Student Opportunities

Clerkship

Pacific Legal Foundation’s law clerk program is an unmatched experience in the world of public interest law. You’ll work with a Supreme Court-winning litigation team, tackling legal research and writing in environmental law, private property rights, racial equality, economic liberty, or the separation of powers. You’ll also study the constitutional and philosophical framework of liberty—subjects often overlooked in the law school setting—alongside some of the best-known legal experts in freedom-oriented law. For current clerkship offerings, visit our Career opportunities.

What PLF Clerks Say:

“My biggest takeaway from this summer is exactly what PLF attorneys showed me: that you can work on the biggest cases, argue in front of the Supreme Court, and still retain the humility that’s so important for training the next generation of lawyers like me. If PLF showed me anything, it’s that constitutional impact litigation is the only field where I can be professionally, ideologically, and personally fulfilled. For that, I cannot thank PLF enough.”

- Davis Van Inwegen (2024 Clerk)

“I was clerking when the Tyler Supreme Court case came down. That case proved to me more than any other that I can concretely help individuals in need through this work.”

- Sam Rutzik (2023 Clerk, 2024 Fellow)

“The clerkship solidified for me that I wanted to work in environmental law. It made me want to work somewhere that is precedent-setting. I love the intellectual curiosity at PLF, which I didn’t find elsewhere.”

- Paige Gilliard (2017 Clerk, 2019 Fellow, Attorney since 2021)

Strategic Research Internship

The PLF Strategic Research Internship is an introduction to social science research work within a public-interest law firm. In this roughly 15-week program, interns explore the political economy of the reforms PLF pursues in its key litigation practice areas: property rights, equality and opportunity, and separation of powers. Interns work with attorneys, social science researchers, legal researchers, and legislative and other professionals in the liberty space. This is a perfect internship for entrepreneurial undergraduate or graduate students who are interested in a career defending liberty in the nonprofit sector. For current openings, see PLF’s Career Opportunities page.

Application windows are as follows (applications are accepted on a rolling basis until positions are filled):

Spring: September 1 to October 15
Summer: January 1 to February 15
Fall: May 1 to June 15

Legal Policy and Constitutional Scholarship Internship

The PLF Legal Policy and Constitutional Scholarship Internship is an introduction to government outreach and legal research work within a public-interest law firm. In this roughly 15-week program, interns advance state and federal legislative and executive reforms to expand individual liberty, and they research nascent legal theories for use in the key PLF litigation practice areas: property rights, equality and opportunity, and separation of powers. Interns work with attorneys, social science researchers, legal researchers, and legislative and other professionals in the liberty space. This is a perfect internship for entrepreneurial undergraduate or graduate students who are interested in a career defending liberty in the nonprofit sector. For current openings, see PLF’s Career Opportunities page.

Application windows are as follows (applications are accepted on a rolling basis until positions are filled):

Spring: September 1 to October 15
Summer: January 1 to February 15
Fall: May 1 to June 15

Berkeley Seminar & Field Placement at Berkeley Law School

PLF’s educational program at Berkeley Law School launched in August 2018, offering a unique opportunity to reach students at one of the country’s most prestigious law schools—where students are not typically exposed to discussions about the importance of individual liberty.

The seminar, taught by PLF Executive Vice President and General Counsel John M. Groen, focuses on strategic constitutional litigation and the history of key legal principles, such as the regulatory takings doctrine, that uniquely affect property rights and economic liberty. It emphasizes the teaching of substantive areas of law through focusing on PLF cases, particularly those at the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the field placement, students join an active PLF litigation team to gain firsthand experience in pro-liberty public interest law.

The Berkeley seminar and field placement takes pro-liberty public interest litigation out of its silo and introduces it to the next generation of attorneys, who may or may not share our views before taking the course.