilities reasonable accommodations and equal access to jail and prison programs, reduced the use of excessive force, limited racial discrimination in prisons, and restricted the use of solitary confinement in adult and juvenile correctional systems.
Under the supervision of staff attorneys, law student interns work on both individual and class action cases. Law students will accompany attorneys and tour prisons, jails, and juvenile halls and interview incarcerated people to monitor compliance with class action settlement agreements; engage in legal research and writing tasks; correspond with incarcerated people who contact Prison Law Office seeking assistance; and undertake special projects and investigations as needed. We also encourage our law student interns to take advantage of educational and networking opportunities in other Bay Area legal non-profit organizations. The Prison Law Office pays summer law student interns $20 an hour. We will only consider applications from second year law students.
We seek students with a commitment to civil rights and criminal justice, who must have excellent analytical, legal research, and writing skills. Bilingual skills in Spanish, American Sign Language, or other languages are preferred, but not essential. People of color, LGBT individuals, persons with disabilities, and people who have had prior contact or experience with the criminal justice system or prison systems are encouraged to apply.
To apply; email your cover letter, resume, list of references, and a legal writing as attachments in a single email to office@prisonlaw.com with the subject line “2017 Summer Legal Intern Application.” We will accept applications through January 15, 2017.
The Prison Law Office is an equal employment opportunity employer and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex (including pregnancy), gender, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity (including transgender status), or any other basis prohibited by law. The Prison Law Office does not bar applicants based upon their arrest or criminal history.