ABA Center for Human Rights – Summer 2024 Unpaid Legal Intern

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The American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights is the ABA’s focal entity for critical human rights concerns in the United States and around the world. The ABA Center for Human Rights (the Center) works to promote and protect human rights worldwide by mobilizing lawyers to help threatened advocates and vulnerable communities; rallying leading experts on vital issues; and holding abusive governments accountable under law.

The Center is seeking legal interns to work closely with our legal advisors, human rights groups, and pro bono attorneys to provide legal assistance to human rights defenders who are the subject of harassment in retaliation for their advocacy efforts. If assigned to the Labor Rights Initiative, the intern will support the work of the Center on labor rights and corporate accountability. More information on the work on the protection of human rights defenders as well as labor rights and corporate accountability can be found here. The intern will gain invaluable insight into international human rights law and advocacy.

Legal Interns will gain valuable experience while contributing to the important work of the ABA. The internship program is structured for the primary benefit of the intern and provides the intern with meaningful training/experience and educational benefits.

Depending on the needs of the Center at the time and the interest and experience of the intern/extern, the student may be assigned to any of the following projects and teams. Please indicate your regional and/or project preference in your cover letter.

Justice Defenders Program: Mobilizing the global legal community to support human rights defenders around the world who face retaliation for their work. Intern/extern would be assigned to one of five regional teams (Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, South and Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa) or to our labor rights portfolio.
TrialWatch Program: Monitoring criminal trials in cases in which there appears to be a significant risk of fair trial violations, with a focus on trials brought against journalists, political opposition members, human rights defenders, and members of marginalized communities. Intern/extern would support the Legal Advisor of the Program.

This may be a fully remote, virtual internship or a hybrid/in-person opportunity, depending upon ABA policy at the start of the internship regarding in-person work, the intern’s location, and the intern’s comfort level with in-person work. If you will not be seeking school credit and are located in California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, Virginia, or Wisconsin, please refer to Center for Human Rights paid internship posting.

The intern is expected to begin in early June 2024 for a 10-to-16-week internship period. Intern/extern is expected to commit a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 37.5 hours per week to this part-time opportunity. Application deadline is March 31, 2024.

Interns should expect to do several of the following tasks:

Conduct legal research and draft memos, petitions, and reports
Conduct supplemental fact-finding and assist during interviews
Attend press conferences, briefings, meetings with partner organizations, and/or other webinars
Draft editorials and blogs on key human rights issues
Monitor ongoing human rights abuses internationally via human rights listservs and other news sources

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities

Work closely with attorneys, providing legal assistance and general support to help further the mission and goals of the ABA.
Accepts and completes assigned projects during the term of the internship.

Eligibility Criteria

Currently enrolled in a JD or LLM program at an ABA certified, U.S.-based institution, or a recent (less than one year) graduate of a JD or LLM program from an ABA certified, U.S.-based institution. Or, a graduate of a certified law program, currently enrolled in a non-legal graduate program.
Must be 18 years of age or older, authorized to work in the United States.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to multitask.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Additional Desired Criteria

Excellent oral and written communication skills in a second language is preferred. Knowledge of Arabic, French, Spanish, or Russian is a plus.
Demonstrated commitment to public interest and knowledge of international law.
Prior experience working on issues of human rights and/or human rights defenders in one or more of our five region and/or thematic programs.