Summer Honors Internship Program

The Law Department selects approximately 50 Summer Honors Program interns from over 2,500 applications submitted each year. The Law Department is perhaps the only public sector/public interest employer in the country to make offers of permanent employment to its second-year summer interns based on their performance during the summer. In the past few years, about half of our entry class attorney positions have been filled with former participants of our Summer Honors Internship Program. The 2025 Summer Honors Interns will receive a $750 weekly stipend during the nine-week program.  Free summer housing is available to out-of-town summer interns, concurrent with the summer program.  

The Law Department’s varied divisions offer summer interns hands-on practical experience. Summer interns regularly draft motion papers and briefs that are filed in court. Interns in our Tort Division take or defend depositions and take part in pre-trial court proceedings. Interns in the Special Federal Litigation Division are assigned to work on a trial with a trial team over the course of the summer. Interns in the Family Court Division regularly interview victims and witnesses and appear in court. Read more about our Program in our Frequently Asked Questions.  In addition, you can reach out to Law Department attorneys who have volunteered to be contacted by applicants interested in learning more about our work on our Law Department Ambassadors page.  Any other questions can be directed to the Law Department's Legal Recruitment Office.

The majority of second year summer interns work in one of our litigating divisions. These divisions include, in order of numbers of placements each year, our Tort, Labor and Employment, Special Federal Litigation, Family Court, Administrative Law and Regulatory Litigation, General Litigation, Commercial and Real Estate Litigation, and Workers’ Compensation Divisions.  On occasion, we have placed an individual in our Affirmative Litigation, Appeals, Environmental Law, Legal Counsel, and Tax and Bankruptcy Litigation Divisions.  Generally, we do not place second year summer interns in our transactional divisions, which include our Economic Development, Contracts and Real Estate, and Municipal Finance Divisions.  First year summer interns may be placed in any of the Law Department’s 18 legal divisions. For more details about what interns do, please refer to descriptions of the Law Department’s individual legal divisions. 

What We Look For
The Law Department looks for candidates who are committed to public service, pursuing justice and serving the common good.  To best serve the City we represent, the Law Department seeks individuals from a variety of backgrounds who can bring different perspectives to contribute to the work of the office.  The Law Department also seeks candidates who want to contribute to a work environment that values teamwork, inclusion and respect.  Finally, for second year summer intern candidates, as many of our second year interns work in litigating divisions, the Law Department seeks candidates who have experience in moot court, trial advocacy, debate, public speaking, or litigation/mediation clinics or internships.


Application Process

We are now accepting applications for our 2025 Summer Honors Program from second-year law students.  Law students in their first year of law school may apply after December 1, 2024.  Applications should include a cover letter, resume, two writing samples, unofficial transcript, and a list of three individuals who would serve as references (including their name, title, email address, phone number and a brief description of their working relationship to the candidate).  We encourage candidates to include in their cover letter the names of divisions that they are most interested in.  Before submitting an application, we also encourage candidates to review our application guidelines.  

Applications can be addressed to:

Director of Legal Recruitment
New York City Law Department
100 Church Street
New York, NY 10007

Any questions about the position may be sent to recruitment@law.nyc.gov.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.