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.

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.

We are partnering with Stand Together and The Koch Internship Program (KIP). Learn more about the Summer internship and apply here.

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.

We are partnering with Stand Together and The Koch Internship Program (KIP). Learn more about the Summer internship and apply here.

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.