Jobs

Internships in International Civil Society Law – Summer 2012

The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) seeks bright, energetic students with an interest in international affairs to serve as interns. ICNL's internship offers a unique opportunity to be involved in the promotion of an enabling legal environment for civil society, freedom of association, and public participation around the world.

ICNL has worked on civil society law in over 100 countries, drawing upon a worldwide network of partners and experts.  Working with ICNL’s program teams, interns are engaged in our cutting-edge research and technical assistance.  ICNL endeavors to develop projects that reflect student interests and skills, and to assist with the student's career development. 

Duties

Under the supervision of, and with training by ICNL’s senior staff lawyers, interns are fully engaged in a variety of hands-on legal tasks. Duties might include conducting comparative legal research, legal analysis, supporting ICNL’s partners, and other related tasks.

The following are illustrative examples of past intern assignments:

• An ICNL intern interested in Albania provided technical assistance to a working group comprised of an Albanian Supreme Court Justice, government officials and NGO leaders working on new NGO legislation.  The intern’s advice was reflected in legislation enacted by the Albanian Parliament.
• Working with ICNL’s President, an intern co-authored a survey on NGO legislation throughout Central and Eastern Europe, which was then published and disseminated throughout Europe and Eurasia.
• In Turkey, the European Union identified NGO legislation as a primary human rights issue affecting EU accession.  The EU, government, and NGO sector requested that ICNL provide technical assistance on a new associations law.  One of ICNL’s interns was able to play an instrumental role in the reform of the legislation, which led to Turkey's enactment of a new law on associations.

Other important tasks have included preparing a textbook on international civil society law, editing issues of the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, preparing comments on impending draft legislation, organizing a conference in Mexico for university professors and study tours for foreign experts, and supporting staff with several grant-writing initiatives.

Qualifications

Interns should be enrolled in or have a degree from an accredited law school. Good research, writing, and analytical skills are particularly important qualifications for this position. The intern should also have demonstrable individual initiative and ability to work as part of a team. The intern must be located in the Washington D.C. area.

Terms

Students are expected to work full time for at least 10 weeks on the internship during the summer (approximately May – August). Start and end dates are flexible. ICNL will entertain applications from students seeking to undertake this internship/externship for law school credit.  If credit is not available, ICNL will offer a modest stipend to the intern.

Application Process

Please submit cover letter, resume, and writing sample (no longer than five pages) to escudder@icnl.org.  Reference “Summer Intern 2012” in the subject line.  Only finalists will be contacted – no telephone calls please. ICNL is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The deadline for applications is March 31, 2012, but we encourage early applications, as decisions will be made on a rolling basis.

Full-Time Positions

ICNL is not hiring new full-time staff at this time. Please check back again in the future.