Internships

Closed for 2025

 

Summer 2025 Internship with the Indian Law Resource Center

Founded in 1978, the Indian Law Resource Center ("Center") is a non-profit law and advocacy organization that assists Indian nations and indigenous peoples in the United States and throughout the Americas. Working to establish national and international legal standards, the Center provides legal assistance to indigenous peoples to combat racism and oppression; to protect their lands and environment; to protect their cultures and ways of life; to achive sustainable economic development and genuine self-government; and to realize their other human rights. We are also committed to developing new attorneys in the fields of Indian law and international human rights law.

The Center welcomes applicants for the Terrance A. Sidley and John D.B. Lewis paid legal fellowships for summer 2025. The Center's summer fellowship program requrires a minimum eight-week, full-time commitment and is open to students completing either their first or second year of law school. The fellowship entails legal research and writing on major Indian rights issues related to current projects of the Center. Applicants who wish to pursue relevant, existing research projects alongside their work assignments will be considered. 

Positions are available at the Center's Washington, D.C. and Helena, Montana, offices. Applicants should indicate their office preference in their cover letter.

The Center offers a stipend equivalent to $23.00 per hour. Applicants are encouraged to seek additional or alternative funding through scholarships or their law school's public interest programs. 

Required Qualifications:

  • Completed 1L or 2L year by summer 2025
  • Excellent legal research and writing abilities
  • Experience writing legal memoranda

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Coursework in federal Indian law and/or international human rights strongly prefered
  • Proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese
  • Familiarity with Indigenous communities and issues

Email the following application materials to Melanie Dayton at mt@indianlaw.org with the subject line Summer 2025 Internship:

  • Cover letter (include office preference)
  • Resume
  • Law school transcript (official and unoffical transcripts accepted)
  • Legal writing sample (must be the applicants own, original writing)
  • References (2) (at least one legal or law school reference) 

Please combine the application materials into one PDF attachment, if possible. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and will be accepted as long as this announcement is posted at www.indianlaw.org/content/internships.

For more information about the Center, please visit: www.indianlaw.org