Topics We Cover:
- Why Do Internships in High School?
- How to Find Legal Internships for High School Students in Chicago
- 7 Legal Internships for High School Students in Chicago
- Cold Outreach Strategy for High School Legal Internships
- Email Template for Finding a High School Internship
Legal internships for high school students in Chicago offer a great opportunity for Second City teens to build skills, gain firsthand experience, explore careers, and develop their professional network—ultimately helping them launch a career in law.
Why Do Internships in High School?
High school internships—and more specifically, legal internships for high school students in Chicago—can also increase your odds of acceptance at a top college. PRISM, the premier student-run consultancy at the University of Chicago, found that almost three-quarters of students attending U.S. News Top 50 universities completed at least one internship during high school.
Working a high school internship shows that you’ve pursued your interests outside of the classroom and verified them with real-world experience—all of which can distinguish you among a crowded field of college applicants.
Engaging in a high school internship can also make it easier to secure future opportunities, such as college internships and admission to pre-professional groups—for example, pre-law societies, mock trial teams, Model United Nations, and advocacy groups.
How to Find Legal Internships for High School Students in Chicago
Online is a great place to begin your search for legal internships for high school students in Chicago. StandOutSearch—the largest free online database of teen internships—is one noteworthy resource. It features filters that allow you to search by everything from field of interest to location to compensation (paid vs. unpaid). Curated lists, like this catalog of summer programs and internships from MIT Admissions, are also helpful.
The upside of official internship programs is that they’re relatively easy to discover; the downside is that they’re often incredibly competitive. Consequently, if you’re serious about securing an internship, you’ll want to form a cold outreach strategy—in other words, a strategy for contacting firms, groups, and nonprofits to inquire about internship opportunities.
Many students find the uncertainty of cold outreach intimidating. Fortunately, our guide and templates help reduce the anxiety that often comes with the process.
7 Legal Internships for High School Students in Chicago
Most of the legal internships for high school students in Chicago listed below have acceptance rates of 20% or lower, reflecting high demand compared with the limited number of available positions. We recommend applying to at least five opportunities.
If an internship below sparks your interest, mark its deadline on your calendar so you don’t miss out on an opportunity!
1. StandOut Connect
Ages: 15-19
Location: Virtual
Timeline: Summer, Spring, Fall, or Winter
Deadline: November 23, 2026 (Winter cohort)
StandOut Connect is a program that helps match gifted high school students with online internships in their industry of interest. Potential sectors include finance, STEM, medicine, law, arts, and more. StandOut Connect is funded by StandOutSearch, the largest free database for high school internships. The program has been featured in Forbes and was created with the help of investment from The University of Chicago's Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
2. Mikva Summer Fellows (MSF) Program
Ages: Seniors
Location: Chicago, IL
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Not yet announced
Mikva Summer Fellows (MSF), run by Mikva Challenge, places young people who have just finished high school in paid six-week roles in the offices of city, county, state and federal officials in the Chicago area. Fellows work 30 hours a week sometime between June and August and attend weekly workshops on community building, goal setting, leadership development and career readiness. Most recently, Cook County fellows earned $17 per hour. Applicants must live in Cook or Lake County and meet at least one Illinois Department of Human Services eligibility criterion; for 2026, they had to be 16 to 22 by July 1.
3. Saper Law Immersion Program
Ages: Freshmen-Seniors
Location: Chicago, IL
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Not yet announced
While not a traditional internship, this week-long program allows high school and college students to explore the legal profession. Participants take part in writing exercises, mock legal proceedings, and field trips, while also diving into legal issues related to social media and digital technology.
Students further prepare for the next step in their academic or professional journey by working on personal statements, practicing LSAT problems, and building a network of attorneys, judges, and law school faculty. The program accepts no more than 40 students annually.
4. Chicago Youth Service Corps
Ages: 16-18
Location: Chicago, IL
Timeline: Year-round
Deadline: Not yet announced
Run year-round by the City of Chicago, the Chicago Youth Service Corps pays young people ages 16 to 24 for community service, alongside project-based learning and leadership development. Members work on service projects that support their own city, grow personally and professionally, and build a network of service-focused peers. The corps belongs to Chicago Youth Works, the city's youth employment program formerly called One Summer Chicago. Launched in 2020, it employed more than 5,000 young people in its first two years. Applicants must live in the City of Chicago, and those under 18 need permission from a parent or guardian.
