Join Our Team

Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Martin Luther King Jr. Internship Program offers a paid ($4,000), 10-week summer opportunity for law students to gain hands-on experience in legal aid advocacy. MLK interns work under the supervision of experienced Legal Aid attorneys across the state, handling meaningful work on real cases for real clients. Interns also receive priority consideration for attorney positions after graduation. If you’re passionate about equal justice and want a meaningful, skill-building summer, consider becoming an MLK intern.

View counties served by each field office here: https://legalaidnc.org/offices/
Learn more about our statewide projects here: https://legalaidnc.org/projects/

Watch this video to learn more:

Applications are being accepted for Summer 2026 MLK interns in the following offices/statewide projects.

Offices:

*indicates a high-need rural office. Students otherwise interested in these locations who have questions about housing or other logistics are encouraged to still indicate them as preferred in their cover letter; LANC is committed to working with students to make these placement sites accessible.

Field office work will primarily involve LANC’s general areas of practice, including but not limited to housing, domestic violence, consumer law, and benefits. Additionally, interns in the Fayetteville/Pembroke and Smoky Mountains offices may gain exposure to cases involving Indian law and/or tribal courts. Learn more about our areas of work here: https://legalaidnc.org/get-help/.

Special Projects:

More information on the projects and their work can be found here: https://legalaidnc.org/projects/.  

Our internship program is closed for Summer 2026. Please check back in the fall for instructions on how to apply for Summer 2027.

Legal Aid of North Carolina welcomes law students who receive summer public interest funding from a law firm or other employer. We seek students who are committed to our mission of equal access to justice, understand the importance of civil legal aid, and have experience serving low-income or marginalized communities.

Our internship program is closed for Summer 2026. Please check back in the fall for instructions on how to apply for Summer 2027.

The Charles D. Dixon Fellowship offers two-year staff attorney positions in our Morganton office, which serves fives counties in northwest North Carolina.

Dixon Fellows handle a general caseload in traditional areas of poverty law practice, including housing, domestic violence, public benefits, consumer rights, employment and elder law issues.

Candidates must have a demonstrated commitment to social justice and community service, and be able to relate well to low-income people in a rural setting.

Charles D. Dixon (1925-2016), a longtime partner in the Hickory law firm of Patrick, Harper & Dixon, LLP, was a faithful pro bono volunteer in our Morganton office and a leader of numerous philanthropic projects in the Hickory community.

The Dixon Fellowship is funded by a $1 mil. endowment from his estate to the N.C. Bar Foundation Endowment’s Legal Aid of North Carolina Fund, which he helped launch in 2007 with a lead gift of $100,000.

The Judge Samuel J. Ervin III Fellowship is a one-year staff attorney position in our Morganton office, which provides free legal assistance in civil matters to low-income persons in Alexander, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, McDowell, Mitchell, Watauga and Yancey counties in northwest North Carolina.

Ervin Fellows are responsible for handling a general caseload in traditional areas of poverty law practice, including housing, employment, consumer, public benefits, and elder law issues.

Ervin Fellow candidates will be expected to have demonstrated their commitment to community service and be able to relate well to low-income people in a rural setting. Candidates should expect to be licensed to practice law in North Carolina when their fellowship begins, usually in September.

Judge Samuel J. Ervin III served as judge and Chief Judge of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals for nearly 20 years. He had an exemplary record of public service as state legislator and judge, and two tours of duty in the U.S. Army prior to his elevation to the Circuit Court by President Carter in 1980. He was a graduate of Davidson College and Harvard Law School.

The Ervin Fellowship is funded in memory of Judge Ervin’s commitment to equal justice and public service. The fellowship is intended to provide legal aid to clients in Judge Ervin’s hometown of Morganton and the surrounding area.

The Clifton W. Everett Sr. Community Lawyer Fellowship, established in 1992, offers one-year staff attorney positions for recent law school graduates who are committed to serving low-income North Carolinians in rural areas.

Everett Fellows begin their service every year in September, after they have graduated law school and passed the N.C. Bar Exam.

Everett Fellows are selected based on their legal abilities and demonstrated commitment to social justice. They must be dedicated to making the legal system responsive to those who have been marginalized by both poverty and geography. They must be ready to accept the challenging and rewarding tasks of a full-fledged attorney who serves rural communities.

