Volunteer Legal Intern Program

Description

The Volunteer Law Student Intern program provides an exciting opportunity for highly qualified law students to work directly with Assistant United States Attorneys on civil and criminal litigation in either Baltimore or Greenbelt, Maryland.

Program Description

Projects assigned to volunteer law student interns often involve legal research and writing. Assignments are distributed based on an intern’s interests and the needs of the office. We seek to expose each intern to a variety of substantive matters and stages of criminal and civil litigation.

Interns in the Baltimore office often work on both criminal and civil matters, while Greenbelt interns work exclusively on criminal matters. The Office seeks to give students opportunities to contribute to and observe significant stages of federal investigations and judicial proceedings, such as witness interviews, depositions, motions hearings, trials, sentencing hearings and appellate arguments.

Some law schools allow students to serve as volunteer interns in connection with a class and earn credits toward graduation. Students also may be eligible for federal work study programs or for law school public service grants.

The Office organizes special events for law student interns. Events have included trips to the police firing range to learn firearm safety and practice shooting revolvers, machine guns and sniper rifles. Speakers have included Fourth Circuit Judges Andre Davis, Diana Gribbon Motz, and Paul V. Niemeyer, District Judge Marvin Garbis, District Judge and former U.S. Attorney Richard Bennett, Maryland Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Fader, Magistrate Judge Beth Gesner, and Federal Public Defender James Wyda.

Locations

The U.S. Attorney’s Baltimore Office is located across the street from the Northern Division federal courthouse, at 36 South Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland. The Greenbelt office is located across the street from the Southern Division federal courthouse at 6406 Ivy Lane, Greenbelt, Maryland, a few miles from Washington, DC.

Summer

The Office hires 10 to 14 law students to serve as volunteer law student interns in Baltimore each summer. The Office hires 3 to 6 volunteer law student interns each summer for our Greenbelt office.

Fall & Spring Semesters

During the fall and spring school terms, the Office employs 4 to 6 law student interns in Baltimore and 2 to 4 interns in Greenbelt. Law students work for one or more days each week, with schedules arranged to accommodate classes and extracurricular commitments.

Qualifications

Each applicant must be a U.S. citizen and an active law student who will have completed one year of law school before the internship commences. Employment offers are contingent upon the completion of security forms and a satisfactory federal background investigation. No student will be allowed to work before the background investigation is successfully completed.

Application Process and Deadlines

If you would like to participate in our Volunteer Intern Program, please submit, by the applicable deadline: (1) a cover letter stating which term you would like to work and whether you are interested in Baltimore and/or Greenbelt; (2) a resume that includes your phone number and email address; and (3) your most recent official or unofficial law school transcript; and (4) a writing sample. Applications should be submitted by email to: usamd.lawclerkjobs@usdoj.gov.

Contact Information