One hundred and six Vanderbilt Law students will do volunteer legal work as interns with federal and state government agencies, in federal and state judicial chambers, for attorneys general, district attorneys and public defenders, in state and municipal legal offices, with public interest and advocacy organizations, and in corporate legal offices. These students will receive stipend support or course credit for their work in unpaid legal positions in 26 states, the District of Columbia, and three foreign nations, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Ireland.
Students who serve in summer externships may either receive course credit for their unpaid legal work or stipends to help defray their living expenses while they serve in unpaid legal positions with government organizations and legal nonprofits. Stipends are provided by Vanderbilt Law School, the Vanderbilt Legal Aid Society, and several academic programs, including the George Barrett Social Justice Program, the Program in Law and Government, the Branstetter Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program, and through fellowships and endowed funds, including the Garrison Social Justice Fellowship, the Henricksen Charitable Trust, the McCune Charitable Trust, the Starrett Family Fund, the Hartman Public Interest Stipend Fund, the Torry Johnson Stipend Fund, the Charles Koch Foundation, the Hyatt Fund, the Anne Riley Public Interest Fund, the Environmental Stipend Fund and the Law and Economics Fund.
“Every summer, our stipend funds enable Vanderbilt Law students to gain practical legal experience by doing unpaid work in judicial chambers and law offices throughout the country and abroad,” said Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Susan Kay, who administers Vanderbilt’s summer stipend programs. “Students may also opt to receive course credit for working as unpaid legal interns during part of all of their summer. Many discover the area of law they want to practice after graduation while working as legal interns.”
Vanderbilt Law students are working for the following legal employers with stipend support or for course credit during summer 2020:
International
- Irish Centre for Human Rights, Galway, Ireland
- Association of Defence Counsel, The Hague, Netherlands
- Guernica 37, London, United Kingdom
Federal Agencies
- Department of Housing and Urban Development, Nashville, Tennessee (2)
- Department of Human Services, ICE, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Washington, D.C.
- Department of Justice, Office of Legal Policy, Washington, D.C.
- Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor, Washington, D.C.
- Department of Veteran Affairs, Nashville, Tennessee
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Office of the Commissioner, Washington, D.C.
- Securities & Exchange Commission, Atlanta, Georgia (2)
- Securities & Exchange Commission, New York, New York
- Securities & Exchange Commission, Enforcement Division, Washington, D.C.
- Securities & Exchange Commission, Division of Corporate Finance, Washington, D.C.
- Securities & Exchange Commission, Division of Trading and Markets, Washington, D.C.
Judicial Chambers
Federal District Courts
- Judge Amy Berman Jackson, District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.
- Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo, Southern District of California, San Diego
- Judge Michael S. Berg, Southern District of California, San Diego
- Judge Dana Makoto Sabraw, Southern District of California, San Diego
- Judge Janet Arterton, District of Connecticut, New Haven
- Southern District of Florida, Miami
- Judge Thomas Durkin, Northern District of Illinois, Chicago
- Judge Claria Horn Boom, Eastern District of Kentucky, Lexington
- Judge Joseph M. Hood, Eastern District of Kentucky, Lexington
- Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr., District of Massachusetts, Worcester
- Judge Matthew F. Leitman, Eastern District of Michigan, Flint
- Judge Susan Richard Nelson, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, St. Paul
- Judge James C. Mahan, District of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson, Eastern District of New York, Central Islip
- Judge Joshua D. Wolson, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Judge Jeffrey S. Frensley, Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville (3)
- Judge Eli Richardson ’92, District of Tennessee, Nashville (2)
- Judge Alfred Bennett, Southern District of Texas, Houston
- Judge Liam O’Grady, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria
Federal Bankruptcy Courts
- Judge Deborah L. Thorne, Northern District of Illinois, Chicago
- Judge David Jones, Southern District of Texas, Houston
State Courts
- California Court of Appeals, Second Appellate District, Los Angeles
- Judge Deborah Servino, Superior Court of California, Santa Ana
- Supreme Court of Georgia, Atlanta (2)
- Judge Grace G. Dickler, Circuit Court of Cooke County, Chicago, Illinois
- Maryland Court of Appeals, Rockville
Federal Public Defenders
- Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville
State Public Defenders’ Offices
- Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida Public Defender, Jacksonville (3)
- New Hampshire Public Defender, Concord
- Mecklenberg County Public Defender’s Office, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Nashville Defenders, Tennessee
- Tennessee Office of Post-Conviction Defender, Nashville (3)
State & City Agencies
- Alaska Department of Law, Juneau
- Metro Government of Nashville- Department of Law, Tennessee
- Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Nashville
- Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, Nashville
- Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, Nashville
U.S. Attorney’s Offices
- Southern District of Florida, Miami
- District of New Jersey, Newark
- Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn (2)
- Northern District of Ohio, Cleveland
- Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville (3)
- Northern District of Texas, Dallas
State Attorneys General
- District of Columbia Attorney General, Washington
- New Mexico Attorney General, Santa Fe
- New York Attorney General, Environmental Protection Bureau, New York
- Rhode Island Attorney General, Providence
- Tennessee Attorney General, Nashville (4)
- Virginia Attorney General, Richmond
District Attorneys’ Offices
- Los Angeles County, California
- Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
- City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2)
- Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee
Advocacy and Nonprofit
- Beacon Center of Tennessee, Nashville
- California Appellate Project San Francisco
- Carecen D.C., Washington D.C.
- Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Defending Vulnerable Populations Project, Silver Spring, Maryland
- Choosing Justice Initiative, Nashville, Tennessee
- Electronic Frontier Foundation, San Francisco, California
- Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Gifford’s Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, San Francisco
- Legal Aid Atlanta
- Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
- Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee, Nashville
- Legal Services of South Central Michigan, Lansing
- Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project, St. Louis, Missouri
- New York City Bar Justice Center
- South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, Columbia
- Still She Rises, Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Tennessee Innocence Project, Nashville
- Tennessee Justice for our Neighbors, Nashville
- The Door, New York, New York
- Youth Sentencing and Re-Entry Project, Philadelphia
Corporate
- OBB Media, West Hollywood, California
- Vanderbilt Office of General Counsel, Nashville