The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is responsible for administering the United States Government's economic and humanitarian foreign assistance program. The Office of the General Counsel, which provides legal advice and guidance for all of the agency's operations worldwide, has legal internship positions for J.D. candidates who have completed at least one year of law school and, occasionally, for students seeking law degrees subsequent to receiving their J.D.

Legal interns work with the Assistant General Counsel and his or her staff lawyers in one or more of the following ten divisions of the General Counsel's Office:

Acquisition and Assistance; Africa; Asia/Afghanistan and Pakistan; Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance/Food Security; Ethics and Administration; Europe and Eurasia/Latin America and the Caribbean/Middle East; Global Development Lab/Economic Growth, Education and Environment; Global Health; Legislation and Policy; and Litigation and Enforcement.

The work normally assigned to an intern in most of the office divisions consists primarily of legal research, the writing of memoranda and the drafting and review of legal documents. USAID legal interns are regularly included in the bi-weekly meetings of the entire legal staff, during which current issues relating to USAID in general, and to specific foreign assistance programs in particular, are presented and discussed.

The normal internship period is approximately three to four months and corresponds roughly to the fall, spring or summer semester of the standard academic year. During the summer an intern should be able to work full-time (40 hours per week) for a minimum of 10 weeks, and a minimum of 15 hours per week during the fall or spring. Specific work hours can be determined between the intern and the particular division(s) to which he or she is assigned.

Although USAID cannot offer compensation for legal internship work, many legal interns arrange with their law schools for credit and/or financial assistance for the time they spend at the agency.

Those interested in a legal internship position at USAID should send a resume to Mark Fittipaldi either by e-mail (mfittipaldi@usaid.gov) or at the following address:

U.S. Agency for International Development
Office of the General Counsel
Room 6.6.91
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20523-6601

Applicants should also indicate the approximate dates when they would be available. All legal interns must be United States citizens and have a security clearance. Since the security clearance process can take as long as three months, resumes should be received by our office at least this far in advance of the time desired for beginning an internship.

For additional information please contact Mark Fittipaldi at mfittipaldi@usaid.gov.