Advanced Law & Trial Internship Tier I - Criminal Defense

Intern with a law firm

Program Information

Rising Freshman - Graduating Seniors

Georgetown University Washington, DC

Seven Days - Sunday to Saturday

July 9th - July 15th, 2023 or July 16th - July 22nd, 2023

View Program Schedule

$3,250 USD

Click for Financial Aid


The Program

The Advanced Law & Trial Internship is a first-of-its-kind accelerated internship that allows motivated high school students to intern with a law firm on an active criminal defense case. Cases are selected by legal advocacy groups in Washington D.C. where clients are in need of additional resources to be proved a proper defense.

Throughout their work with the firm, interns will develop and practice essential legal skills and gain an understanding of legal ethics from top law professors. Interns will work directly with attorneys on an active trial case, sift through legal documents, review evidence, and help prepare the clients and experts for trial. During the internship, students will advocate for their clients on Capitol Hill to senators, congressmen, and congressional leaders.

On the final day, interns will conduct a witness preparation session and perform pre-trial direct or cross-examination to prepare their client or expert witness for courtroom testimony.


Interns advocate for their clients on Capitol Hill and meet with Senators, Representatives, and Congressional leaders. Interns directly impact legislative policy priorities facing their clients and the nation by advocating for policy change.

Congressional Advocacy

Interns gain real-world experience assisting criminal defense attorneys with court documents, research, and trial preparation on an active trial case. Interns will develop cross and direct questions that will prepare their client or expert witness to take the stand in the fall of 2023.

Witness Prep

Participants intern for a top law firm and learn from some of the nation’s leading attorneys to develop a direct or cross-examination. Interns gain experience in the legal profession and preview what a future in the field of law holds for them.

Law Firm Internship

Program Highlights

Rebekah Ropka

Boonsboro High School

2021 Advanced Law & Trial Internship

“Participating in this program was one of the best decisions I could’ve made for the summer before my freshman year of college. The staff was excellent and the guest speakers were not only incredible to listen to, but their insight and information were very important for someone who is interested in attending law school. We worked with two of the top criminal defense attorneys in Washington D.C. and got experience writing and reading legal documents, as well as presenting to members of congress. The experience and hands-on training I gained from this program were beyond what I could’ve hoped for and I highly recommend this program to others considering a career in law.”


Explore a legal career and work on a real case — before you graduate high school.

Explore a legal career and work on a real case — before you graduate high school.

Beyond the law firm they are interning for, students work closely with legal scholars and leaders from Georgetown University, Georgetown Law, the National Reentry Network, the Public Defenders Service, the District of Columbia Police Department, practicing attorneys, and former Justice Department officials.

Explore a legal career and work on a real case — before you graduate high school.

In previous years, interns have fought against retaliation of a US Federal agent whistleblower, defended an individual accused of armed robbery of a postal truck, and prepared an expert witness to testify in a self-defense murder trial. Interns work directly on active trial cases in the DC Metro area that will be going to trial in the coming year.

Explore a legal career and work on a real case — before you graduate high school.

Interns explore Washington, DC, and attend an exclusive tour of the Supreme Court, meet with members of the US Congress and staffers on Capitol Hill, tour the National Mall and DC museums, present in the Stephen S. Weinstein Courtroom at the Washington College of Law, and experience life as a Georgetown University student in the Nation’s Capital.

Explore a legal career and work on a real case — before you graduate high school.

Interns have the rare opportunity to learn exactly what it takes to get into the Nation’s leading undergraduate colleges and law schools directly from admissions officers, including UCLA, Georgetown, Boston University, and Fordham University at our exclusive Undergraduate and Law School Admissions Panels.

Undergraduate Admissions Panels

Law School Admissions Panels

Explore a legal career and work on a real case — before you graduate high school.

Throughout the program, interns meet and network with leaders from The DC Public Defenders Service, US Federal Judges, the National Reentry Network, DC Police, Georgetown Law, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and more.

Explore a legal career and work on a real case — before you graduate high school.


All students who attend one of our Youth Development Programs will receive free SAT/ACT training through TestRocker, one-on-one admissions consulting with a former admissions officer, essay editing assistance, two letters of recommendation, and scholarship application assistance. These benefits remain available for four years to allow nominations for rising freshmen through rising seniors.

Click on each academic benefit below to learn more :

1. SAT/ACT Training

2. Admissions Panels

3. College Essay Assistance

4. Letters of Recommendation

5. College Probability Modeling

6. Personalized Websites

Jumpstart your college experience.

All summer program participants will receive one year of free online SAT/ACT training from TestRocker valued at over $1200.

Featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Huffington Post, TestRocker is the premier online SAT/ACT training resource for high school students across the United States.

TestRocker utilizes personalized learning that incorporates technology & quality content to enable students to drastically increase their ability to take college standardized tests.

TestRocker combines highly-effective private tutors with the best technology on the market to increase student scores.

Students have increased their SAT & ACT scores by an average of 280 points and 4 points, respectively.

SAT/ACT Training

Back To Overview

Summer program students will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a college admissions expert. They will help walk students through the ins-and-outs of college applications, essay writing, and scholarships.

Students can speak directly with former admissions officers from schools such as Yale, Brown & UCLA. These individuals have a minimum of 15 years of experience in the field of college admissions.

Students are recommended to have their most pressing questions about the college application process ready so they can have them answered by someone who knows the application system inside and out.

Past students have used this time to hone in on their essay topics, decide on how many colleges to apply to, and create application time lines.

College Admissions Panel

Back To Overview

Back To Overview

All Youth Development Program paticipants receive one-on-one essay editing assistance from Leadership Initiatives partner University Connection.

