Summer Legal Intern

Make the Road NY
New York

MAKE THE ROAD NY SUMMER 2027 LEGAL INTERNSHIP

Make the Road New York (MRNY) is a grassroots organization that builds the power of immigrant and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organizing, policy innovation, transformative education, and survival services, which includes legal services. With a membership of more than 30,000 low-income New Yorkers, MRNY tackles the critical issues facing our community: workplace justice, housing and environmental justice, immigrants’ rights, TGNCIQ (transgender, gender-diverse, and queer) justice, public education, health justice, and policing and criminal justice. MRNY operates neighborhood-based community centers in Bushwick, Brooklyn; Corona, Queens; Port Richmond, Staten Island; Brentwood, Long Island; and White Plains, Westchester. Our work in the summer of 2027 will operate in a hybrid of both in-person and remote work, and interns should be available to regularly work in our offices. 

The Legal Services Department at MRNY provides a range of civil legal services in the areas of workplace justice, immigration law, and housing and public benefits. Ten-week summer legal intern placements are available in the areas of:

·  Workplace Justice: Students working with the workplace justice team will assist low-wage workers with claims for unpaid wages, employment discrimination, retaliation, paid sick leave and other employment-related issues. Students may also work on legal support for workplace justice organizing campaigns and Know Your Rights education materials and workshops.

·  Housing: Students working with the housing team will assist in the representation of tenants and tenant associations in cases involving eviction, harassment, repairs, and overcharge. Students may also work on cases involving access to government benefits, including city, state and federal benefits. Students will also have the opportunity to assist in legal clinics and developing and presenting “Know Your Rights” workshops to community members.

·  Immigration: Students placed with the immigration team may work on a wide range of casework as well as legal research, evidence submission preparation, and writing, for both affirmative applications and removal defense. This includes working with youth and adults, with survivors of violence, and with clients at risk of enforcement such as those with criminal records and prior orders of deportation. Students may also have the opportunity to assist in legal clinics in addition to giving “Know Your Rights” presentations to community members. Students will also have the opportunity to provide legal support to our organizing team and to our rapid response coordinator responding to ICE raids.

MRNY’s Legal Department prioritizes providing legal services and policy support to our Trans Immigrant Project (TrIP). Prior interns have supported TrIP in gender-identity-based removal defense and/or employment discrimination cases, policy research, and community workshops.   

On all teams, under attorney supervision, students' work will include intake interviews, legal research, preparing legal documents (including affidavits, pleadings, motions, briefs and other court filings), communicating with administrative agencies, courts, jails and other attorneys, and assisting with the representation of clients in court and before administrative agencies. Students will also have opportunities to engage in research and policy support for organizing campaigns, and will be expected to work collaboratively with organizers, client-members, and other key staff in the organization.

Students should have Spanish language skills sufficient to conduct an intake interview independently without an interpreter. Fluency in Spanish is strongly preferred. Students for summer placements will be required to commit to work for 10 weeks, 40 hours a week. Students may be eligible to apply for a stipend if certain criteria are met.

MRNY is an equal opportunity employer. Hiring, promotion, compensation, benefits, discipline, termination and all other employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age disability, national origin, citizenship/immigration status, veteran status or any other protected status. Women, people of color, and TGNCIQ-identified people are encouraged to apply. 

Application details: To apply please send a letter of interest and resume as soon as possible to legalinternships@maketheroadny.org. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and until positions are filled.