Internship Opportunities

The Office of Tribal Justice (OTJ) participates in the Department’s volunteer internship program. As a participant, OTJ typically offers internship opportunities during the summer and most semesters. Current OTJ, and other component, volunteer internship opportunities will be listed on the Department’s Volunteer Legal Internships webpage. Interested individuals and organizations can also subscribe to receive new vacancy updates from the Department to better watch for future OTJ internship opportunities.  

About the Office

The Office of Tribal Justice (OTJ) coordinates DOJ's policies and positions on American Indian and Alaska Native issues. OTJ works with federally recognized tribes on a variety of issues and fulfills the roles of liaison and primary point of contact for tribes dealing with DOJ and other federal agencies. OTJ also provides legal expertise on federal Indian law issues within DOJ and to other federal agencies and serves as the clearinghouse for DOJ correspondence relating to Tribal matters.

For more information about OTJ, please visit our website.

Description

The internship is designed to give students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience working on challenging projects and cases principally involving issues of federal Indian law. Interns work closely with attorneys in OTJ on a wide range of federal Indian law issues and projects. Work may include legal research, drafting legal memoranda and briefs, participating in public policy development, reviewing proposed legislation, and responding to citizen correspondence. Also, interns may have the opportunity to attend Congressional hearings, oral arguments before the Supreme Court, and high-level meetings with OTJ attorneys.

Intern positions are in person at OTJ’s office in Washington, D.C.; telework is not available.

Qualifications

Open to all full-time, second- or third-year law students. Students should be able to demonstrate excellent academic credentials, good writing skills, knowledge of federal Indian law, and familiarity with tribes and tribal matters.

To Apply

Please visit the Department’s Volunteer Legal Internships webpage for a list of open positions and follow the application instructions within the posting.

Please reach out to OTJ.Intern@usdoj.gov with any questions regarding our internship opportunities.