Natural Resources Defense Council 2013 Summer Legal Internships

NRDC is a leading nonprofit membership organization that has been marshaling science and the law to protect the environment and public health since 1970. Our more than 1.3 million members and activists reside in each of the United States and in the District of Columbia. NRDC employs over 400 scientists, lawyers, economists, media specialists, policy analysts, and administrators in its six offices, including a new office in China. Within each of the organization’s program areas – air, water, coastal, oceans, public health, climate change, energy, public land, smart growth, international, urban, environmental justice, and nuclear non-proliferation – NRDC’s experts pursue cutting-edge litigation, sophisticated lobbying, hard-hitting scientific research, and broad-reaching public education. For over 40 years, NRDC has played a central role in crafting, implementing, enforcing, and defending virtually all of the nation’s environmental laws.

LANDMARK NRDC VICTORIES

- litigation that led to the phasing-out of lead in U.S. gasoline;
- a litigation settlement with the Port of Los Angeles for massive reductions in harmful air pollution;
- a court order overturning the Department of Energy’s attempt to avoid cleaning up high-level radioactive waste; - groundbreaking civil action against the nation’s biggest air polluters for their contributions to climate change;
- enjoining construction of a salt mine near the last pristine Gray Whale breeding ground;
- helping to create far-reaching new energy efficiency standards in China; and
- aiding in implementing new federal rules to dramatically reduce air pollution from diesel engines.

SUMMER LEGAL INTERN EXPERIENCE AT NRDC

NRDC’s summer legal interns write briefs, draft complaints, prepare legal analyses, obtain affidavits, investigate corporate and government malfeasance, participate in policy advocacy campaigns, and draft white papers and comments for submission to Congressional committees and administrative agencies. NRDC hires passionate students who possess the intelligence, skill, self- confidence, and maturity to take on enormous responsibility. Our interns receive an active role on the frontlines of the environmental movement. Over the course of a summer, an NRDC intern will typically work on a variety of projects and amass experience that he/she could not obtain anywhere else.

HOW TO APPLY: All applications for 2013 Summer Legal Internships can now be submitted on-line at www.nrdc.org/jobs. You will need to electronically submit a cover letter, transcript, resume, references, and a legal writing sample that does not reflect edits by anyone other than you. In your cover letter, please indicate all of the NRDC offices to which you are applying, as well as any order of preference among the offices. Internships are available in the following offices: New York, NY; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco, CA; Santa Monica, CA; and Chicago, IL.

Applications are due October 26, 2012 (2L’s) and January 18, 2013 (1L’s).

Offers will be made on a rolling basis; we strongly encourage you to apply early. 

NRDC is committed to a workplace based on equal opportunity and a strong belief in the increased effectiveness that comes from a diverse workforce. To this end, NRDC:

• hires staff that reflects this country's full range of racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic identities;
  
• creates a workplace where true diversity is fostered and different perspectives are valued and freely exchanged;
  
• ensures that all members of the NRDC community feel welcome and respected, and have equal opportunities to thrive and advance within the institution; and
  
• is committed to supporting low-income communities and communities of color particularly affected by environmental inequities. 
  

For more information, please visit http://www.nrdc.org.