Everett Fellows are responsible for handling a general caseload in the traditional areas of poverty law practice on behalf of clients who live in rural areas. Types of cases usually involve housing, employment, consumer, domestic and/or public benefits.

The Everett Fellowship program is funded by the board of trustees of the N.C. State Bar’s Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program in memory of Clifton W. Everett Sr., a lifetime resident of eastern North Carolina who served as president of the N.C. State Bar and vice-chairman and member of the IOLTA program’s board of trustees. He dedicated his life to the extension of justice in rural parts of eastern North Carolina.

The Lawrence Nestler Native American Legal Fellowship offers a staff attorney position for a recent law school graduate to work in our Smoky Mountain Office (Sylva/Murphy) serving enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI).

Nestler Fellows are selected based on their legal abilities and their demonstrated commitment to social justice, particularly rural and tribal community service. They must be ready to accept the challenging and rewarding tasks of full-fledged attorneys who serve and live in rural communities.

Nestler Fellows will represent EBCI clients in LANC priority practice areas such as housing, employment, consumer, domestic violence, and public benefits, appear before the Cherokee Tribal Court, coordinate referrals with EBCI Legal Assistance Office and tribal partners, provide community legal education, and assist with periodic Native American community needs assessments.   We are honored to dedicate this fellowship to Larry Nestler, whose foundational work supporting Cherokee legal services and the Cherokee Tribal Court laid the ground for ensuring access to justice in this community and reflects the values this fellowship is intended to carry forward. Larry founded what would go on to become the Smoky Mountains office of LANC and has also been a steady mentor and leader throughout his career. He has shaped generations of legal aid attorneys through his generosity, wisdom, and open-door approach.

The Pierce Fellowships is a one-year attorney fellowship to expand civil legal services for members of the Lumbee community and residents of Robeson and surrounding counties (Scotland, Hoke and Cumberland), strengthen recruitment of attorneys committed to rural and Native American communities, and honor the legacy of Lumbee attorney and leader Julian T. Pierce. The Fellow provides direct civil legal representation to Lumbee and other eligible clients in LANC priority practice areas, including housing stability, domestic violence protection, access to public benefits, and consumer protection. The Fellow will work closely with community partners, tribal leaders, and local organizations serving Native American communities in Robeson County and the surrounding region.

Legal Aid of North Carolina traces part of its history to the founding of Lumbee River Legal Services in 1976, a program created to expand civil legal assistance for low-income residents in Robeson County and surrounding communities. Lumbee attorney Julian T. Pierce (1950–1988) was among the early lawyers associated with that effort, helping build legal services capacity in a region marked by deep rural poverty and a large Native American population. His work reflected a deep commitment to ensuring that the legal system served Lumbee families and other underserved communities in southeastern North Carolina.

Pierce was raised in Robeson County. He attended Pembroke State University (later renamed University of North Carolina at Pembroke) and earned his law degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law. Early in his career, he represented low-income residents through Lumbee River Legal Services, focusing on removing legal barriers that affected Lumbee families and other rural residents.

Pierce played a significant role in the Lumbee Tribe’s long effort to secure full federal recognition. In 1987, he helped prepare and submit a comprehensive petition to the U.S. Department of the Interior seeking federal recognition for the tribe. Pierce’s legacy remains deeply connected to legal services, tribal leadership, and the pursuit of justice in eastern North Carolina. The cause to which he devoted so much of his life moved forward decades later when the Lumbee Tribe was granted full federal recognition in 2025.

We are not currently accepting applications for any of our fellowships. Please check back here in Fall 2026 or email jobs@legalaidnc.org to be notified when we next post a fellowship opening.

Legal Aid of North Carolina has partnered with applicants successfully on project-based fellowship applications including the Skadden Fellowship and the Equal Justice Works Design-Your-Own Fellowship. We are also open to interest in applying to other legal project-based fellowships, such as Justice Catalyst or internal law school-specific fellowships. Our internal committee will decide which fellowships we are willing to pursue with a given applicant based on your application proposal and our internal funding resources.

Click here to learn more.

Please note this process is only for law students and law graduates seeking external fellowship funding.