Volunteers

Throughout the year, the Center benefits greatly from the work of citizen, undergraduate and law student volunteers. Please send an email to cdpl@cdpl.org to inquire into current opportunities to volunteer.

Summer Internships

Each summer the Center hosts approximately six full-time law student interns. Each year we receive rave reviews from our summer interns. Former interns consistently remark on the diversity of opportunities, the rigorous intellectual environment, and the collegiality of our office.

In recent summers, law student interns have assisted with research and writing of direct appeal and post-conviction claims, assisted at evidentiary hearings, traveled across the state interviewing witnesses and jurors, worked on clemency cases, attended capital trials, and visited clients. One of our law student intern positions is dedicated to the Center’s Trial Assistance Unit; the other law students assist attorneys working on capital post-conviction cases.

We eagerly recruit both 1Ls, and 2Ls to fill our summer intern positions. Because of the nature of the work our students perform, we typically do not split summers and we prefer that all interns begin work on the same date; we ask each student to commit to a 10 week program, usually beginning the first work-day of June.

Generally our student internships are unpaid. The staff at the Center will gladly assist students who are applying for third-party or school-based grants and fellowships.

In the summer of 2005, we proudly initiated a Fellowship program for students attending a North Carolina law school. The Weston Fenhagen Fellowship awards two law students $3500 in exchange for full-time 10 week employment at the Center. All applicants from the law schools at UNC, NCCU, Duke, Wake Forest, Campbell, Elon, and Charlotte are automatically considered for the fellowship.

Students interested in a summer internship should provide a current resume, a writing sample (10 pages or less), and a cover letter by January 31. Please include in your letter any special interest in death penalty litigation or criminal defense generally. We prefer that applications be submitted electronically whenever possible. Applications should be emailed to cdpl@cdpl.org. Our goal is to make final hiring decisions by February 28.

In addition, we welcome undergraduate and even high school students to contact us about volunteering during the summer. Although there is no formal deadline for non-law student applications, keep in mind that students often begin inquiring about summer work as early as January. We have limited space, so students are encouraged to contact us early.

CDPL complies with the letter and spirit of all federal, state, and local employment discrimination laws and does not discriminate based on race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, family responsibility, sexual orientation, veteran status or disability.