Spring 2027 Litigation Intern

About the Role

NRDC is seeking a class of Spring Litigation Interns to work with the lawyers associated with our Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. offices. The Litigation Team is a group of approximately 45 lawyers, paralegals, and other operations staff who pursue litigation across a broad range of environmental and public health issues, in collaboration with and on behalf of communities most impacted by environmental injustices (including Black, indigenous, and people of color, and low-income and rural communities). Litigation interns play an active role on the frontlines to protect our planet and the communities that depend on it. Our interns do concrete work in support of our litigation, including substantive writing and research, and collaborate with NRDC Litigation attorneys.

Responsibilities

NRDC's Spring Litigation Interns gain exposure to and support the broad range of our legal and policy advocacy that we use to protect the environment and public health. In the past, intern projects have included:

• Researching and preparing legal memos in support of rulemaking proceedings, litigation case development, and active litigation
• Interviewing NRDC members and preparing standing declarations
• Helping draft and review portions of pleadings and review briefs
• Helping prepare comments to submit to administrative agencies or legislative bodies
• Helping craft proposed legislation to address environmental and public health problems

The above list of duties is not comprehensive but generally demonstrates the types of matters under this position's responsibility. Other duties may be assigned.

Qualifications

This internship is designed for law school students who will be in their second (2L) or third year (3L) of a J.D. program or in an LLM program during spring 2027. In assessing candidates, we look for:

• Strong legal writing, analytical, and oral communication skills
• Experience effectively working on a team
• Creativity and resourcefulness
• Commitment to public service, equity, and justice
• Growth mindset and openness to feedback
• Demonstrated ability to work with people across different social identities and backgrounds
• Record of academic and/or professional accomplishment
• Commitment to NRDC's mission, values, and DEI principles

A successful candidate does not need to satisfy all of these criteria. In particular, because a key purpose of our semester legal intern program is to help our interns learn and develop new legal skills, we welcome applicants who have room to grow as legal writers, researchers, and communicators.

Pay & Schedule

• The internship typically lasts about 10 weeks, beginning at the start of the intern's Spring semester and ending before exams. Start and end dates and other scheduling details are negotiable, but we look for a minimum time commitment of two days (14 hours) a week over the course of an academic term.
• This internship is a paid position with a total stipend of $4,000 for 140 hours of work.
• Interns may choose one of the following scheduling options:
  • 7 weeks at 20 hours per week
  • 10 weeks at 14 hours per week
  • 14 weeks at 10 hours per week

Application Process

Applications for 2027 Spring Litigation Internships can be submitted online at www.nrdc.org/careers. You will need to electronically submit a cover letter, transcript, resume, contact information for two references, and a legal writing sample (samples from a legal research & writing class are fine). In your cover letter, please:

• Indicate all the NRDC offices to which you are applying, and order of preference among the offices
• Let us know how you learned about the position
• Describe why you are interested in learning more about environmental law and advocacy

You may address your cover letter to "Hiring Manager." The deadline to apply is November 1, 2026. Offers will be made on a rolling basis; we strongly encourage you to apply early in our review period.

If you have questions about the application process or requirements, email us at legalinterns@nrdc.org. Please specify that you are applying for the Spring 2027 Litigation Team Term Internship (LTTI) program.