Legal Internship (Fall 2026)

The Tahirih Justice Center is a national, nonprofit organization that serves women, girls, and all immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and other violence. Our whole-person approach to services provides each survivor with free legal support and social services to secure their rights and build stable lives. We translate our client services work into expert training, outreach, and policy advocacy to ensure that systems, laws, and policies protect immigrant survivors from violence and exploitation. Our programs efficiently and effectively leverage donated professional services from a vast network of attorneys, medical professionals, and other experts to serve as many immigrant survivors as possible. By amplifying the experiences of survivors, our mission is to create a world in which all people share equal rights and live in safety and with dignity.

Responsibilities

• Client communication: assist attorneys with client communications and interviewing prospective clients
• Immigration court hearing preparation: assist attorneys with preparing for court hearings at Baltimore and Hyattsville Immigration Courts, such as compiling trial binders, preparing requests for prosecutorial discretion, drafting and preparing motions, and observing court hearings if there is availability and interest
• Asylum interview preparation: assist attorneys with preparing for asylum interviews at Arlington Asylum Office, such as collecting and compiling supplemental evidence, preparing filing submissions, and observing mock interview sessions with clients if there is availability and interest
• Legal writing and research: with attorney supervision, draft legal documents such as client letters, client declarations, legal memoranda, and briefs. Research country conditions for asylum, VAWA, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and/or U visa/T visa cases
• Administrative work: Process mail, maintain and update information in electronic case management systems and physical files
• Opportunities may arise to participate in community outreach and/or advocacy work, if the intern is interested, but this would not be a major focus of the internship

Requirements

• Commitment to at least 15 hours per week in a hybrid environment, for an internship term of at least 10 weeks, not including school holidays
• Enrollment in accredited law school, excellent research, writing and analytical skills, commitment to or interest in public interest law
• Enrollment in law school externship or confirmation of candidate’s receipt of third party funding for internship
• Language skills, particularly Spanish, highly desired but not required
• Must work well independently and together with a team of attorneys, paralegals, and social service professionals
• Must be detail-oriented, well-organized, responsible, personable, and comfortable working with diverse populations from a variety of backgrounds
• Sensitivity to working with trauma survivors
• Previous experience in immigration law, domestic violence or criminal law is helpful but not required
• Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States

Pay

Tahirih pays interns a $5000 stipend for completing 300 hours over the course of the semester.