How to Search for Pre-Law Internships and Experiences

Searching for Law-Related Internships/Experiential Learning

Legal or law-related internships are VERY difficult to find. Many students must resort to looking for shadow or volunteer opportunities with law firms or legal entities. Reminder: a background in legal or law-related experience is not necessary for law school applications and will not give a student an advantage.

How to find legal/law-related experience:

• Start with personal network.
    a. Do you know anyone in the legal field that would be willing to let you shadow them or volunteer in their firm?
  Utilize LinkedIn to find alumni from both University of Pittsburgh undergraduate and Pitt Law currently practicing in the field.
    a. Use the alumni search tool under the “University of Pittsburgh” school page or the “University of Pittsburgh School of Law” page.
    b. Alumni tend to be much more willing to help out students from their undergraduate institution.
• Google is your friend.
    a. If you want to gain exposure to immigration law, then Google “immigration attorneys” or “immigration law firms in x” city.
    b. Cold call these firms or attorneys and ask if they would be willing to have a student shadow or volunteer within their firm to gain exposure.
• Use internship search websites.
    a. While there are not many formal internships in the legal field, students have been able to find some.
    b. Popular sites include:
           i. Handshake
          ii. Internships.com
          iii. Idealist.org
          iv. Indeed.com
• Consider looking for part-time jobs.
    a. Many part-time jobs in law firms require a high school diploma, so students will apply to these rather than doing an internships or volunteer  opportunity.
    b. Make some money while also gaining valuable exposure to the law firm setting even if it is just answering phones or filing.
• Go to the courthouse and observe public cases.
    a. Civil and some family court cases are open to the public. Go to the courthouse and sit in on some of these cases to see what it’s like to experience the field from a courtroom (even if you have no interest in that area of law).
    b. You may get noticed by attorneys or judges in the courtroom and have an opportunity to speak to them.