Summer 2027 Law Clerkships

Earthjustice Summer 2027 Law Clerkships Opportunities 

The application window for the Summer 2027 Law Clerkships will close Labor Day, September 7, 2026.

About Us

Founded in 1971, Earthjustice has a distinguished track record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections. We achieve this by hiring people who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; preserve magnificent places and wildlife; advance clean energy; and combat climate change. We partner with thousands of groups and supporters to take on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the country and have a distinguished track record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

Earthjustice’s work is currently divided into three major areas:

• Lands, Wildlife, and Oceans focuses on cases that protect endangered species, national forests, national parks, other public lands, water resources, and the oceans.
• Healthy Communities focuses on cases that protect public health, prevent air and water pollution, and curb exposures to toxic chemicals, particularly in disproportionately impacted communities. Recently, our healthy communities work has also begun to promote sustainable food and agriculture and the rights of farm workers.
• Climate and Energy focuses on cases that encourage the swift and just transition to clean energy while challenging the reliance on coal, oil, and other dirty fuels.

We welcome all interested law students from across the country to apply for a summer law clerk position. We expect that students will work proximate to or in an office where the program is located. In some limited instances, an office may hire clerks to work in an area that is outside that team’s geographic area, but still proximate to an Earthjustice office.

Please note the location preferences of each litigation team in their descriptions below.

Responsibilities

Summer law clerks will have the opportunity to work with several attorneys on case development and litigation strategy. Students may draft pleadings and briefs, do legal research, develop strategy and legal theories, gather evidence, and attend client meetings and court proceedings. Earthjustice’s summer law clerk program also includes various programmatic offerings, such as in-person and virtual seminars with attorneys and guest speakers on current environmental issues, interactions with other local and regional environmental groups, and a job interview workshop.

Compensation

Earthjustice summer law clerkships are paid positions. The total stipend amount will be dependent on any external funding a student secures, such as through their law school’s summer funding program. Earthjustice will provide a one-time stipend at the start of the clerkship in the amount of $1,382.00 per week, minus the total amount received from any other sources and applicable taxes. The summer law clerkship is designed to be 10 weeks long at full-time hours (37.5 hours/week).

You are welcome to pursue outside funding. The ability to secure outside funding will not be considered as part of the hiring process.

How to Apply

Eligibility: Candidates must be enrolled in a U.S. law school through fall 2027 (i.e., not graduating before December 2027) and be available to commit to 10 weeks during summer 2027. Summer law clerks must work from the U.S. during their clerkship.

Each Earthjustice litigation team participates in clerk hiring; candidates may submit applications to whichever and however many litigation teams they are interested. Please be prepared to respond to our September follow-up e-mail, requesting your ranked choice of the teams for which you have applied. Do not include such rankings within your Jobvite application.

Earthjustice Summer 2027 Law Clerk Litigation Teams

Alaska Regional Office
Anchorage and Juneau

Biodiversity Defense Program
Bozeman, MT; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Remote possible

California Regional Office
Los Angeles or San Francisco

Clean Energy Program
Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco, CA; Washington, D.C.

Community Partnerships Program
Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Washington, D.C.

Enforcement
Washington, D.C.

Florida Regional Office
Miami, Tallahassee, Remote possible

Fossil Fuels Program
Chicago, IL; New Orleans, LA

Gulf Regional Office
Houston, TX; New Orleans, LA

Healthy Communities Program
New York, NY

International Program
San Francisco, CA

Mid-Pacific Regional Office
Honolulu, HI

Midwest Regional Office
Chicago, IL

Northeast Regional Office
New York, NY

Northern Rockies Regional Office
Bozeman, MT

Northwest Regional Office
Seattle, WA

Oceans Program
Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA

Office of General Counsel
San Francisco, CA; or Washington, D.C.

Puerto Rico Team
Miami, FL; Puerto Rico; Remote possible

Rocky Mountain Regional Office
Denver, CO

Strategic Legal Advocacy Team
Washington, D.C.

Sustainable Food and Farming Program
New York, NY or Washington, D.C.

Toxic Exposure and Health Program
New York, NY or Washington, D.C.

Tribal Partnerships Program
Any Earthjustice Office

Washington, D.C. Regional Office
Washington, D.C.