5. CAIR-Chicago Internship Program
Ages: Freshmen-Seniors
Location: Chicago, IL
Timeline: Winter/Spring, Summer, and Fall
Deadline: December 1, 2026
CAIR-Chicago is a career-oriented program, based in grassroots activism and focused on fighting bigotry, defending civil rights, and promoting tolerance. High school interns work in outreach and operations, helping with community events, civic engagement, research, and grant writing. Interns can earn academic credit or community service hours while learning, networking, and growing in a friendly, diverse environment.
6. Urban Alliance | High School Internship Program (HSIP)
Ages: Rising Seniors
Location: Chicago, IL
Timeline: Summer and School Year
Deadline: Not yet announced
Urban Alliance places Chicago high school seniors in paid jobs with public, private and nonprofit employers, and each placement continues through senior year. Interns first complete about six weeks of training in job skills, then attend weekly workshops on workplace skills, life skills and plans after graduation. School-year shifts run part time, Monday to Thursday, for at most 12 hours weekly, and summer schedules grow to as many as 32 hours. Interns can earn up to 500 paid hours at minimum wage or more, with support from an Urban Alliance program lead and a mentor at the job site. Rising seniors living in Chicago can apply.
7. Mikva Challenge Citywide Youth Council
Ages: Freshmen-Juniors
Location: Chicago, IL
Timeline: Summer and School Year
Deadline: Not yet announced
Mikva Challenge's Citywide Youth Councils bring together about 20 to 25 Chicago high school students to research issues and present policy proposals to decision makers in city government. The Safety and Justice Council focuses on juvenile justice, police accountability, and restorative justice, while the CPS Student Advisory Council works on education policy with Chicago Public Schools leadership. Councils meet 20 hours a week for six weeks in the summer and every other week during the school year.
For more options beyond Chicago, see our list of law internships for high school students.
Cold Outreach Strategy for High School Legal Internships
If the legal internships for high school students in Chicago listed above don’t excite you or don’t feel like the right fit, you’ll want to consider a cold outreach strategy. Cold outreach can feel overwhelming, but the included guide and templates should make the process simpler.
When reaching out to professionals you don’t know, put your safety first by scheduling interviews and meetings online, rather than in person.
How to Find Companies to Reach Out to for a High School Internship
LinkedIn is a great platform for discovering internship opportunities. Use it to find small firms, groups, and nonprofits. Smaller teams are often short-staffed and more likely to welcome a high school intern to help organize files, enter data, track cases, assist with research, and support ongoing initiatives.
When reaching out to professionals, try to find something to connect over—whether it’s a shared experience like volunteering for the same org, a mutual interest like a hobby, or a similar passion, like a sport.
How to Find Professors to Reach Out to for a High School Research Position
You can identify professors to contact about potential research positions by scouting university faculty directories. Understand that remote roles for high schoolers are rare, as most professors rely on high school interns to provide hands-on assistance.
One exception is computational research. These positions generally demand at least a foundational knowledge of programming languages such as Python and R, which you can learn on your own, for free, within a few months, using resources like Coursera’s Python for Everybody or R Programming.
How to Structure and Send Outreach Emails
When emailing professionals to inquire about potential internships, include a Google link to your resume. Links are preferable to attaching PDFs or Docs, which can cause delivery issues. Just remember to ensure the link settings allow anyone with it to view its contents.
The quality of your resume can make or break your cold outreach strategy. Whether you’re writing your first resume or brushing up on an existing one, our resume guide and template can help you craft an attention-grabbing, internship-earning resume. The University of Chicago’s resume toolkit is another helpful resource.
When crafting your resume, make sure to include any work experience and a portfolio of relevant work. For example, volunteering for a legal aid organization or advocacy groups, participation in law-related summer programs or workshops, or general research skills.
We recommended emailing at least 50 potential internship providers as part of your cold outreach plan.
Email Template for Finding a High School Internship
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.
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].
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,
[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].
I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Conclusion
Securing a legal internship in Chicago as a high schooler—through either official programs or cold outreach—requires tenacity. While the search can be grueling, the foundation it builds for your future career is second to none.
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