This offer is exclusive, and not available with any other institution or program!

Each student essay will be edited to ensure it makes an excellent impression at every stage of the competitive application process. The editors will improve the style, clarity, sentence structure and coherence of your application so that your achievements are noticed.

Editors bring their experience in many different backgrounds, including Science and Technology, Commerce, Management, and the Humanities.

College Essay Review

Back To Overview

All participants in the Youth Development Programs will have the opportunity to have two written for them from any Leadership Initiatives staff member, including the Executive Director Marshall Bailly.

Students interns will also have the opportunity to have letters written by Leadership Initiatives partners from the International Business & Development Internship, International Public Health Internship, and International Law & Advocacy Internship.

These unique and complimentary letters are one of the most highly regarded benefits that Leadership Initiatives has. Below are sample letters from previous students:

Letters of Recommendation

Samantha Williams - Attending Harvard University

Meredith Karle - Full Scholarship to the University of North Carolina

Back To Overview

Leadership Initiatives creates a personalized website for each International Internship Program team highlighting their collaborative efforts with their partner in the International Business & Development Internship, International Law & Advocacy Internship, or International Public Health Internship.

The website displays your team's solutions, grant proposal, photos of your partners, and illustrates the impact your team has had on the life and community of your partners. The website link is included in your letters of recommendation, allowing colleges to independently explore the phenomenal work done by each and every student.

Personalized Website

Click here to view Youth Development Program websites.


Slide thumbnail

Experience life as a student at one of the nation's most prestigious universities.

Slide thumbnail

Experience life as a student at one of the nation's most prestigious universities.

Leadership Initiatives is committed to prioritizing the health and safety of our students, staff, and broader DC community. For this reason, we have gone above and beyond to ensure safety at all of our Youth Development Programs, including regular disinfection and health screenings, social distancing, specialized training, and maintaining all DC and CDC guidelines for COVID safety.

Click here to review our health and safety measures.

Slide thumbnail

Experience life as a student at one of the nation's most prestigious universities.

Participants become a part of the Georgetown community of students and staff who live together in the New South Residence Hall. Students live in two-person rooms and may select their roommate upon enrolling in the program. Leadership Initiatives will provide bedding, towels, and pillows. Each dorm room is air-conditioned and includes a bed, study desk, closet & Wi-Fi. Lounges, game rooms, laundry facilities, and our offices are located in the residence hall. With afternoon activities in the Georgetown Quad and outings along famous M Street, participants are immersed in life as a student.

Slide thumbnail

Experience life as a student at one of the nation's most prestigious universities.

Leadership Initiatives provides three meals, snacks, and drinks as a part of the program tuition. Students order meals on their mobile phones from a selection of local restaurants, including Chipotle, We the Pizza, Georgetown Gourmet, Subway, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Falafel Inc., and Johnny Rockets. Meals are delivered directly to the students, and snacks and drinks are available in dorm lounges throughout the day.

Partnership Restaurants

Slide thumbnail

Experience life as a student at one of the nation's most prestigious universities.

Students are responsible for the cost of travel to and from the internship. Leadership Initiatives provides program participants shuttle service between DCA or IAD airports and campus on the start and end dates of the program for a fee of $35 each way. Upon acceptance, you will receive instructions on how to sign up for the airport shuttle service.

Leadership Initiatives staff members will meet the students at baggage claim and then escort students directly to registration at Georgetown University.



Program Tuition & Assistance

All-Inclusive Program Tuition

Student Fundraising Program

Assistance Scholarships

No-Interest Payment Plans

Learn More

Learn More

Learn More

Learn More

Program tuition covers the cost of room and board, ground transportation during the program, a 5:1 student to faculty and staff ratio, all curriculum, and materials.

Education assistance covered by tuition includes one-on-one college admissions counseling sessions, lecture fees, mentor sessions with experts, workshops, and all academic benefits, including SAT/ACT training through TestRocker and college essay editing.

Scholarships, payment plans, and fundraising assistance are available.

All-Inclusive Tuition

Back To Overview

No-Interest Payment Plans

Back To Overview

Leadership Initiatives offers a variety of flexible options to pay for program tuition.

Zero-interest payment plans are available in three, six, nine, and twelve-month payment options.

Participants can opt to pay the entirety of their remaining tuition balance off at any point during the payment period.

Reserve a place today with a $100 refundable deposit here.

Back To Overview

Fundraising Assistance

Leadership Initiatives is dedicated to providing opportunities for everyone who shows drive, determination, and grit towards their future goals. We have created a fundraising department to help students participate in one of our summer internships.

If you choose the fundraising option, you will meet one-on-one with a fundraising coach who will assist in creating a comprehensive fundraising campaign.

Fundraising also allows participants to go on an 18-month payment plan with a deposit. Designed for students in financial need this fundraising option allows students to hold several fundraisers to pay for their tuition. 

Click here to view the 2021 Fundraising Guide.

Back To Overview

Scholarships

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, all Leadership Initiatives programs are heavily subsidized by our sponsors allowing us to offer programs with academic benefits at a lower cost than for-profit institutions.

To apply for a scholarship click here to fill out the program interest form and indicate you are interested in a scholarship.

Please note scholarships do not stack (this means you can only use one scholarship per program).


Partners and Sponsors


Our office in Washington, DC is open seven days a week - give us a call! A phone conversation allows us to answer your specific questions and provide you with contact information for previous intership participants and their families so that you can get a first-hand perspective.

Enroll Now

Set Up A Call Today

Join us this summer!