How to Hire Legal Interns (Legally)

It’s almost summer and law students from across the state is gearing up to get internships or Summer Associate positions.  There is a huge supply of law students and it naturally out paces the demand.  The law of supply and demand dictates that there would be intense wage depreciation due to a huge supply.  Some of us might be tempted to hire unpaid legal interns but be careful, because it could be illegal to do so.

In a recent NY Times article, they talk about this very issue of interns being paid nothing or next to nothing in return for substantial work.  Many times, this violates minimum wage employment laws since the employers are benefiting from the efforts of these interns.  There are Department of Labor Guidelines detailing when you can hire unpaid interns.

In and around Boston, one of the biggest suppliers of legal interns is Northeastern University School of Law.  This is due to their coop program that requires that to graduate, law students must complete 4 quarters of legal coops.  Some of these coops are paid and some are unpaid.  Largely, the students must secure the coops for themselves (with some help from the School).  So would hiring a Northeastern coop student for an unpaid quarter violate these laws?  I don’t have an answer to this but I suppose with all things – it depends.

Currently I’m employing a coop student but I pay her a stipend for being with me for 11 weeks.  It is a requirement that she have a coop in order to graduate and she also does not displace any workers in my office.  I’m training her in family law practice but in return, she’s helping me with divorce filings.  If this coop was unpaid, would it violate the regulations set forth by the DOL?  What about a stipend that amounts to less than minimum wage?