Sample cover letter for Internship position at The Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts

Dear Ms. Kaban,

I am a second-year student at the University of Virginia School of Law. I write to express my sincere interest in working with the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts as an Intern for the summer of 2005. I learned of your organization when I participated in the Children’s Law Network training program that took place at my law school in October. I met Brigid Kennedy-Pfister at that time and she encouraged me to forward my application materials for a summer internship with the Children’s Law Center. The efforts of your organization in providing legal services to children and their families and to train the individuals who work closely and most often with children are commendable. While I developed my interest in working with young people in college, my experience as an Academic Counselor with the Virginia Tech Upward Bound program solidified that interest. Upward Bound is a federally-funded program that works to encourage atrisk youth to matriculate from high school to college. Last summer, I worked as a Law Clerk with the JustChildren program in Charlottesville. As you are likely aware, JustChildren works to insure that young people in Virginia have access to the services and supports necessary to live successful lives in their communities. I remain in contact with the JustChildren staff, including the program’s director, Andy Block, who supervised my internship. It was Andy who invited me to participate in the Children’s Law Network events. While clerking, I was able to complete several legal research and writing projects that assisted my supervising and other staff attorneys in trials and hearings and in pending class actions and other litigation. I was also fortunate to interact with clients directly and assumed responsibilities for several clients throughout the summer, including three young men imprisoned in the state’s juvenile detention centers. I learned a lot from this experience and in addition to developing my research and writing skills, my experiences with JustChildren have lead me to want to explore how children are treated outside of Virginia. Your organization’s work matches nicely with my past work and the type of work I envision doing as an attorney. It is my strong desire to continue to be an advocate for children. As such, I think my work with the Children’s Law Center will be mutually beneficial. I should add that your work in educational matters is of special interest to me because I hope to eventually focus my work in children’s law on the legal issues that children face in school systems. I am enclosing my resume and a writing sample for your review. I would appreciate having the opportunity to interview with you at your convenience. You may contact me at the number above or by e-mail at [email protected] to set a meeting time. I look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for your consideration. 

Sincerely yours, 

Jane Q. Publico 

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