You: An inquisitive, creative, and self-motivated college junior, senior, grad student or recent graduate who knows the principles of liberty and seeks to advance them. You have strong written and oral communication skills and enjoy problem solving.  

Them: Bureaucrats, city councils, mayors, governors, and federal agencies stripping Americans of their rights every day. There’s a lot of government overreach out there, and it’s backed by seemingly endless resources. But fortunately, like all lumbering giants, abusive government is most vulnerable when countered by individuals who act strategically and nimbly, take calculated risks, have each other’s backs, and are confident in and passionate for the cause—the very sort of swashbucklers we employ in spades here at PLF.   

Us: We fight back. Pacific Legal Foundation is the nation’s first and most successful public interest law firm dedicated to vindicating individual liberty. PLF has an unmatched record in the United States Supreme Court, with 17 victories out of 19 cases heard by the Court. We also have more than a hundred active cases across the nation.   

We are a next-generation public interest law firm. What does “next generation” mean for a legal nonprofit? It means we aren’t interested in doing the same thing as everyone else. We aspire to be the best player in a constantly changing game.   

The Research & Policy Internship has two potential paths: 

Legal Policy & Research 

The Legal Policy & Research Intern will work with two teams. The Legal Policy team helps develop and execute strategies to secure state and federal legislative and executive reforms to expand individual liberty and reform the unconstitutional regulatory agencies. The Constitutional Scholarship team incubates legal theories for the three PLF practice groups, Equality & Opportunity, Property Rights, and the Separation of Powers. This internship provides an opportunity for a wide variety of experiences, including:

• Reading and summarizing important legislation.  
• Developing briefing materials for use in meetings with executive and legislative branch officials.  
• Conducting policy research for reform efforts at the state or federal level.  
• Conducting other research for op-eds, research reports, and other projects on equality and opportunity issues, property rights, and the separation of powers.  
• Helping the legal research team to prepare for and facilitate legal symposiums and roundtables. 

Strategic Research 

The Strategic Research Intern will be a part of our Strategic Research team. Our research team produces high-quality social science research to support PLF’s mission-driven goals. We coordinate with our litigation, legal policy, legal research, and communications teams.  

This internship provides an opportunity for a wide variety of experiences, including: 

• Communicating with public officials to obtain public records.  
• Collecting, organizing, and analyzing data using Microsoft Excel, R, Python, GIS, and/or STATA. 
• Conducting literature reviews on such topics as regulatory reform, housing supply, property rights, coastal land rights, and more. 
• Developing internal data and literature memos for litigation, communications, or legal policy campaigns. 
• Writing blog posts, op-eds, or one pagers on topics relevant to PLF’s work. 

GENERAL INFORMATION 

Pacific Legal Foundation identifies and litigates important legal issues to set landmark precedents that benefit Americans nationwide. Using strategic and principled litigation, communications, and research, we battle for freedom in the nation’s courts and the court of public opinion. 

As a national nonprofit organization, PLF has brick-and-mortar offices in Sacramento, California; Arlington, Virginia; and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, although approximately half of the staff work from home offices across the country. You can work physically in any of our offices or request to work virtually. However, to maximize the internship experience, we prefer candidates who can work in the Arlington office. Applicants are accepted on a rolling basis. Please submit your application by May 15, 2024. 

Interns are expected to be available 25-30 hours per week. 

TO APPLY: 

If you think you might be a good fit, submit the following application materials: 

• Your resume, including your experience in the liberty movement and relevant professional experience. 
• A cover letter explaining why PLF is the place for you, why you want to fight for liberty, and what distinguishes you from typical applicants. 
• Writing Sample 
• Semester schedule (if taking classes during the internship period) 

This position awards an educational stipend in two installments throughout the duration of the internship.