Law Student Intern - Summer 2025

Ohio is a Disability Inclusion State and strives to be a model employer of individuals with disabilities. The State of Ohio is committed to providing access and inclusion and reasonable accommodation in its services, activities, programs and employment opportunities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other applicable laws.

The Office of the Ohio Public Defender (OPD) is the state agency responsible for providing legal representation and other services to people accused or convicted of a crime who cannot afford to hire an attorney.

Our Mission: Advocating. Fighting. Helping.
Our Vision:    A Fair Justice System.
Our Values:   Compassion. Dignity. Equity. Integrity. Service. Community.

We are committed to building a work environment where all team members have a voice and can embrace our differences to innovate service to the public in our pursuit of fairness and justice for all people.

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The Office of the Ohio Public Defender (OPD) is seeking Law Student Interns for Summer 2025 to join one of three departments\: Appeals & Postconviction, Youth Defense, or Death Penalty. In the questionnaire at the end of your application, please indicate ALL of the departments you’d like to consider your application. Below are brief summaries of each department, as well as universal duties you will perform in any of those contexts. 

Appeals & Postconviction

We are seeking a Law Student Intern for Summer 2025 to join our Appeals and Postconviction (APC) Department and help us provide outstanding advocacy before Ohio trial and appellate courts, as well as federal court. The APC Department represents people in non-capital adult matters, following felony or misdemeanor convictions. We also support trial attorneys with novel legal arguments and work to train the broader Ohio indigent defense bar. 

Youth Defense

We are seeking a Law Student Intern for Summer 2025 to join our Youth Defense Department. Here you will help us perform post-disposition advocacy and ensure that the constitutional rights of children are fully realized and protected. We steadily work toward a holistic approach to helping youth in the justice system and know the value of our advocacy extends beyond a child’s duration of confinement. 

Death Penalty

We are seeking a Law Student Intern for Summer 2025 to join our Death Penalty Department in providing zealous, empathetic, and committed advocacy before various trial and appellate courts throughout the state. Here you will help us represent death-sentenced clients in all stages of post-trial litigation and executive clemency. We emphasize a client-centered, team approach to representation, and our post-trial litigation may include direct appeal, post-conviction, and federal habeas corpus litigation. 

As a Law Student Intern with OPD, your duties include but are not limited to:

-          Conduct legal research on defined or potential issues in cases & present this information orally and through writing

-          Draft legal arguments to use in motions and other pleadings

-          Conduct factual investigations, review, and analysis of pending cases

-          Accompany staff attorneys to client visits, oral arguments, or other proceedings

-          Participate in department meetings, moots, roundtables, and agency-wide meetings

These internships are based out of our Columbus office and include the opportunity for a hybrid work schedule. Your schedule will be 20-40 hours per week Monday-Friday, depending on your availability. There may be the opportunity to continue the internship on a reduced weekly schedule into the Fall 2025-Spring 2026 school year.

PLEASE UPLOAD A COVER LETTER, RESUME, AND WRITING SAMPLE TO YOUR APPLICATION. In your letter, please include the number of hours per week you will be able to work during the summer. 

The Office of the Ohio Public Defender complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact us at 614-466-5394 or HCM@opd.ohio.gov.

Must be currently enrolled in Law School as a rising 2L or later in good academic standing. 

Job Skills: Attorney/Legal; Active Learning; Attention to Detail; Customer Focus; Proofreading; Reasoning

Intentional omission of relevant information, falsification, or misrepresentation of information on the application will disqualify the applicant. In addition, such intentional acts are grounds for immediate termination of an employee.

The final candidate tentatively selected for this position will be required to undergo a criminal background check. Criminal convictions do not necessarily preclude an applicant from consideration for a position. An individual assessment of an applicant's prior criminal convictions will be made before excluding an applicant from consideration. 

All final applicants tentatively selected for this position will be required to submit to urinalysis to test for illegal drug use prior to appointment. An applicant with a positive test shall not be offered employment.

This position serves at the pleasure and discretion of the State Public Defender. This position will have an unclassified status per Ohio Revised Code 124.11 (A) (29).

At the State of Ohio, we take care of the team that cares for Ohioans. We provide a variety of quality, competitive benefits to eligible full-time and part-time employees*. For a list of all the State of Ohio Benefits, visit our Total Rewards website! Our benefits package includes:

• Medical Coverage
• Free Dental, Vision and Basic Life Insurance premiums after completion of eligibility period
• Paid time off, including vacation, personal, sick leave and 11 paid holidays per year
• Childbirth, Adoption, and Foster Care leave
• Education and Development Opportunities (Employee Development Funds, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and more)
• Public Retirement Systems (such as OPERS, STRS, SERS, and HPRS) & Optional Deferred Compensation (Ohio Deferred Compensation)

*Benefits eligibility is dependent on a number of factors. The Agency Contact listed above will be able to provide specific benefits information for this position.

The State of Ohio is a drug-free workplace which prohibits the use of marijuana (recreational marijuana/non-medical cannabis). Please note, this position may be subject to additional restrictions pursuant to the State of Ohio Drug-Free Workplace Policy (HR-39), and as outlined in the posting.