Closing Date: 28th February, 2025
Description:
The Office of the New York State Attorney General (OAG) is one of the largest public-interest law firms in the country. New York State Attorney General Letitia James, along with her staff of 700+ attorneys, are charged with guarding the legal rights of New York’s 20 million residents, its organizations, and its natural resources, as well as defending actions and proceedings on behalf of the state and advising the Executive branch of state government. To further the spirit of this mission, OAG has placements available during the summer for talented law students who are eligible to receive public interest/public service grants or work-study funded by their law schools.We know that some law schools guarantee summer funding for students seeking public interest/public service placements. We encourage you to confer with your school’s public interest/public service career advisors or financial aid office to learn about available funding for public interest/public service placements with a government agency, such as OAG. OAG also offers paid summer law student placements. (https://ag.ny.gov/job-postings/law-students)
OAG is seeking hardworking and talented law students who have excellent legal research and writing skills; fluency in other languages in addition to English is a plus but is not required. Applicants are encouraged to learn more about OAG bureaus and regional offices prior to submitting their applications by reviewing information that is available on the public website. https://ag.ny.gov/about/about-office)
Summer Program Experience
Summer Program Details
- Placements are available within the following divisions: Criminal Justice, Economic Justice, Executive, Regional Affairs, Social Justice, State Counsel, and Solicitor General.
- Law students work in one of the divisions/bureaus in either Lower Manhattan or Albany, or in one of the 13 smaller regional offices (https://ag.ny.gov/about/about-office#regional-offices). The practice area of a bureau (https://ag.ny.gov/about/about-office) is generally reflected in its name.
- The regional offices are full-service locations handling civil and criminal matters as well as state counsel matters in defense of the state. Selected law students assist attorneys in all phases of their work. By conducting law-related assignments, students will be exposed to a broad range of legal work allowing them to gain valuable public interest legal experience. Assignments may include the following: writing memoranda; drafting pleadings; writing discovery requests or responses; preparing for and attending depositions, hearings, or in-court matters; interviewing clients, witnesses, and experts; assisting with investigations, case negotiations, and conducting general legal research assignments.
- In their assigned bureau/office, students interact regularly with attorneys who are working on innovative and impactful cases. Students benefit from a hands-on learning experience and an exciting and dynamic professional environment.
- A key objective of the program is for law students to finish their placements with a legal writing sample.
- For the upcoming summer program, two placement formats are available: hybrid or remote. Please review the following for information about each format. Format availability varies by bureau and location, please see the posting for details.
- Hybrid Placements: Students report to their designated workstation two or three (2-3) days per week. On the days students work remotely,
- they need a reliable computer, a secure internet connection, a phone, and a sufficiently quiet and private workspace to telework.
- Remote Placements: Students telecommute for the duration of their placements. On the days students work remotely, they need a reliable computer, a secure internet connection, a phone, and a sufficiently quiet and private workspace to telework.
- At the time students receive and accept an offer, they must provide written documentation from their school or funding source confirming their eligibility to receive public service/public interest or work-study funding for their summer placement with OAG. Please be advised that all student funding agreements are subject to review and approval by OAG.
- The summer program will run for eight weeks from May 19 – July 11, 2025. Ten-week placements are available, if required by the applicant's funding source.
- Applications are accepted online until February 28, 2025, and fellowship offers are made on a rolling basis.*
- Law students should only apply to those bureaus and/or regional offices that are of interest to them. OAG honors student location preferences; however, final bureau assignments may be based upon the needs of the office.
- United States (U.S.) citizenship and New York state residency are not required, but applicants must be eligible to be employed in the U.S.