Legal Studies students are encouraged (but not required) to complete an internship, and many options are available.

                  This site start with "why?" then "what?" ending with the vital "how?"

Why an internship?

One of the best ways to come to an understanding of what you want to do is to get a taste of doing it!  Thinking of working with a nonprofit? With a law firm? In politics? Spending a portion of your college years in the offices of those outfits allows students to make connections (possible opportunities down the line), get experience (great on a resume and possibly for letters of recommendation) and simply to clarify one's own thinking in terms of what you want to do after college and study while in college.

What does an internship entail?

These opportunities are variable, and you should find what is right for you.  

  • Shadowing: The smallest experience would be asking a lawyer or nonprofit if you can "shadow" someone who works there for simply a day or two.  This simply gives you more of a feel for the work.  Contact the program coordinator about setting up such a possibility.
  • Internships Not for Credit: most of the benefit of internships is in the experience, the connections, and the line on the resume for the future.  For some students, that is all you might want, in which case you can intern without the IC course credit and all the forms that entails.  This includes one of the best options for internships:
  • Summer internships: connections matter in the real world, and internships foster connections.  When home in the summers, this is a great opportunity for you to make contacts in a place you may want to work after college.  Since for-credit internships in the summer would require the payment of tuition dollars for those credits, most students opt to have these internship experiences be non-credit-bearing.
  • Internships for credit: IC has standards and procedures for placing students in internships and those rules, plus the forms that constitute a contract between interns, the local group sponsoring the internships, and the faculty advisors for the internships are here.  These can vary in credit hours and therefore in hours students are required to intern.

What internships are available to Legal Studies Students?

Local internships:  IC's career services office can help students find an internship that fits their interests, either in Ithaca or elsewhere.  We also encourage students to seek out options that we may not know about. Tompkins County is rich with non-profits and grassroots organization that have policy and law portfolios; your hometowns are likewise rich with possibilities for summer internship work.  

Some contacts that the LGST program is fostering with the Ithaca Community include:

  • Lama Law Firm
  • Crossmore and Tiffany Law Office 
  • The Tompkins County Attorney's Office, 
  • The Ithaca City Attorney, 
  • The Advocacy Center,  
  • Offender Aid and Restoration (working with those impacted by the criminal justice system), 
  • The Village at Ithaca  (advocates for educational opportunities for under served student populations),
  • The Tompkins County Human Rights Center, 
  • The Ithaca Office of NY Assembly District 125 (Anne Kelles)
  • and we are working to connect to more!  

Internships at the Ithaca College London Center:  The Center encourages students to apply for internships, and helps student find options that may be of interest to them.  This can include positions in The British Parliament, London law firms, and various non-profits involved with legal advocacy.

Summer Internships: these might be even more effective for students in preparing for legal careers and discerning the nature of their interests than internships in Ithaca.  Building connections and networking in students' hometown communities can be very helpful, and being able to intern while not also carrying a full course load can be rewarding.  Consider where you want to be after college: an internship there would allow for rich networking opportunities.  The IC Office of Career Services can be of great help in orienting and preparing students for internship opportunities like these.

How do I sign up for an internship?

For a non-credit summer internship, you can set these up on your own, with help as needed from the LGST coordinator or career services.  Ithaca-area shadowing and non-credit internships, likewise, can be arranged with the LGST coordinator's help as a go-between.

Credit-bearing internships have rules that are nicely outlined via the Humanities and Sciences Internship page.  Students are required to design the internship -- a learning contract -- with the LGST coordinator and the external organization sponsoring the internship, and to engage in a brief online training.  The H&S internships site has a FAQ section that can orient students and other links of interest.

The key starting place? Talk to your advisor about what best fits your plans, look over the H&S Internship page to orient to what a credit-bearing internship is, and come have a chat with the LGST coordinator!