The ACLU of Pennsylvania invites all exceptional law students to apply to work with our Legal Department as externs during the Fall 2024 semester on one of two topics: immigrants’ rights or voting rights. Externs are expected to work a minimum of 10 hours per week, either in-person or remote. This position is not paid, and we will only accept applications from individuals who are either receiving class credit for their participation as externs or have an outside funding source.
Applicants should be inquisitive, engaged students with an interest in civil rights and civil liberties litigation, strong communication skills, the initiative and energy to work in a faced-paced, collaborative environment, openness to growth and feedback, and a commitment to racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. The ACLU-PA recognizes that various backgrounds, identities, and past experiences may inform an individual’s commitment to this work, and values a diversity of experiences that externs may bring.
For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked in courts, legislatures, and communities to help ensure that all people have access to the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. As an affiliate of the ACLU, the ACLU of Pennsylvania focuses its work on issues that directly impact people who live, work, or travel to/from Pennsylvania. We also work with the National ACLU on litigation and advocacy. Our current work includes: seeking to protect the right to vote and remove barriers to voting, especially in Black and brown communities; challenging racial profiling in Black and brown communities; remedying civil rights abuses of noncitizens involved in the immigration system; and working to reduce pretrial and probation related detention.
What we expect from externs
Externs will draft memoranda, affidavits, and motions; conduct legal and policy research; investigate the prospects of new litigation, including both factual and legal claims; and interview clients and witnesses. Externs attend litigation team meetings and, when possible, depositions and court proceedings. Externs may also have an opportunity to support community-led coalition work on a number of criminal legal system and immigrants’ rights issues – including the fight to end immigration detention in Pennsylvania.
What externs can expect from us
The ACLU-PA believes strongly in mentorship and in thorough and timely feedback. Externs will meet weekly with a supervising attorney to help ensure that the externship provides a meaningful opportunity for each extern to develop their skills and explore what it means to be a civil rights litigator. Externs will also meet and network with ACLU-PA staff through planned programming.
We ask that summer externs make a fall semester commitment (although exceptions can be made in certain circumstances). We expect fall externs to work at least 10 hours per week (but can be flexible). We also ask fall externs to be receiving class credit for their participation as externs or have an outside funding source. We have a COVID-19 policy in place for in person work that is subject to variation depending on the state of the pandemic.
Application Instructions and Process
To apply, please complete the application on the ACLU-PA career page https://aclupahr.applytojob.com/apply. No phone calls please. Applicants will be asked to submit: 1) your resume; 2) answers to a written questionnaire in lieu of a cover letter; and 3) a writing sample that accurately reflects your writing ability, has not been substantially edited or modified by another individual, and is an entire written product (e.g., brief, memorandum, etc.) rather than an excerpt from a larger document. All attachments should be in PDF format.
We do not require applicants to include transcripts with their application. At the interview stage, we may ask for a transcript to confirm applicants are in good standing at their law school. If interviewed, you will also be asked to provide references.
The deadline to apply is August 11, 2024. Applications will be reviewed starting August 12. You must be available for an interview on August 13, 14, or 15.
The ACLU-PA is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. We value a diverse and inclusive work environment where employees feel a sense of belonging and strongly encourage women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ, people with disabilities, people who have experienced poverty or houselessness, and people who have had prior contact with the criminal legal system or the immigration system to apply.