Intern/Extern Summer 2025 (Law Students Only)

Overview
Legal internships and externships with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office (SCDA) allow law students to gain invaluable experience in the criminal justice system. The SCDA offers a wide range of areas within the office for law students to be placed, including litigation, investigative, legal compliance, and appellate bureaus.

The summer 2025 internship/externship program will begin on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, and end on Friday, August 1, 2025. Throughout the summer, law school interns and externs may participate in the summer lecture series, off-site field trips, observe an autopsy, observe criminal arraignments, and participate in a mock trial tournament.

In addition to gaining firsthand exposure to the inner-workings of the office, all legal interns and externs entering their 3L year may apply early for permanent positions as Assistant District Attorneys.

Legal Internship Opportunities
Each semester, law student interns work closely with Assistant District Attorneys and assist them on misdemeanor and felony cases. Depending on the bureau assignment, interns may be responsible for reviewing discovery, sitting in on witness interviews, shadowing ADAs in courtrooms, helping ADAs prepare Grand Jury presentations and hearings, researching and writing motions and appellate briefs, listening to and transcribing jail calls, assisting ADAs in arraignments, and much more.

Legal Externship Opportunities
The New York State Appellate Division, Second Department, Student Practice Order allows law students who have completed at least two semesters of law school and who have been accepted into a duly-authorized law school program to serve as law student externs, and carry out all of the duties of a Junior Assistant District Attorney. All law student externs will be placed in the District Court Bureau, and will be assigned a caseload of approximately ten cases throughout the semester or summer. District Court Bureau supervisors will work closely with law student externs to ensure they are receiving appropriate supervision and mentorship throughout the entire experience.

Law student externs handle all aspects of the prosecutions on their cases, including answering discovery demands, conducting legal research, drafting motion papers, attending court appearances, speaking on the record, and much more. Externs may conduct pre-trial hearings and bench trials if they are scheduled on their cases. Externs must adhere to all applicable constitutional and statutory requirements, as well as all policies of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Utmost professionalism is required.

Law students who are interested in becoming prosecutors are urged to participate as a legal extern.

Requirements

• The applicant must still be enrolled in law school and going into their 2L or 3L year, at the time that the internship begins on May 27, 2025.
• To be considered, applicants must fill out the electronic application completely, including uploading all required documents. Applicants who fail to complete their applicants will not be considered for an internship/externship.
• Applicants must also be willing to be placed in any bureau, and are not guaranteed a position in one of the bureaus that is requested as part of the application.
• Selected candidates will have to pass a background check before the start of the internship.
• All interns and externs must complete the program requirements in-person. There is no opportunity to work remotely. Legal interns/externs are required to work a minimum of 28 hours per week (four full days) for the full ten weeks.

The Office of the Suffolk County District Attorney reserves the right to change without notice any statement on this page concerning, but not limited to, rules, policies, eligibility, recruitment and terms of employment. The Office of the Suffolk County District Attorney is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and it is our policy not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, disability, age, membership in an employee organization, parental status, military service, or any other non-merit factor.

Division: Internships / Externships
This is an internship position