Legal Externship

Job Description:

POLITICO is seeking legal externs to join our in-house legal team and is building a year-round talent pipeline for seasonal placements during the fall, winter, spring, and summer terms

Legal Externs will serve as generalists, supporting the legal team on issues spanning employment law, data privacy, commercial contracts, intellectual property, and litigation. Receiving supervision and mentorship from Senior Counsel, Chief Legal Officer, and global legal team, this opportunity is designed to provide meaningful, substantive experience while contributing directly to our legal operations.

Who You Are:

• A current J.D. candidate (2L or 3L preferred) in good standing at an ABA-accredited law school
• Eligible to receive academic credit through your school’s externship or clinic program
• Interested in employment law, privacy law or commercial transactions
• Interested in a corporate, media or technology environment

What You’ll Do:

Legal Research & Analysis:

• Conduct legal research across multiple practice areas and prepare memoranda with findings and recommendations
• Draft internal guidance documents on legal standards, regulatory requirements, and best practices
• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments impacting the business

Labor & Employment

• Support day-to-day employment matters including hiring, performance management, leave policies, and worker classification
• Assist with union-related matters and collective bargaining agreement compliance
• Research and summarize employment and labor law issues

Data Privacy & Compliance

• Assist with U.S. and EU privacy compliance efforts, including GDPR and state laws
• Support Privacy Impact Assessments and compliance gap analyses
• Research emerging privacy regulations

Commercial Contracts

• Help manage contracts, track deadlines, and organize files
• Conduct due diligence reviews and summarize key terms

Intellectual Property

• Assist with trademark infringement analysis and brand protection efforts
• Research IP issues and provide summaries

Litigation Support

• Assist with document review, case tracking, and litigation hold processes
• Prepare case summaries and research relevant case law

Project Management & Administration

• Track deadlines and coordinate materials across projects
• Maintain legal files and documentation
• Support cross-functional communication and project coordination
• Participate in meetings and observe legal counsel advising stakeholders

What You’ll Need:

• Current enrollment in a J.D. program at an ABA-accredited law school (2L or 3L preferred)
• Eligibility for academic credit through a law school externship or clinic program
• Strong legal research and analytical skills, including experience with Westlaw, LexisNexis, or similar tools
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously
• Professional judgment and discretion with confidential information

Program details:

• Term: Spring (January- May), Summer (June-August), Fall (September- December)
• Location: POLITICO HQ in Arlington, VA
• Schedule: Part-time or full-time (please indicate your availability in your application)
• This is an unpaid, for-credit externship.

Application requirements:

• Resume
• Cover letter describing interest in in-house legal work and relevant experience
• Writing sample (3-5 pages)
• Confirmation of externship credit eligibility from law school

At POLITICO, we value integrity, collaboration, and innovation. This role offers the opportunity to work alongside top executives and contribute to a dynamic HR team. If you are an organized, motivated, and detail-driven professional who thrives in an in-office setting, we encourage you to apply. 

COMPENSATION: This is an unpaid externship and requires academic credit.

We value our people. Click here for more on what we offer and what it’s like to work for POLITICO. 

Let’s keep in touch. You can view our list of open positions here and email us careers@politico.com. We hope to see your application soon! 

About Us. 

POLITICO illuminates the forces shaping global power. Since 2007, we have delivered intelligence that anticipates tomorrow's headlines, not reports on yesterday's news. As politics has increasingly become the defining force of our era, our work has never been more vital. 

Cabinet secretaries and Ministers start their mornings with our analysis. CEOs shape strategy around our reporting. Advocacy leaders rely on our insights to move policy. We deliver the straightforward facts and clear-eyed analysis they need to navigate the most complex political landscape of our lifetimes. 

Our 1,100+ publishing professionals across the world's key democratic capitals—Washington, Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin, Sacramento, and New York—form the world's premier politics and policy newsroom. We tell the story of how power really works by explaining who wields it and how they plan to exercise it, connecting dots others miss and delivering scoops from sources others don't even know exist. 

Innovation has always been a core tenet of our story. At launch, we bet that depth would trump scale, that talent would trump traffic, and that politics would become central to modern life. In 2011, we made another bet and launched POLITICO Pro to help decision-makers understand the business of government, transforming both how they shape government action and the business of journalism itself. 

These bets have made POLITICO the most successful digital news startup of its generation and the indispensable resource for leaders who shape the future. Today, we are a rarity in media: a growing, profitable, and sustainable news organization. 

POLITICO is a subsidiary of Axel Springer SE, a family-owned transatlantic media company headquartered in Berlin and New York. Axel Springer is dedicated to shaping the future of journalism in the free world, believing that a free and informed society is essential to democracy. The company’s guiding principles - first articulated as  The Essentials by founder Axel Springer in the aftermath of World War II - remain a cornerstone of the company’s foundation today. Learn more about Axel Springer. 

Posting date:

2026-03-26

Title:

Legal Externship