Have you ever financed a car or shopped online? Have you exercised your right to receive a free credit report, or used the National Do Not Call Registry to block unwanted telemarketing calls? Do you ever refer to product warranties, clothing care labels, or stickers showing the energy costs of home appliances? If so, you have been taking advantage of laws enforced by the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection!
The Bureau of Consumer Protection’s mandate is to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices. The Bureau enforces a variety of consumer protection laws enacted by Congress, as well as trade regulation rules issued by the Commission. Its actions include individual company and industry-wide investigations, administrative and federal court litigation, rulemaking proceedings, and consumer and business education. In addition, the Bureau contributes to the Commission’s ongoing efforts to inform Congress and other government entities of the impact that proposed actions could have on consumers.
The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection hires second year law students for its Summer Honors Legal Internship Program. We look for highly motivated law students with an interest in working with all of the following divisions throughout the summer: Advertising Practices, Enforcement, Financial Practices, Marketing Practices, and Privacy and Identity Protection. We offer substantive legal work that gives interns an opportunity to demonstrate their writing, analytical, and advocacy skills. The small size of the program enables interns to be fully integrated onto investigative teams and take on meaningful assignments with significant responsibility. Assignments may include: drafting pleadings, discovery requests and responses; appearing at hearings and depositions with Bureau attorneys; attending meetings with parties and their outside counsel; leading interview calls and summarizing findings through written reports; reviewing documents; and researching a wide range of legal issues. Each legal intern will be paired up with an attorney mentor.
The Summer Honors Legal Internship Program is an unpaid position. Law clerks typically work at least eight weeks, and usually up to twelve weeks. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and have completed two years of law school by the beginning of the summer in which they participate in the program. Further, applicants must be continuing in legal studies in the fall semester following the summer program to be eligible for an internship.
For information about possible summer employment opportunities with the FTC outside of Washington, DC, see our Regional Offices page.
