Legal Intern (Summer 2026)
About The Position
For The People seeks a passionate and driven law school student to serve as a Legal Intern for Summer 2026, supporting FTP’s Legal Team on resentencing initiatives beyond California. The Legal Intern should be interested in criminal law, prison law, and social justice, as well as be someone who aspires to impact change and right historical wrongs that resulted in excessive sentencing and mass incarceration through working with prosecutors. This position offers a unique opportunity to be part of a collaborative team focused on facilitating resentencing within prosecution offices that vary widely in size and the political and demographic makeup of their jurisdictions. Interns will be part of an effort to support a broader definition of justice in order to improve justice outcomes and help build a better justice system for all. Candidates who have experience within the criminal justice system or have been directly system-impacted will be prioritized.
Requirements
- Current enrollment in an accredited law school.
- Experience working with diverse communities and a deep commitment to social justice and impacting change. Dimensions of diversity include but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, work experience, and job classification.
- Excellent research skills, including conducting legal database research.
- Ability to review, spot issues, and synthesize large volumes of information into concise and informative summaries.
- Ability to manage time effectively and ensure the completion of projects on schedule.
- Quick learner with strong attention to detail and ability to handle multiple projects at the same time.
- Demonstrates a positive, can-do attitude focused on identifying solutions and the ability to work in a team environment with a diverse group of organizations.
- A strong working proficiency in Word, Excel, Google Docs, and PowerPoint.
- Proficiency with LexisNexis and/or Westlaw.
Nice To Haves
- Working knowledge of Asana, Box or equivalent, and Salesforce or equivalent preferred.
Responsibilities
- Review prison files of incarcerated persons, criminal case files, legal documents, and supporting documents of incarcerated persons, under the direction of FTP staff attorneys.
- Synthesize and summarize documents into concise case summaries for review by FTP staff attorneys and the prosecutor’s office; identify issues in criminal cases for sentencing review consideration.
- Draft template motions, briefs, and case presentations to be provided to prosecutorial offices.
- Coordinate with community-based organizations, incarcerated people, and their support networks to gather information for case presentations.
- Support presentations to prosecutors’ offices, public defense offices, government leaders, and community groups.
- Conduct legal research and writing to support initiatives, legislative efforts and sentencing avenues at the federal, state, and local levels.
- Assist with researching and drafting materials for publication; specifically, state-specific guides on implementing sentencing review and informational/educational materials.
- Update Salesforce with relevant case information, and support other data quality efforts that allow FTP to measure legal team impact.
- Other projects as assigned.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Part-time
Career Level
Intern
Education Level
No Education Listed
Number of Employees
11-50 employees
