Elon Law Residencies: Government, Educational Institutions, and the Public Interest
Civil Litigation
Goldwater Institute
Where: Phoenix, Arizona
Practice Area: Constitutional Litigation
Type of Work: Legal research, case analysis, court preparation, drafting and litigation strategy.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Guilford County Attorney’s Office
Where: Greensboro
Practice Areas: Child welfare law, civil procedure, termination of parental rights
Type of Work: Drafting legal documents, reviewing exhibits, researching statutes and case law.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Special Considerations: Preferable interest in child welfare law or in being a government attorney in general.
Internal Revenue Service, Office of Chief Counsel
Where: Greensboro
Practice Areas: Tax Law (income tax, entity tax), Basic Trial Advocacy, Pre-trial Litigation, Negotiations, Administrative Law
Type of Work: Pre-Trial Litigation, such as drafting pleadings, memorandums of law, motions, legal research, etc.; Taxpayer interactions, such as drafting letters to petitioning taxpayers and participating in conference calls; Potential in-court appearance, such as presenting a motion to the US Tax Court
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Special Considerations: Must express an interest in tax law and general litigation and possess excellent legal writing and oral communication skills. Strongly prefer student who has taken Income Taxation or has equivalent experience. Will consider student who will take Income Taxation as accompanying course.
NC Sustainable Energy Association
Where: Raleigh
Practice Areas: Energy Law, Administrative Law, Regulatory Practice, Litigation
Type of Work: Opportunity to learn about an administrative law practice, in this case before the North Carolina Utilities Commission; research experience; opportunities to author legal and non-legal works; experience in drafting pleadings, discovery requests, and other litigation-related documents.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Special Considerations: Administrative Law is a prerequisite or as an accompanying course. Successful student will have an interest in energy and electricity issues.
Southern Environmental Law Center
Where: Chapel Hill
Practice Areas: Environmental law.
Type of Work: Legal research, writing, attending hearings, etc.
Trimester Placements Are Available: Winter
Special Considerations: Enthusiastic about environmental law.
Compliance
National Labor Relations Board, Subregion 11
Where: Winston-Salem
Practice Areas: The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects the rights of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve their wages and working conditions. It’s lawyers practice traditional labor law.
Type of Work: Field Attorney case-handling (under strict supervision): Investigating unfair labor practice charges, legal research and factual analysis into whether the charged party violated the NLRA, making a recommendation to the Officer in Charge as to whether the charge has merit, and writing the memorandum to memorialize the decision. May participate in local representation elections (where employees decide whether they wish to be represented by a union) and observe ULP trials scheduled for the Subregional office.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
North Carolina Real Estate Commission
Where: Raleigh
Practice Areas: The North Carolina Real Estate Commission is an independent state governmental agency. The Commission’s primary function is to license and regulate real estate agents (persons and firms who sell, lease, etc. real estate for others). Areas of practice are Administrative Law, Occupational licensing, Real Estate, and Litigation.
Type of Work: Drafting witness questions, conducting inquiries, drafting notices of hearing, and legal research.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Spring only
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Office of Enforcement & Compliance Assurance
Where: Washington, DC
Practice Area: Environmental Law
Type of Work: Students will work with practicing environmental lawyers and technical professionals on active cases, policies and other projects related to civil (administrative and judicial) and criminal enforcement, inspections, targeting/priorities, federal facilities enforcement, state and tribal enforcement coordination and other policy matters to support implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, FIFRA, RCRA, TSCA, and CERCLA. Specific projects and assigned practice areas will depend upon the student’s placement.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Special considerations: The EPA looks for qualified and highly motivated candidates with superior records of achievement and a commitment to environmental and/or law enforcement work who work well in teams. Interested applicants should submit a resume, a list of two or three references (name, title, phone number and email address), a writing sample, and a cover letter that includes a statement of interest that highlights particular skills and subject area preferences.
