Legal Intern I Spring 2027

About the role

LatinoJustice PRLDEF (LJP) seeks dynamic and creative, currently enrolled law students to advance our civil rights litigation and policy advocacy from our New York City Headquarters. The position is ideal for a strategic thinker with demonstrated experience in LJP’s priority pillars of interest, including economic justice (education, employment discrimination & workers' rights and fair housing), immigrant rights, voting rights and redistricting, and criminal justice, prisons and policing reform issues. The intern will assist LJP legal staff in developing and implementing strategies to infuse and advance a movement lawyering practice across all LJP work, including research, advocacy, community engagement and education, coalition building, and strategic communications. This role reports to the Deputy General Counsel, Legal Director, and/or designated Supervising Attorneys.

LatinoJustice has been at the forefront of major civil rights litigation since its founding in 1972 as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund. Accomplishments include winning the consent decree in the landmark bilingual education case ASPIRA v. Board of Education of the City of New York (1974), striking down a Pennsylvania town’s anti‑immigrant ordinance in Lozano v. City of Hazleton (2008), negotiating a $582,000 settlement for seven Latina immigrant workers in a Title VII sexual harassment lawsuit (EEOC v. Suffolk Laundry, 2013), representing the first Dreamer law graduate publicly granted NY State bar admission (In re Cesar Vargas), securing a police reform class‑action settlement for Latino drivers and pedestrians racially profiled by county police (Plaintiffs 1‑21 v. Suffolk County Police Department), successfully challenging Florida’s ban on hiring noncitizens to register voters (Hispanic Federation v. Byrd), winning a settlement of a Voting Rights Act 4(e) language assistance lawsuit on behalf of Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania (CASA v. Wheeler), and obtaining a $112M jury verdict and judgment in an ICE detainer policy challenge (Orellana Castaneda v. Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, 2025).

Responsibilities

• Conduct fact investigations and legal research
• Draft sections of legal briefs, memos of law, pleadings, and other litigation documents
• Participate in client & witness interviews and trial preparation
• Accompany staff lawyers to court proceedings and legislative hearings
• Join every stage of planning, developing, and prosecuting our impact cases

Qualifications

• Energetic, motivated law students with a record of commitment to social justice issues
• Excellent legal, written, research, and communication skills
• Coursework on Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, Employment, Immigration, and/or Voting Rights (preferred)
• Involvement in legal analytical and research skills seminars and programs (preferred)
• Ability to engage in complex legal analysis and fact‑finding (preferred)
• Bilingual Spanish/English is a plus but not required
• Willingness to obtain academic course credit through school clinical externship programs and/or satisfy pro bono volunteer requirements

Schedule

Spring term legal interns are expected to work a minimum of 12‑15 hours per week during the semester, subject to class schedule availability. Part‑time and full‑time school clinical externship placements for academic credit are welcome. The internship is designed as a hybrid work experience, combining in‑person and remote work.