Animal Legal Defense Fund Transparency and Regulatory Affairs Program Summer 2026 Clerkship

Description:

Term of Employment: Temporary, Full-time, Non-Exempt, Internship

Location: Remote position

Who We Are: The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. The Animal Legal Defense Fund accomplishes this mission by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are held accountable for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, gathering data about and advocating for effective regulation of animal exploitative industries and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law.

Position Term: 35 hours/week for 10 weeks in summer 2026, with a start date at the end of May or beginning of June

Reports to: Transparency and Regulatory Affairs Program Director

Role Description: The Animal Legal Defense Fund summer clerkship program gives law students who demonstrate an interest in animal law the opportunity to work with and be trained by top experts in the field. Clerks are integral members of a program team and work on projects that further the current work of the program and advance the mission and goals of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Clerks also participate in activities that will allow them to network across the organization with Animal Legal Defense Fund staff and other clerks, and engage them in the mission and goals of the organization.

How You Will Make a Difference:

This position is housed within the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Transparency and Regulatory Affairs Program, which advocates for better, stronger animal protection laws and regulations. We also use the regulatory process to urge agencies to fulfill their duties and protect animals to the extent required by the law.

Here are some ways that the Animal Legal Defense Fund works within the regulatory process to protect animals:

• We file petitions for rulemaking: The Administrative Procedure Act allows any person or organization to request that a federal agency issue, amend or repeal a rule or regulation. We ask for tougher regulations and rules that are within the agency’s purview.
• We submit comments on proposed rules and regulations: Agencies considering changes to rules or regulations, or new rules or regulations, will solicit comments from the public and interested organizations. These comments must be considered, before the proposed changes may be made.
• We issue alerts encouraging the public to submit comments of their own so the agency is aware that this is an issue people care about — and, with a critical mass of comments, will be inclined to respond to the public’s concerns. This is a critically important part of the regulatory process.
• We ask agencies to fulfill their regulatory duties: Regulations and rules must be enforced, to be effective. The Animal Legal Defense Fund urges agencies to fulfill their regulatory duties, when they have failed to do so — and we issue alerts asking the public to do the same. This is an especially helpful course of action when someone is violating the law in ways that harm animals, but there is no “standing” for us to bring a lawsuit.
• When possible and necessary, these requests may be followed by lawsuits, asking courts to compel agencies to fulfill their legal duties.

The Transparency and Regulatory Affairs Program clerks will conduct research and draft memoranda regarding regulatory matters relevant to animals exploited on factory farms, in puppy mills, in entertainment, and in laboratories. Clerks may assist in drafting regulatory comments and petitions for rulemaking. Clerks will also draft Freedom of Information Act and state public records requests, analyze responses to these requests, and draft appeals, when necessary. Clerks will assist TRAP with gathering data for its database of information concerning animal-abusing industries and in creating spreadsheets tracking entities and numbers of species used in animal exploiting industries. Clerks will conduct factual research in support of TRAP’s work and will draft regulatory complaints against target entities.

Students may apply for more than one clerkship at a time (clerkships may be available with the Litigation Program, Criminal Justice Program, Legislative Affairs Program, Pro Bono Program, Transparency and Regulatory Affairs Program, and/or Animal Law Program). The Litigation Program, Pro Bono Program, and Criminal Justice Program have already hired clerks for summer 2026.

Compensation:

• $20/ hour
• Paid holidays

How to Apply:

On our confidential recruiting portal, Paylocity, you will be asked to upload a resume and cover letter. The following additional documents are also required: a list of 2-3 professional references, law school transcript (unofficial okay), and original writing sample. The application deadline is April 6, 2026. Questions may be addressed to Senior Student Programs Attorney Kelly Levenda at klevenda@aldf.org.

Although applications for paid summer clerkships will receive priority, we will accept applications from students who would like to structure the position as an unpaid externship or student volunteer position instead of a paid clerkship. (Note: Externships are uncompensated. Students may receive academic credit from their law schools for completing externships, but award of externship credits is determined solely by the school. Applicants who would like to structure summer positions as externships should check their law school’s externship requirements before they apply to ensure Animal Legal Defense Fund externships meet their school’s requirements and the Animal Legal Defense Fund is an approved externship placement. Student volunteer positions include students who can receive pro bono credits for their law schools, and students whose schools provide a public interest stipend.)

Additional information:

This is a U.S. based position. Clerks will be required to provide a personal United States address and to work primarily from that address.

Equal Opportunity Employer: The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) is committed to providing an employment environment which is welcoming of persons from diverse backgrounds and free from unlawful discrimination and harassment, and in which all legal rights of our employees are recognized and protected. ALDF conducts all internal and external operations, programs, and employment-related decision making (including hiring decisions) without regard to actual or perceived race, ancestry, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, political affiliation, disability or medical condition (including physical, intellectual, or psychiatric), sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, age, or other protected category, and in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws.

Consistent with the organization’s mission, Animal Legal Defense Fund offices and events are free of animal products and byproducts.

Requirements:

We are Looking for Candidates with:

• Experience as a rising 3L (will have completed their 2L year or part-time equivalent prior to summer 2026) or LLM student at an ABA accredited law school.
• Eligibility to work in the United States.
• A sincere interest in animal protection.
• Superior legal research and writing skills, including the ability to tailor voice and style to various audiences.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Positive attitude and ability to work cooperatively with others and function well in a mission-driven, team-oriented work environment.
• Willingness to accept a variety of assignments within the expanding field of animal law.
• Excellent organizational, prioritization, and time management skills.
• Ability to work independently and remotely.
• Ability to use discretion, keeping in mind the confidential and emotional aspects of our work.
• Access to a computer with internet and Microsoft Suite.
• Familiarity with animal law is preferred.

We strongly encourage persons from diverse backgrounds to apply.