Legal Intern

Legal Intern wanted to help save the planet!

We’re looking for a legal intern to support the legal team’s work, from strategic climate change litigation to defending community access to environmental justice, and much more in between.

Friends of the Earth’s legal team is one of the most exciting places to campaign for environmental justice. 

The legal team work on solving the major environmental problems of our time and building the movement for positive change. We need a capable and committed person to join our team and help us do this. 

Job purpose:

Working closely with our lawyers you will have a hands-on role in supporting Friends of the Earth’s campaigns. You will join meetings, conduct research, help to prepare legal documents, participate in our campaigning in action, and get to know what makes a campaigning environmental NGO tick. 

Possessing a degree in Law or equivalent qualification (i.e. law conversion course or joint law degree) with a 2:1 grade or above, you will have good knowledge of public, assimilated EU law, human rights, environmental and/or planning law and will have experience of undertaking detailed legal research and analysis.

This internship is an excellent opportunity to gain entry level legal and campaigning experience and skills.  

If you have finished the academic component of your legal studies and are passionate about using the law to protect community rights and the environment, we’d love to hear from you!  

Phil Michaels Legal Interns Scholarship Fund:

This role is funded by the Phil Michaels Legal Interns Scholarship, it provides paid internships for aspiring environmental lawyers. For more information about the Phil Michaels Scholarship please click here.

How to apply:

Please see our Hints and Tips Guide for ideas on how to put in your best application for this role.

Please complete an application via our online form.

Closing date: 31/12/2024 (23:59)

Contract: 12 months fixed term contract, related to external funding[1]

Location: London, 2 days per week on average at London Office (Stockwell)

Hours/Day per week (FTE): 30 hours (Full-time), Tuesdays-Fridays

Start date: Beginning of March 2025

We offer a competitive range of benefits, good work/life balance including a 4-day working week with no loss of pay, excellent learning and development opportunities and a vibrant organisational culture.

Our staff body is currently under-representative of People of Colour, LGBTQIA+ people and people with long term conditions or impairments. We are committed to eroding these historic barriers, so as to create a movement in which people from all walks of life see themselves in, and so we particularly encourage you to apply if you belong to one of these groups or sit at multiple intersections of disadvantage. We are committed to the Disability Confident standard and will guarantee an interview to any candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role.

Friends of the Earth is an international community dedicated to protecting the natural world and the wellbeing of everyone in it. We lead campaigns, provide resources and information, and drive real solutions to the environmental problems facing us all.

Please note that this is an entry level position and therefore we cannot accept applications from UK qualified lawyers or overseas qualified lawyers. 

The successful candidate will need to be domiciled in the UK.

Please note we only accept applications via the Friends of the Earth Application System. We ask that candidates do not use AI software to complete their application form and instead use their own words when writing their personal statement.

[1] This records the source of the funding; the 12-month term is guaranteed.