Summer 2025 Legal Internship, Family Defense Practice (1Ls and 2Ls) - Neighborhood Defender Service Inc

Summer 2025 Legal Internship, Family Defense Practice (1Ls and 2Ls)

The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (NDS) is a community-based, client-centered, holistic public defense office located in Harlem, providing the highest quality representation in criminal, civil, immigration and family courts to residents of Northern Manhattan and the Bronx who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. NDS clients are represented by multidisciplinary teams including attorneys, advocates, litigation assistants, and social workers.

NDS is seeking first-year and second-year law students for our family defense summer internship in Manhattan and the Bronx.

The Family Defense Practice at NDS represents parents in family policing cases (sometimes called “child welfare” cases) filed by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) as well as related family court cases, including custody, visitation, and termination of parental rights proceedings.  Through our holistic approach to representation, the Family Defense Practice provides parents with the help they need—both inside and outside of court—to keep their families safe and stable. Parents are represented not only by a high-quality attorney, but also social workers, litigation assistants, and parent advocates.

NDS is committed to advancing due process rights for parents by fighting unwarranted state intervention in their lives and advocating for related systemic change.

Our internship program is hybrid and runs for 10 weeks, typically from the first week of June through the first week of August. Interns will either be placed in our Manhattan or Bronx office, with opportunities to observe both boroughs and work out of our court offices and our Harlem-based office. Legal interns can expect to

- conduct legal research

- write legal motions

- assist in preparing for hearings and trials

- work directly with clients

- and appear on the record pursuant to the student practice order.

We are looking for first-year and second-year law students who will embrace our philosophy of client-centered, community-based, and holistic representation.

Interested students should submit a cover letter and resume to: 

ndsfdpinterns@ndsny.org .

Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
You will be contacted via email if selected for an interview.

Please email ndsfdpinterns@ndsny.org with any questions. Please note we are not able to address questions about practice areas other than family defense.

In addition, the internship requires energy, enthusiasm, a commitment to excellence and an unwavering commitment to clients.

We will be accepting applications on a rolling basis.

For more information about NDS, please visit our website at www.ndsny.org.