Summer Global Intern Program
Each year, Northwestern Law invites its LLM and JD alumni who are working abroad to participate in the Summer Global Intern Program. Participating alums partner with the Law School to provide opportunities for our first- and second-year JD students to get first-hand global legal experience in private law firms or legal departments of businesses.
The program is designed to provide students with practical exposure to the international legal practice of a law firm or corporation. We know that now, more than ever, our graduates will face global and cross-border issues in their future legal practices and careers no matter where they are located. One of the significant findings of our recently released Plan 2008 was that to be effective in the legal services industry today, our graduates need to be able to work on cross-cultural teams and to work cross-jurisdictionally. We discovered that, in preparing students for the global environment, actual experience working in cross-cultural settings is far more effective that providing them with international courses. Therefore, it is critical for our students to expand their experience in the global arena.
Our Summer Global Intern Program is designed to provide employers with an intern who is highly motivated to gain exposure to the different legal, cultural, and business challenges faced by firms and companies cross-border. In turn, the employer provides them with a much better understanding of the different ways legal problems can be approached, helping to make them more effective legal advisors.
Our internship program was inspired by Mario E. Pacheco LLM '04 of Pacheco, Odio & Alfaro, Costa Rica, who approached us seeking an ongoing summer intern from Northwestern Law for his office in Costa Rica. We felt that it was such a great idea and such a wonderful opportunity for students that we decided to promote it to all of our LLM and LLM-Kellogg alumni, as well as our JD alumni who were working abroad.
Program Details
- Designed to engage a JD student after his or her first or second year.
- Internships run for five days a week from mid-May through mid-August for up to twelve weeks.
- Students will become actively supervised members of the employer’s firm or legal department.
- Although the primary benefit of the program to the student is experiential rather than monetary, we ask for a modest commitment to pay a stipend to cover basic living expenses in the employer’s home country. (Travel, benefits, and other costs would be the responsibility of the student.) Participating alumni, law firms, and companies in the program receive recognition on the Northwestern Law web site as program partners.
For more information about the Summer Global Intern Program, please contact Bill Chamberlain, assistant dean for Career Strategy, t +1-312.503.0661.
