Are you graduating from law school in 2026, or are you a lawyer with roughly 0–2 years of legal experience? Do you want to write briefs on the most important cases of the year to defend individual liberty and robust constitutional rights? Then, apply to be a legal associate at the Cato Institute for the 2026–2027 term.
Are you a current law student looking for a summer 2026 internship, and do you likewise want to research and write on the most important cases in the country? Apply for a Cato Institute internship with a placement in our Center for Constitutional Studies, where you’ll support everything the Center does.
As I have recounted, I had both of these jobs early in my legal career, and both were vital to my development as a lawyer, thinker, and writer. Legal associates are given the independence and trust to take the initiative at every stage of the brief-writing process. This includes developing arguments, communicating with party counsel, researching, and drafting. Legal associates receive intensive, one-on-one training and feedback to develop their legal writing skills. Cato amicus briefs are routinely filed in the US Supreme Court, federal appellate courts, and state supreme courts.
In addition, legal associates assist in other projects, such as editing the Cato Supreme Court Review and researching and writing for other Cato strategic initiatives. Associates are fully immersed in the intellectual life of the Cato Institute and have opportunities to meet and assist scholars in a wide range of issue areas.
The legal associate job is ideal training for a career in pro-liberty litigation. Legal associates have gone on to work at such pro-liberty organizations as Pacific Legal Foundation, Institute for Justice, National Federation of Independent Business, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Texas Public Policy Foundation, NetChoice, Mountain States Legal Foundation, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Liberty Justice Center, Washington Legal Foundation, as well as state and federal clerkships, Capitol Hill jobs, and many more. And a legal internship at Cato is an ideal stepping stone for a post-graduation legal associate position.
If you are interested in applying and would like more information, feel free to reach out to me at tberry@cato.org. And if you would like me to speak at your law school about both associate and internship positions, I will do everything I can to visit in person or, if not possible, speak via Zoom. Legal associates will begin in late summer or early fall of 2026 (exact dates are flexible), and summer internships will last from late May to mid-August.
Applications for the legal associate position are open now and will be considered on a rolling basis, so the earlier you apply, the better. Applications for summer internships will be open from December 30 through February 16. I can attest that for the right lawyers, both jobs can be life-changing, and so I hope you’ll consider applying.