Equity and Inclusion in the Judiciary Internship Program

The Program

Established in 1989 by Honorable Harold Baer Jr. and his wife, Dr. Suzanne Baer, the Equity and Inclusion in the Judiciary Internship Program provides a unique opportunity for law students to be introduced to the judicial system during a paid summer internship. The program accepts first and second year law students from the five law schools in New York County, as well as Brooklyn Law School, St. John’s University School of Law, and City University of New York School of Law at Queens College.

Each intern is assigned to a single state or federal judge. Interns are expected to perform legal research, draft memoranda, assist with the preparation of jury instructions, and observe court proceedings. Participating judges are asked to serve as mentors to the interns and ensure that each intern completes at least one comprehensive research and writing assignment. Usually, there will be other law students in chambers; all interns can expect to work with the judge’s law clerk or law secretary.

The eight-week internship of each student is scheduled during the student’s summer vacation at the convenience of the judge. Each intern will be assigned a mentor from NYCLA.

Program Requirements and Compensation

Interns are required to attend an orientation and reception in late spring, during which they will meet their judges. Participation in a writing workshop and three evening meetings is mandatory. Other requirements include volunteering to interview candidates for subsequent programs, serving as junior mentors to subsequent interns, and volunteering at a fundraising event for the program. All selected candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of their interview. At the end of the summer, interns will be asked to complete written evaluations of their experiences.

Interns will receive $500 per week for the eight-week internship. If the intern has funding from any other source, please let us know. The availability of outside funds will not affect their chances of being awarded an internship; however, outside funding may enable NYCLA to offer more internships in the future.

Participating Judges

Judges who have participated in the program include Rolando Acosta, Deborah Batts, Harold Baer, John W. Carter, Cheryl Chambers, Margaret Chan, Denny Chin, Ronald L. Ellis, Nicholas Figueroa, Helen Freedman, Marilyn Go, Priscilla Hall, Debra James, Yvonne Lewis, Richard B. Lowe, III, Jeffrey K. Oing, Eduardo Padro, Robert P. Patterson, Charles Ramos, Anil C. Singh, Sonia Sotomayor, Margarita Lopez Torres, Jack B. Weinstein, William Wetzel, Lottie E. Wilkins, Bonnie Wittner, and James A. Yates. NYCLA matches each intern to a judge; students who wish to intern only in a particular court or for a particular judge should not apply to this program.

Application Requirements

The selection process is conducted by volunteers from NYCLA. Please pay close attention to the Program’s requirements and deadlines – we will not process any application that has not complied with the requirements and deadlines.

To be considered for this program all applicants must submit:

• a current resume
• a one or two page statement of interest,
• a legal writing sample

Please combine your submission into 1 singular PDF following this specific naming format:

Last Name_First Name_Date of Application Submission in MMDDYR format.

For example: Cutts_Azelia_010526.

Students are required to complete the submission form in order to upload their application document as a singular PDF. PLEASE DO NOT MAIL, Fax, or E-Mail your application. Failure to follow application process will result in your application being excluded from evaluation.

Please note, the deadline to submit appplication materials is January 5, 2026. No applications will be accepted after the deadline. Please contact Azelia Cutts, program manager at acutts@nycla.org with any questions.