National Resources Defense Council Internship in New York City

NRDC is a leading nonprofit membership organization that has been marshaling science and the law to protect the environment and public health since 1970.  Our more than 1.3 million members and activists reside in each of the United States and in the District of Columbia.  NRDC employs over 350 scientists, lawyers, economists, media specialists, policy analysts, and administrators in its six offices, including a new office in China.  Within each of the organization’s program areas – air, water, coastal, oceans, public health, climate change, energy, public land, smart growth, international, urban, environmental justice, and nuclear non-proliferation – NRDC’s experts pursue cutting-edge litigation, sophisticated lobbying, hard-hitting scientific research, and broad-reaching public education.  Over the past 40 years, NRDC has played a central role in crafting, implementing, enforcing, and defending virtually all of the nation’s environmental laws. LANDMARK NRDC VICTORIES litigation that led to the phasing-out of lead in U.S. gasoline; litigation settlement with the Port of Los Angeles for massive reductions in harmful air pollution; a court order overturning the Department of Energy’s attempt to avoid cleaning up high-level radioactive waste; groundbreaking civil action against the nation’s biggest air polluters for contributing to climate change; stopping Mitsubishi from building a salt mine surrounding the last pristine breeding ground of the Gray Whale; participating in creating far reaching new energy efficiency standards in China; and winning the implementation of new federal rules to dramatically reduce harmful air pollution from diesel engines. SUMMER LEGAL INTERN EXPERIENCE AT NRDC NRDC’s summer legal interns help write briefs, draft complaints, prepare legal analyses, obtain affidavits, investigate corporate and government malfeasance, participate in policy advocacy campaigns, and draft white papers and comments for submission to Congressional committees and administrative agencies.  NRDC hires passionate students who possess the intelligence, skill, self-confidence, and maturity to take on enormous responsibility.  In exchange for their hard work, our interns receive an active role on the frontlines of the environmental movement.  Over the course of a summer, an NRDC intern will typically work on a variety of projects and amass experience that he/she could not obtain anywhere else. WHAT DO PAST INTERNS SAY ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE AT NRDC? “It was an honor to work at NRDC, which is truly the best place to be if you are interested in environmental law. I felt like a part of the team and worked with unbelievably smart attorneys on litigation and research related to several different program areas. I was truly sad to leave at the end of my internship.”  - Julia Brown, a 2L at New York University Law School (Summer 2010) “I have greatly appreciated being a part of the NRDC team this summer! The assignments I was given truly afforded me the opportunity to learn and grow as a legal professional.  NRDC is working at the vanguard of environmental protection, and it was inspiring to work side by side with such an exceptional staff.” - Christopher Grubb, a 2L at Chicago-Kent College of Law (Summer 2010)

Requirements:

HOW TO APPLY: All applications for 2011 Summer Legal Internships can now be submitted on-line at www.nrdc.org/jobs.  You will need to electronically submit a cover letter, transcript, resume, references, and a legal writing sample that does not reflect edits by anyone other than you.  In your cover letter, please indicate all of the NRDC offices to which you are applying.  Internships are available in the following offices:  New York, NY; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco, CA; Santa Monica, CA; and Chicago, IL. Applications are due November 15, 2010 (2L’s) and January 15, 2011 (1L’s).