Description
About SCSJ:
Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2007. Our mission is to partner with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities across the South to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights. Through an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach centered on voting rights, justice system reform, and environmental justice, we combine legal advocacy, litigation, research, and strategic communications to expand access to justice for all.
For more information about our work and our unique community lawyering approach, visit our website at www.scsj.org.
Environmental Justice's Vision and Framework:
SCSJ’s Environmental Justice program supports communities — especially low-income communities and communities of color — as they fight pollution, harmful development, and the impacts of climate change. Using a community-based lawyering approach, we provide long-term legal, research, and advocacy support that helps communities lead the fight for their health, environment, and future.
Justice System Reform's Vision and Framework:
SCSJ’s Justice System Reform Program advances social, economic, and racial justice by centering the voices and experiences of those most harmed by our deeply flawed, inherently racist, and overly punitive criminal legal system. We work to end mass incarceration and the death penalty, improve public safety, challenge systemic racism, eliminate collateral consequences, and hold those in power accountable when they abuse their authority. Because no single solution can fix the system, we use a wide range of tools — litigation, advocacy, research, policy work, and communications — and collaborate with others to push for real, lasting change.
Voting Right’s Vision and Framework:
SCSJ’s Voting Rights program works alongside communities across the South to help shape the legal principles on gerrymandering, vote dilution, and voter suppression, with the overall goal of protecting fair election systems for all. Our work focuses on historically disenfranchised and underrepresented communities by helping them advocate for fair policies, procedures, and voting districts to provide them an equal opportunity to have their voices heard and votes counted. With stronger civic education and responsive representation, these communities gain better access to the resources and services they need to dismantle structural racism and oppression and build a more inclusive democracy.
Position Summary:
SCSJ seeks legal interns in their second year of law school to assist each of its three program areas — environmental justice, justice system reform, and voting rights — during the summer of 2026. Interns will assist with all facets of SCSJ's advocacy, including, but not limited to, legal research and writing to support active state and federal litigation; policy research and development; outreach to community partners; investigative tasks; and otherwise working closely with the program area team for which they are selected. SCSJ seeks candidates who are: committed to racial, social, and economic justice; interested in advancing these ideals across the South through creative advocacy; and committed to learning and practicing a community lawyering model. Interns will work closely with all aspects of SCSJ’s cross-disciplinary team, including its lawyers, data analysts, and communications team.
Intern Responsibilities Include:
- Assuming supportive responsibilities in SCSJ cases at all stages of litigation, including fact development, legal research, assisting with drafting and editing of filings, preparing for depositions and court hearings, and coordinating with SCSJ clients.
- Researching and drafting memos, motions, and briefs on various topics within our program areas.
- Committing to and helping implement community lawyering strategies, including coordinating with SCSJ partners to meet community needs and advance goals, attending and helping facilitate community forums, training, individual outreach, and other duties as needed.
- Other projects as assigned, in keeping with a fast-paced and creative organizational strategy.
Duration and Start Date:
SCSJ seeks interns who can commit to working 40 hours per week for 10 weeks during the summer of 2026.
Compensation:
SCSJ is willing to work with applicants to secure funding for the internship from your law school or encourages students seeking externship credit hours to apply. If your law school does not provide funding, SCSJ is committed to ensuring you are compensated. We strongly encourage applicants to apply regardless of funding status.
Location:
SCSJ’s physical office is in Durham, North Carolina. SCSJ is a hybrid work environment; staff are expected to work in our Durham office every Wednesday plus an additional day of their team’s choosing with remote flexibility on the other three days of the week.
Diversity and Inclusion Statement:
SCSJ is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all persons without regard to race, color, creed, sex, religion, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, personal appearance, marital or family status, citizenship, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, natural hair styles, or other status as protected by State and Federal laws. It is our intention to promote the full realization of equality in opportunity and employment.
A Note to Historically Marginalized Job Candidates:
Research has shown women, nonbinary individuals, people of color and other historically marginalized individuals often refrain from applying for positions unless they believe they fulfill each and every requirement outlined in a job description. However, it's crucial to recognize that meeting every criterion is seldom a reality for any applicant. Our commitment lies in cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment and prioritizing finding the most suitable candidate for the role — whowe knowmay emerge fromaless conventional background. We wholeheartedly urge you to submit your application, even if you feel you don't perfectly align with every specification outlined.
To Apply:
Candidates must upload a cover letter, resume, two references, and writing sample here as one PDF file. Candidates should label files with their last name, first name, and the program area to which they are applying (e.g., VR Summer 2026, JSR Summer 2026, EJ Summer 2026).
Applications for 2Ls will be open until October 31, 2025, with interviews and offers to be completed around Thanksgiving.
Requirements
Required Qualifications:
- Currently in your second year of law school.
- Commitment to the communities in which we work. SCSJ advocates alongside and on behalf of communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities throughout the South. SCSJ prioritizes recruiting team members who share a commitment to advancing racial, social, and economic justice in the South and a commitment to following the lead of community members in doing so.
- Commitment to social justice principles and SCSJ's community-lawyering model of practice. The needs of our clients, partners, and communities will always shape the goals of our litigation and advocacy. We seek to bring the community into the courtroom and ensure our communities’ stories and priorities drive our work.
- No direct experience in any of our three areas of practice required. We don't expect you to be an expert in environmental justice, justice system reform, or voting rights cases, or to have prior experience working on litigation or policy. While these experiences can be helpful and we welcome applications from those with such experience, we also strongly encourage applicants who do not have experience to apply for an internship if interested.
- Ability to be a team player. SCSJ strives to support its interns as valued members of our team while recognizing the level of experience interns bring to the work. We will not expect you to have the correct answer immediately, and we strongly encourage you to ask questions about how to do things. The only non-negotiable factors relating to work product are effort and communication. If you work hard and communicate when you need help, you can succeed at SCSJ.
- Excellent legal research skills. SCSJ interns use legal databases for case law, statutory, and administrative rule research. SCSJ interns also supplement that work with internet searches, phone calls, and records requests to do fact research. We encourage you to be curious and motivated to learn how to develop cases of community-focused advocacy, including (but not limited to) litigation.
- Excellent legal writing skills. SCSJ interns help research, draft, and edit legal filings in state and federal court, administrative record submissions, demand letters, and public-facing reports. We involve our interns in all of our advocacy. We will also make sure interns have an opportunity to develop at least one writing sample during the course of the internship.
- Pursuing a career in the public interest, broadly defined. SCSJ prioritizes hiring interns interested in developing careers as public interest lawyers. We encourage applicants to use their applications to tell us how they want to develop as advocates and how SCSJ can help them reach their goals. SCSJ will prioritize applicants who can show how they want to use skills acquired in their internship to advance racial, social, and economic justice.
We are looking for committed applicants who want to learn. We recognize there are lots of different people with different experiences and different goals who fit that description. If that’s you, we strongly encourage you to apply.
Preferred Experience:
- Familiarity or experience working on issues related to environmental justice, criminal legal reform, or voting rights.
- Experience supporting grassroots or issue-advocacy campaigns on matters of social justice, such as work on racial justice and LGBTQIA rights.
- Experience with policy or legal advocacy.
- Prior legal service, communications, organizing, or campaign experience.
