5 Legal Internships for High School Students in BostonÂ
- Estelle Reardon
- Dec 1, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Dec 1, 2025
Topics We Cover:
The field of law offers a wide range of career paths—from roles like attorney, judge, or professor to specialties such as criminal, corporate, IP, immigration, and environmental law. Legal internships for high schoolers in Boston allow Bay State teens to explore these potential tracks and make informed decisions about which trajectory they want to pursue.
Why Do Internships in High School?
Legal internships for high school students in Boston and beyond provide students the chance to validate their interest in the law outside of the classroom and begin building the skills needed to succeed in a chosen career path.
High school internships help students stand out in competitive college application pools. The consultancy PRISM found that almost three-quarters of students attending U.S. News Top 50 universities engaged in at least one internship in high school.
Completing a high school internship cannot only help you get into a top-tier college, but it can also help you once you get there. Students who’ve fulfilled an internship in high school have an easier time securing an internship in college, and are more likely to gain admission to pre-professional organizations like pre-law clubs, mock trial teams, and legal aid clubs.
How to Find Legal Internships for High School Students in Boston
StandOutsearch is the largest free online database of internships for high school students and a great place to begin your search for legal internships in Boston. StandOutSearch helps simplify your search with a number of filters, including area of interest (for example, law and advocacy), format (in-person, online, or hybrid), and compensation (paid or unpaid).
Other online search tools and lists—such as this collection of summer programs and internships curated by MIT Admissions—can also prove helpful. The downside to official internship programs, like those on MIT’s list, is that there are often far more applicants than open positions, making landing a position challenging.
In addition to applying for official programs, students serious about landing an internship will want to form a cold outreach strategy—that is, a plan for contacting potential internship providers about potential opportunities. Many people, students and professionals alike, find cold outreach daunting, but the guide and template included further below make the process more approachable.
5 Legal Internships for High School Students in Boston
Most of the internships listed below have acceptance rates of less than 20%; consequently, we recommend applying to at least five opportunities. If an internship catches your eye, mark its deadline on your calendar so you don’t miss an opportunity.
Ages: 15-19
Location: Virtual
Timeline: Summer, Spring, Fall, or Winter
Deadline: Various Deadlines
StandOut Connect pairs exceptional high school students with virtual internships tailored to their passions. Opportunities span across a diverse range of fields—including the arts, business, healthcare, law, STEM, and more.
Powered by StandOutSearch, the nation’s largest free internship database for teens, the initiative has earned recognition in Forbes and was made possible through support from the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Ages: 14-18
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Timeline: Year-round
Deadline: Contact for deadline
High schoolers learn about civic leadership and community development firsthand while gaining public service experience. Participants also build leadership and communication skills while gaining a deeper understanding of local government.
The Mayor’s Youth Council provides students with a voice and empowers them to voice their opinions and provide solutions to the challenges facing young people in Boston.
Ages: 17 and 18
Location: Boston, Brockton, and Quincy, Massachusetts
Timeline: Year-Round
Deadline: Varies
Congressman Stephen F. Lynch offers paid internships in his Boston, Brockton, and Quincy offices. Interns handle a variety of tasks, including:
Answering phones
Drafting letters
Assisting constituents
Attending district events
The internship provides an excellent opportunity to gain first-hand exposure to the lawmaking process and to build professional communication skills.
Ages: 15-18
Location: Hanover, Massachusetts
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: TBD
Located about 25 miles south of Boston, the town of Hanover hosts this paid summer internship exploring local government. Interns work with the town manager and are assigned to other departments within town government—broadening their understanding of how public institutions operate and how decisions are made at the local level.
In addition to being exposed to a variety of laws and legal processes, interns will deepen their understanding of how laws impact communities. They’ll also develop valuable skills such as:
Time management
Teamwork
Communication
Leadership
Critical thinking
Ages: Juniors and Seniors
Location: Varies
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Varies
The Pathways Program allows high school juniors and seniors, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, to gain work experience and explore potential career paths during the summer. Participants receive pay and take part in activities that support their personal and professional growth.
Cold Outreach Strategy for High School Legal Internships
If you have a different type of legal internship in mind, a cold outreach strategy can help you land your dream position. Contacting professionals you don’t know can be intimidating, but the guide below will make the process more manageable.
How to Find Companies to Reach Out to for a High School Internship
Small companies, firms, and organizations often need extra help and are more likely to take on high school interns. Use LinkedIn to find opportunities where you can assist with tasks such as drafting basic documents, filing and organizing cases, taking notes during meetings, and helping with intake forms.
When reaching out to professionals, try to make a personal connection—bond over things like being from the same town, a shared hobby, or rooting for the same sports team. When meeting professionals you don’t know, remember that it’s always safer to meet virtually.
How to Find Professors to Reach Out to for a High School Research Position
One effective strategy for finding professors to contact about research positions is to browse faculty directories on university websites to identify those who may have openings. If you’re hoping for a remote research role as a high school student, be aware that these positions are quite rare. Most professors prefer local high schoolers for hands-on lab work, such as cleaning glassware or operating instruments, and rarely need remote help from students at the high school level.
The exception is computational or data-heavy projects, which often welcome students who can handle basic scripting and data analysis. Even introductory skills in Python or R are usually sufficient to get started, since many research labs need help cleaning, visualizing, or processing large datasets. Fortunately, both languages are relatively easy to learn independently and for free, using resources like Python for Everybody and the R Programming course on Coursera.
How to Structure and Send Outreach Emails
The more inquiries you make to potential legal internship providers in Boston, the better your odds of landing a position—set a goal of sending at least 50 emails to possible internship hosts.
When reaching out about potential internship opportunities, include a link to your resume and any relevant work experience, like volunteering for political campaigns or community service at a non-profit advocacy organization. Sending your resume as a Google link is preferable to attaching a PDF or Doc, which can negatively impact deliverability. Just remember to ensure the share settings allow anyone with the link to view its contents.
If you don’t have a resume or want to refresh one before sending it out, our resume guide and template provide everything you need to know about crafting a winning resume. The University of Chicago also provides a helpful resume resource.
Email Template for Finding a High School InternshipÂ
If you are unsure how to structure your outreach emails to potential internship providers, here are some basic templates you can customize to your needs.Â
Template for Finding an Internship
Subject: Student Reaching Out
Dear Mr./Ms.____,
I hope you are having a great day! My name is [your name], and I am a rising [grade] at [your school]. I read about your company on LinkedIn and found the concept quite interesting. For context, [briefly state how the company relates to your interests or experience].Â
I was wondering if you might be looking for interns. I know I would have a great deal to learn from working with you, and I would love to contribute in any way I can. I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,Â
[Your name]
Template for Finding a Research Position
Subject: Student Reaching Out
Dear Professor/Dr. ____,
I hope you are having a great day! My name is [your name], and I am a rising [grade] at [your school]. I recently read your paper on [restate the abstract] in [name of publication] and was quite intrigued by [part you found interesting]. I was wondering if I might be able to intern for you over this summer. [Elaborate on your relevant skills and experience and why you are passionate about the field].Â
I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!Â
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Conclusion
No matter if you’re targeting big-name law firms or firing off cold emails to attorneys across the city, landing a legal internship in Boston as a high schooler comes down to one thing: persistence. These spots are competitive, but almost every student who pushes through says the early experience, contacts, and confidence are absolutely worth the effort. If this article gave you some clarity and inspiration for your search—bookmark it or send it to a friend who’s also on the hunt.
Good luck on your internship search. You’ve got this!