Internships offer law students the opportunity to work on a broad range of legal issues. An intern’s assignments may include research and analysis of legal decisions, opinions, rulings and statutes; drafting legal memoranda on issues relating to the Department’s programs; case preparations for agency hearings and litigation before federal courts. In addition, interns are invited to participate in brown-bag lunches and other gatherings within OGC, so that they may obtain a broad overview of the legal issues that arise within the office. Highly qualified interns who demonstrate outstanding performance in their work may be considered for permanent attorney positions at the Department of Commerce as vacancies occur.

Summer Legal Internships

Outstanding first- and second-year law students are encouraged to apply for summer legal internships at the Office of the General Counsel. Summer legal internships offer promising law students the opportunity to work on a wide range of legal issues under the supervision of senior attorneys. Selections are based on academic achievement, law school courses, law review or other publication experience, moot court, legal aid or legal clinic participation, extracurricular activities and previous summer or part-time employment. Summer legal intern opportunities may include volunteer internships, internships for academic credit or, depending on funding availability, paid internships.

Although office staffing needs and funding availability varies from year to year, most offices within OGC actively participate in the summer legal intern program. To recruit high caliber law students for the summer internship program, the Office of the General Counsel participates in a number of regional law school job fairs across the country where attorney representatives interview interested law students for internships. Check with your law school career services office to see if OGC will be participating in a job fair near you.

For those students unable to attend the regional job fairs, we encourage you to apply directly to the Office of the General Counsel. See OGC’s summer legal internship announcement for application information.

Fall and Spring Legal Internships

Second- and third-year law students are encouraged to apply for internships during the fall and spring semesters. These internships require a commitment of approximately 15 hours per week, either on a volunteer basis or for academic credit, and offer the opportunity to work on a variety of legal issues under the supervision of senior attorneys. Please check spring-fall legal internship announcements for application information.

For International Commerce Internship Opportunities   Click Here

For National Oceanic and Atomospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of General Counsel International Section Internship Opportunities  Click Here.