Legal & Law Internship

*aCCEPTING APPLICATIONS ON A ROLLING BASIS*

The Legal Internship is exclusively for currently enrolled law students who aspire to a career in public policy. Students not enrolled in law school are encouraged to apply to the Policy Internship. It will provide the opportunity to assist any of CfJJ’s advocacy programs with such essential tasks as data analysis, research, and writing, assist the Executive Director and Skadden Fellow with legal research to support Amicus Briefs and Further Appellate Review letters on juvenile court matters, and the opportunity to attend state-level commission meetings for a view of how high-level policy discussions transpire. 

The Law Student Intern could be assigned to one of these program areas:

  • Multi-System Youth: The Multi-System Youth Project aims to address the policies and practices of the multiple systems that serve our children and youth that can cause, or prevent, involvement in the juvenile justice system.  The project includes examinations of the child welfare, school, mental health, and other systems, as well as the area of dual- involvement, trauma, and vulnerable sub-populations within these feeder systems into our juvenile justice system.   

  • School-to-Prison Pipeline: The school-to-prison pipeline project aims to address policies and practices that drive students out of the classroom, away from a pathway to success, and into the juvenile and criminal justice system. CfJJ engages in education and training on educational rights, does an annual analysis of school discipline rates in Massachusetts Gateway Cities, and works with advocates on the state and local level to reduce or remove the presence of police in schools.

  • Legislative Advocacy: The major focus of our current advocacy is a campaign to advocate for comprehensive juvenile justice reform through the legislative process to: (1) require transparency and accountability in the legal system; (2) prevent entry into the legal system; and (3) reduce the harm of legal system involvement. Interns assist with campaigns as well as coalition management; assist with research and report drafting; voter education; and legislative and grassroots event planning.

  • Municipalities Project: This project produces research, reports, and issue briefs that analyze municipal policies and data in Massachusetts cities and towns that impact the lives of children and youth. CfJJ utilizes public records requests to collect policy documents and data from a range of city and town actors including police, schools, and others to explore issues of racial bias in local law enforcement policies and practices. This project provides the opportunity to learn about public records law.

  • Appellate Advocacy: CfJJ drafts and files Amicus Briefs on cases impacting the legal rights of juveniles before the Supreme Judicial Court. CfJJ also reviews cases at the Massachusetts Court of Appeals and files letters for Further Appellate Review on cases that pose the risk of bad judicial precedent on juvenile matters.

EXAMPLES OF INTERNSHIP TASKS:

  • Legal and factual research on issues pertinent to our current projects and campaigns

  • Legal research in support of amicus briefs and FAR (further appellate review letters)

  • Assisting in legislative advocacy

  • Producing legal memos, white papers, newsletter articles, or fact sheets

  • Data analysis and visualization

  • Policy event planning, administration, and outreach

  • Attending Juvenile Justice Policy and Data Board and other statewide commission meetings to take notes

To apply for the position, please submit (1) a cover letter, (2) resume, and (3) a 2-3 page policy writing sample and/or other examples of your work that demonstrate your writing or data analysis skills to: cfjj@cfjj.org. Please write "Legal Internship" in the subject line and include your projected internship start/end dates in your cover letter.

We thank you for your interest in working with us.