PEER Internship Program
About us
PEER is a national nonprofit that fills the unique niche of serving the public employees who protect our environment. We work with government agency employees to address environmental wrongs while protecting their identities, and we also provide free legal help for those who suffer retaliation from their supervisors after blowing the whistle themselves. We advocate for strong scientific integrity policies and procedures, and have an array of ongoing policy and public education campaigns. PEER is headquartered in the Washington DC metro area (Silver Spring, MD is on the Metro’s Red Line, a few stops from downtown), with several field offices across the country.
The Internship
As an intern at PEER’s headquarters, you will assist our legal team and field staff in research, investigations, and litigation, working on tasks that could range from complaint drafting to discovery to submitting FOIA requests or even trial prep. Our cases often involve federal legislation such as the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, and the Freedom of Information Act. Externs will conduct initial intake interviews with public employees who contact PEER, and they will conduct legal research to explore any potential environmental law and ethics violations that these callers raise. We involve our interns in every aspect of our practice, including a seat at the table for legal and media strategy planning, contributions to our blog and public facing materials, and preparing materials used in meeting with government and elected officials.
PEER believes interns should gain valuable experience, enhancing their résumé while preparing them for their future careers as attorneys. We strive to provide each intern with appropriate supervision and input, a variety of skill-building tasks, and significant research and writing projects.
Our summer internships are full time (40 hours/week) and can last from 8-12 weeks; start and end dates are flexible.
Spring and fall semester internships should be 24 hours per week but may be more or less as circumstances permit.
Interns may work in-person or remote as needed.
How to Apply
You should submit applications for internships to take place in the summer after your 1L or 2L year or during the spring or fall semesters of your 2L or 3L years. We are always seeking candidates with proven interest in environmental and/or civil service law and top-notch research, writing, and communication skills.
We accept applications on a rolling basis. To apply, please email your resume and a cover letter describing your background, interest in the role, and any other information you would like us to know that for whatever reason doesn’t fit in your resume. You may also optionally provide an unofficial transcript, writing sample, or any other materials you wish to include to legal@peer.org, with the subject line “Internship Application” and indicate whether you are applying for summer, spring, fall, or if you have no preference, and the relevant year.
If you choose to submit a writing sample excerpted excerpt from a longer work, please include a writing sample cover sheet with a brief note orienting the reader to your analysis.
