Term and Summer Internships at LatinoJustice PRLDEF

About Us

LatinoJustice PRLDEF is one of the foremost Latino civil rights organizations in the country, serving a pan-Latino constituency. Since 1972, we have been bringing precedent-setting impact litigation that has profoundly improved the way Latinos are treated in our society. Our current areas of focus include constitutional rights, immigrants’ rights; voting rights; housing, education, and job discrimination; the treatment of day laborers, freedom of movement, and all forms of bias that affect Latinos. Recent historic victories include Lozano v. City of Hazleton, enjoining a Pennsylvania town from enacting its own immigration enforcement laws, and Doe v. Mamaroneck, challenging discriminatory harassment of day laborers. Our geographic foci is the Eastern United States, and all areas where Latinos face injustice.

Term Internships

LatinoJustice interns conduct research, write sections of briefs, participate in client interviews, and accompany lawyers to court hearings. With a small staff and a heavy litigation docket, we do not assign “make work” projects to interns. Law students are considered part of our staff and are included in every stage of planning and strategizing our impact cases. Recent student work has included research into the First Amendment rights of laborers, the Fourth Amendment rights of individuals caught up in immigration home raids, and the Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection. Students are expected to work 10-12 hrs/week minimum during the school year.

The Summer Program

Each summer several 1L and 2L students from around the country join us full-time to perform cutting-edge legal work. Many of our summer interns become so involved in our cases that they follow up with us during the term to do additional volunteer assignments and/or write law review articles on related topics. Located at 99 Hudson Street, the home of public interest organizations including the NAACP-LDF and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), PRLDEF also offers unique opportunities for our interns to learn from other civil rights programs. Every week the three organizations host a “brown bag” lunch with guest speakers from the civil rights community. Past discussions have included the future of desegregation, emerging issues in immigrants’ rights, and building public interest careers.

Qualifications

We are seeking energetic, motivated law students with a record of commitment to social justice work, with excellent legal, written, research, and communications skills. Bilingual Spanish/English is a plus but not required. We are happy to help students obtain course credit and/or pro bono volunteer hours as permitted/required by their law schools.

To apply please submit cover letter and resume to Associate General Counsel Jose Perez.