Criminal Litigation
NC District Attorney Offices
In North Carolina, a District Attorney (DA) is the elected public official who represents the state in the prosecution of all criminal matters. The district attorney supervises a staff of assistant district attorneys (ADA), victim witness legal assistants (VWLA), investigators, and other administrative employees. The type of work for students include: Client Interviewing; Court Appearance; Document Drafting; Fact Development & Analysis; Witness Interviewing; Negotiation; Oral Arguments/Presentations; and Organization & Management of Legal Work. Students are encouraged but not required to take Evidence, Criminal Procedure, and Trial Advocacy as a prerequisite.
Alamance County
Where: Graham
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Guilford County
Where: Greensboro
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Guilford County
Where: High Point
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Spring only
Rockingham County
Where: Wentworth, NC
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
In-House Counsel
Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Schools, Legal Department
Where: Charlotte
Practice Areas: Education law; employment law
Type of Work: Students will have the opportunity to provide advice and counsel to school district employees, to assist with employee appeals and student expulsion hearings before the Board, participate in all stages of litigation, attend administrative hearings and Board meetings, participate in IEP meetings, assist with in-service training for to employees, review contracts, and engage in policy and legislative analysis. Interns will be exposed to all aspects of legal operations and will gain experience in many aspects of in-house counsel work.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Special considerations: Strong verbal and written communication skills are important given the varying constituencies with which the student may interact.
City of Greensboro City Attorney’s Office
Where: Greensboro
Practice Areas: Municipal Law, Employment Law, Real Estate, Zoning, Constitutional Law
Type of Work: Legal research, draft pleadings and motions, litigation support
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
City of Greensboro City Attorney’s Office: Police
Where: Greensboro
Practice Areas: Criminal Procedure and Police Law
Type of Work: legal research, respond to inquiries from officers, draft pleadings and motions, litigation support
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Special Considerations: Background Check Required Prior to Interview
North Carolina Attorney General’s Office – Transportation Section
Where: Raleigh
Practice Areas: The Transportation Division of the Attorney General’s Office advises the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Turnpike Authority and represents the agency in administrative, state and federal courts, at both trial and appellate levels. The Division concentrates in the following areas of law: eminent domain; construction; environmental, employment, outdoor advertising control, state contracting and procurement, issues relating to railroads, aviation, bicycles and other forms of transportation.
Type of Work: Legal research and writing, document review, attendance at trials, depositions, mediations and all other aspects of litigation. Attendance at client consultations and agency board meetings.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter only
University of North Carolina Greensboro, Office of General Counsel
Where: Greensboro
Practice Areas: Higher Education Law, Employment Law, Policy/Regulatory; Administrative Law
Type of Work: Legal research and memorandum drafting; Policy review and drafting; Review of contractual agreements; Assistance in development of policy white papers; and Assistance in developing and implementing professional training on legal hot topics
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Spring only
Special Considerations: Collaborative, flexible, self-starter; good listener; attention to detail; intellectual curiosity about variety of legal issues including issues of public policy; administrative law coursework or interest; strong research and writing skills.
Public Policy
ACLU of North Carolina
Where: Raleigh
Practice Areas: Civil Rights/Civil Liberties; Legislative/lobbying
Type of Work: Legislative bill analysis; legal memo drafting; lobbying support; coalition buildingTrimester(s)
Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring trimester
Transformative Justice Coalition
Where: Washington, D.C.
Practice Areas: Civil Rights & Human Rights
Type of Work: research, writing, legal analysis, interviewing, and legislative advocacy
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter and Spring
Transactional
Piedmont Land Conservancy
Where: Greensboro
Practice Areas: General Corporate and Transactional Practice; Conservation easements and other real estate issues including title work; purchase and sale agreements; leases; options and grant administration.
Type of Work: The student would have an opportunity to explore various aspects of nonprofit management including, corporate organizational matters; attend Board meetings and take minutes; participate in meetings with landowners and prospective easement donors; draft conservation easements; prepare for real estate closings and complete due diligence related to conservation easement transactions. In addition, the student would experience other aspects of working with an environmental nonprofit organization including outreach and development opportunities, writing grants, completing grant reporting and organizing and maintaining corporate records related to conservation easement transactions.
Trimester(s) Placements Are Available: Winter or Spring