Internship Overview

Responsibilities: Law students work on many aspects of potential and ongoing cases, such as drafting memoranda addressing the merits of a case and potential defenses, meeting with and interviewing plaintiffs and witnesses, and drafting complaints and briefs. Students may also be asked to analyze the constitutionality of pending legislation or help with discovery.

Locations: Internships are available at our Detroit headquarters and our West Michigan Regional Office in Grand Rapids. In your cover letter, please indicate whether you have a geographic preference. The ACLU of Michigan is operating under a hybrid work model. As with attorneys in the department, successful applicants are expected to work in-person from either the Grand Rapids or Detroit office at least two days a week.

Qualifications:

• Must have finished first year of law school
• Excellent research, writing and communication skills
• Commitment to civil rights and civil liberties
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; must value and respect differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, ability and socio- economic circumstance
• Students who have studied constitutional law are preferred

Supervision: Legal interns will be supervised by the legal director, deputy legal director, staff attorneys, and legal fellows. They may also be asked to assist a cooperating attorney or partner.

Commitment: Our summer legal internship requires a 10 to 12 week commitment.

Stipends: We encourage all applicants to seek public interest fellowship funds through their law school. If you are unable to secure funding from your law school for a public interest internship, the ACLU can provide funding to make this opportunity more feasible for law students who would otherwise be required to seek paid employment over the summer. Please indicate in your cover letter if you are interested in ACLU funding.

Applications: Applications are considered on a rolling basis starting in Fall 2025, so interested students should apply as early as possible, and in any case no later than January 31, 2026. Please email a cover letter explaining your interest and qualifications, resume and writing sample to:

Bonsitu Kitaba, Deputy Legal Director
American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan
acluinternship@aclumich.org

Please include in the email subject line: last name, first name, and “Summer 2026 Legal Internship Application”

To learn more about the ACLU, go to www.aclumich.org or www.aclu.org. The ACLU is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.