Applications are now open for the Spring 2025 Intern Class, with a deadline of November 1. See below for instructions and a link to the application.

EFF’s legal internships provide law students with a unique opportunity to develop valuable skills and real-world experience while working with a nationally-recognized public interest law firm. Legal interns learn from and assist EFF’s staff attorneys in all aspects of litigation, including legal research, factual investigation, and drafting of memoranda and briefs, while also helping with policy research, client counseling, and the development of public education materials (e.g., blog posts). Interns attend internal legal team and working group meetings, participate in legal trainings, and may have the opportunity to attend client meetings and court hearings. EFF’s docket ranges across the technological and legal landscape, from online fair use of copyrighted materials to illegal government spying; take a look at http://www.eff.org/cases/ and https://www.eff.org/work for details about our work preserving constitutional values in the digital world.

All internships are time limited and align with students’ academic schedules. Summer legal internships are full-time (40 hours per week) and last 10–14 weeks (typically May–August). Internships during the academic-year last one semester. For academic-year internships, we require at least 20 hours per week for a minimum of 10 weeks.

Internships are unpaid; arrangements should be made with the student’s law school for work-study stipends or course credit. In recent years, EFF has been able to offer some limited stipends to interns who exhaust other sources of funding and will not receive course credit. Students who receive outside funding are eligible for a partial stipend to bring their total funding up to the level of EFF’s stipend amount for that term, if applicable. 

Qualifications

  • Enrollment at, or recent graduation from, a U.S. law school - law students of all levels, including LLM students, are encouraged to apply
  • Demonstrated interest in and enthusiasm for civil liberties or technology-related legal issues
  • Excellent research and writing skills
  • The initiative and energy to see projects to completion in a fast-moving environment
  • School-year internships: Preference will be given to candidates who are able to work in person at EFF’s San Francisco office at least one day per week, but all candidates local and remote are welcome to apply. Reasonable accommodations will be considered for anyone with a disability that makes in-person work a hardship.
  • Summer internships: Interns will be required to work from EFF’s San Francisco office at least two days per week. Reasonable accommodations will be considered for anyone with a disability that makes in-person work a hardship.

Application Requirements & Instructions

Your application must include the following components:

  • A resume in PDF format
  • A cover letter, contact information for two references, and a writing sample, uploaded as a single PDF
    • Your cover letter should explain why you want to work with EFF and why we should want to work with you. Your cover letter should also identify an issue EFF has worked on in the past 5 years that you would be especially interested in working on, and tell us why.
    • Your writing sample should be 10 pages or fewer. Writing samples on civil liberties and/or intellectual property issues are highly preferred, as are litigation-oriented or otherwise persuasive writing samples.

Click Here to Apply!

Application Opening Dates & Deadlines

Summer (typically for an internship May-August): November 15-February 15

Fall Semester (typically for an internship August-December): May 15-June 30

Spring Semester (typically for an internship from January-May): August 1-November 1

Applications will be evaluated as they are received. You are encouraged to apply early, as we will be accepting on a rolling basis. 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Do you offer remote internships?
    • For school-year internships, preference will be given to candidates who are able to work in person at EFF’s San Francisco office at least one day per week, but all candidates local and remote are welcome to apply. Reasonable accommodations will be considered for anyone with a disability that makes in-person work a hardship.
    • For summer internships, interns will be required to work from EFF’s San Francisco office at least two days per week. Reasonable accommodations will be considered for anyone with a disability that makes in-person work a hardship.
  • Are law students at schools on non-semester schedules eligible for internships?
    • Yes, we are flexible on the exact timing of the internship, so long as you’re with us for at least 10 weeks.
  • I’ve already submitted my application—can I still update my cover letter/references/writing sample/resume?
    • Yes, you may update any portion of your application by emailing legalintern@eff.org with the subject line “Update to application.”
  • Are internships paid?
    • No. Arrangements should be made with the student’s law school for work-study stipends or course credit. In recent years, EFF has been able to offer some limited stipends to interns who exhaust other sources of funding and will not receive course credit.
  • Can you sponsor J visas?
    • No, EFF is not accredited to sponsor J visas.
  • Do you have legal internships for law students outside the U.S.? / Do you have volunteer opportunities for international lawyers?
    • We do not have legal internships available for international law students or volunteer opportunities for international lawyers at this time. Please watch this site or EFFector mailings for internship postings.
  • Do you have administrative or practicing attorney legal internship positions?
    • No. To qualify as a legal intern, you must be in law school or have just graduated with a U.S. law degree.
  • Who should I contact with questions?