The FAA is the acknowledged leader in aviation and aerospace transportation. Our mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aviation system in the world. The Office of the Chief Counsel (AGC) plays a vital role in supporting the agency’s mission by furnishing in-house legal services to agency officials and offices on a variety of matters including regulatory law, federal procurement law, federal grant law, and environmental law; representing the FAA in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on a variety of matters pending in the federal courts, including torts, constitutional takings, employment and labor law, airports and environmental law, and administrative law; representing the FAA before the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Additionally, most of the FAA’s contract matters are resolved through the agency’s Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition (ODRA). As part of the Department of Transportation (DOT), our attorneys work closely with the DOT’s Office of General Counsel on issues of significance to the aviation industry.
Our diverse legal practice provides a wealth of opportunities for interested law students, and AGC is committed to offering interns a meaningful and rewarding experience. In addition to substantive assignments and opportunities to brief senior leaders, our program emphasizes mentoring and career development. In the summer, students make offsite visits to local FAA and NTSB facilities and meet weekly for brown bag lunch discussions with senior leaders.
We offer full-time summer and part-time fall and spring semester legal internships to current law students who will be continuing in law school after their internships. We do not permit split summers. Most internships are located in our Washington, D.C., headquarters. The internships are unpaid but offer the opportunity to work directly with our senior staff in one or more practice areas on a variety of substantive assignments. Interns also can consider earning academic credit for their work with us. Learn more about the offices in headquarters where we expect to hire interns this year by reviewing our practice areas.
In addition to the headquarters internships, internships often are available in the FAA's regional and center legal offices. Students may inquire about and apply for regional or center legal internships by directly contacting those offices or by applying through the Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups (STIPDG).
Qualifications
We invite applications from first-year and second-year law students who are United States citizens. Our interns generally rank in the top third of their class with many in the top ten percent.
How to apply
To apply for an internship in our Washington, DC headquarters, submit a current resume, a copy of your undergraduate and law school transcripts, a short writing sample (not exceeding 5 pages), and a cover letter identifying the principal practice area(s) in which you are interested to: 9-AWA-AGC-Internship@faa.gov. We strongly recommend identifying the principal practice area(s) using the Division Preference Form and email with your application materials. Please include your name and the program for which you are applying (e.g., Spring 2023, or Summer 2023) in the e-mail subject line. Your attachments should be in Adobe PDF format. If you need to update your original application package, please add "amended" to the e-mail subject line.
Application deadlines
- Spring 2023: December 2, 2022
- Summer 2023: March 3, 2023
It is advantageous to apply early, as we consider applications on a rolling basis and make many offers in advance of the stated deadlines.
Interviews are conducted via online video conferencing, but local candidates may request an in-person interview. Regrettably, we cannot respond to application status inquiries, and it may not be possible for us to confirm receipt of your application due to the number of applicants.
Thank you for your interest in the FAA's Office of the Chief Counsel. We look forward to hearing from you.
Maria Surdokas
Attorney and Co-Director, Law Honors Intern Program
Employment and Labor Law Division
Office of the Chief Counsel
Email: 9-AWA-AGC-Internship@faa.gov
Jack F. Williams
Attorney and Co-Director, Law Honors Intern Program
Airports and Environmental Law Division
Office of the Chief Counsel
Email: 9-AWA-AGC-Internship@faa.gov
Last updated: Friday, September 08, 2023