The job, in the employer's words
About the Role
The ACLU seeks a Summer Legal Intern in the Disability Rights Project of the ACLU’s National office in Washington D.C. or San Francisco, CA. This position may be remote or hybrid.
Qualifying applicants must currently be matriculated legal students and must be based in the U.S. for the entire duration of the internship.
The Team:
The Disability Rights Program’s (DRP) mission is to achieve an America free of discrimination against people with disabilities; where people with disabilities are valued, integrated members of society who have full access to education, homes, health care, jobs, families, voting and civic engagement. We fight to ensure that people with disabilities are no longer segregated into, and over-represented in, civil and criminal institutions such as nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, jails, and prisons.
The ACLU has fought for decades for the rights of people with disabilities—achieving key wins to stop coerced mental health treatment and unnecessary institutionalization, as well as playing a role in the drafting of the ADA. DRP litigates and advocates to use disability rights laws to stop discrimination against people with disabilities, including by ending the overrepresentation of people with disabilities in the criminal legal system and ensuring municipalities include the needs of the disabled community in their emergency disaster planning processes. We also litigate and advocate to promote alternatives to guardianship and to secure equal access to the ballot. We also provide support to affiliates and the National office on disability rights issues that intersect with core civil liberties.
What You’ll Do:
The intern will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience by working alongside the team and assisting in legal research and writing, factual investigation, and strategic advocacy to advance our litigation and integrated advocacy. The intern will have the opportunity to participate in litigation, advocacy, and internal meetings and discussions.
Your Day to Day
Interns will support DRP litigation work and integrated advocacy across our priority areas. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Legal research
- Legal writing, such as memos and portions of court submissions
- Fact investigation
- Support in preparation for and during court cases, such as depositions, oral argument, hearings, or trial
What You'll Bring:
The internship is open only to students enrolled at U.S. law schools who will have completed at before the internship commences.
Additionally, interns should possess the following:
- Excellent research skills, including conducting internet and legal database research
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and writing
- Attention to detail, excellent organizing and time-management skills
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
- The initiative to see projects through to completion
Preferred Qualifications
We invite applications from candidates who have personal, professional, and/or academic experience with disability and disability rights, including candidates with disabilities.
Future ACLU'ers Will:
- Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
- Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
- Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts
Internship Logistics
- Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of remote or hybrid intern positions. This internship can be remote or hybrid based from our Washington D.C. or San Francisco, CA Offices.
- Time Commitment: This internship is full-time (35 hrs/wk) for a duration of 10 consecutive weeks.
- Internship Duration: This internship has a start date of May 24 or June 7.
- Stipend: A stipend is available for those students who are lawfully authorized to work. Students who receive outside funding are eligible for a partial stipend to bring their total funding up to the level of the ACLU’s stipend amount for the summer. Legal interns receive a stipend amount of $24/hour (stipends are taxed)
Priority Application Deadline: October 30, 2026.
While there is a priority deadline, our project is committed to reviewing all applications on a rolling basis until the closing of posting.
Why the ACLU
For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.
Our Commitment to Accessibility, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.
With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please complete the Accommodation Request Form
If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
In order to be considered for this position, all candidates must formally submit an application. The ACLU does not accept unsolicited calls or emails from candidates regarding their application status.
ACLU’s internship program is supported in part by the Arnie Miller Fund for the Next Generation: The Arnie Miller Fund For The Next Generation | American Civil Liberties Union.
Requirements mentioned
- We invite applications from candidates who have personal, professional, and/or academic experience with disability and disability rights, including candidates with disabilities.
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