Law Student Internships
Details and Requirements
Standard Law Student Internship
The Patti and Paul Yetter Center for Law places current first year and second year law students in a limited number of summer unpaid internship positions with judges, public interest attorneys, or government entities. Internships are for a six-week period during the summer. Interns participate in the internships approximately 40 hours per week. Participation in the internships is voluntary, for the intern's educational benefits, and for no wages. To the extent funding is available, the Center may award a one-time stipend of $2,500 for each successfully completed internship in order to assist students in offsetting some of the expenses incurred while participating in the internships. Students will be notified of funding availability at the time they are selected for an internship. If funding is not available, interns will be encouraged to seek funding through alternative sources. Interns are also encouraged to check with their law school for possible funding or externship credit.
Patti and Paul Yetter Law Student Internships
Patti and Paul Yetter Summer Internships
Each summer, four Patti and Paul Yetter competitive internships will be offered. These internships are funded by a generous gift from Patti and Paul Yetter, who have been strong supporters of Center programs for several years. Recipients of these internships will work at public or nonprofit law offices or courts, and will be designated Yetter Interns.
Two Yetter Interns will work at least 240 hours during the summer at the selected office or court and assist with the four-week research and writing portion of the LSPI Summer College Program. Each Yetter Intern will be awarded a $4,500 stipend. Yetter Interns are selected from the general pool of internship applicants based on quality of academic record, writing skill, and professional promise.
Two Yetter Intern/Instructor positions will be offered. In addition to the requirements of the Yetter Internships noted above, Intern/Instructor selectees will have teaching duties in the three-week summer High School Law Camp. Each Yetter Intern/Instructor will be awarded a stipend of $4,000. Yetter Interns/Instructors are selected from the general pool of internship applicants based on quality of academic record, teaching skill, and professional promise.
Selection Criteria
To be considered for the summer internship program, current first and second year law students at ABA-accredited law schools must submit a completed application. Additionally, internship applicants must be in good academic standing in law school. Selection will be based on all materials in the application, taking into account placement office needs, number of positions available, and budget constraints. Priority will be given to LSPI graduates. Placement will be determined by the Center for Law in consultation with the internship supervisors.
Because we recognize that demand for internship positions locally exceeds the number of stipend positions available, the Center will make additional efforts on behalf of unplaced LSPI graduates to match qualified first and second year law students with local placement offices. Although the Center cannot guarantee any position, we encourage applicants to indicate on the application their willingness to accept the internship position regardless of the availability of stipends.
We encourage applicants to seek funding through other sources and/or externship credit through their law school. In the past, students have secured fellowships or stipends through their law schools and the Center for Law has helped place them in local internships to qualify for such funding. We have also connected students with placements that have been able to fulfill law school externship requirements for law school credit, which helps reduce course loads during the academic year in addition to providing valuable hands-on legal internship experience.
For additional information contact the Patti and Paul Yetter Center for Law at 915-747-8866 or e-mail the Center.
Program Applications:
Currently, we are not accepting applications.
Contact Info:
Contact: Dr. Rachel Serrano
Email: rserrano5@utep.edu