Summer 2027 Legal Intern, SCOTUS Docket

The ACLU seeks a full-time Summer Legal Intern in the SCOTUS Docket of the ACLU's National Office. This position may be remote or hybrid and can be based in our National Office in San Francisco, CA or New York, NY.

Our team supports the ACLU’s National Legal Director. In addition to overseeing the ACLU’s litigation department, the National Legal Director supervises all of the ACLU’s work before the United States Supreme Court, including merits cases, petitions for certiorari, and amicus work. 

We are looking for a legal intern to support all facets of the ACLU’s work across at the Supreme Court. The intern’s case load will likely span a range of issue areas, including voting rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, presidential power, and free speech. Specific tasks will include legal research, argument development, brief drafting, and assistance with long-term planning and strategy projects. Additionally, the intern will gain exposure to the ACLU’s advocacy strategy development and coalition management efforts  for cases pending before or possibly headed toward the U.S. Supreme Court. You’ll report to the staff attorney who works across the ACLU’s Supreme Court docket.

Interns will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience by working alongside the team.  Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:  

• Conduct legal research and analysis to support new and active litigation projects    
• Aid in drafting of legal memoranda, motions, and briefs    
• Provide support and assistance to ACLU affiliates and cooperating attorneys    

This Internship is open to students who are in law school. Interns should possess the following:  

• Completion of 1L year of law school prior to the commencement of the internship; preference for candidates who will have already completed their 2L year 
• Excellent research skills, including conducting internet and legal database research    
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and writing    
• Attention to detail, excellent organization and time-management skills    
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite    
• The initiative to see projects through to completion    
• Demonstrated commitment to public interest law, civil liberties, and racial justice    
• Demonstrated ability to conduct complex legal analysis  
• Kindness, generosity, and humility 

While there is a priority deadline, our project is committed to reviewing all applications on a rolling basis until the closing of posting. 

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. 

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.