Before your first firm internship, the not-knowing is the worst part. You picture walking in and being handed something you have no idea how to do, while everyone silently wonders how you got in. Let me take that fear off the table right now: firms know you’re a student.
Nobody expects you to draft a merger agreement on day two. What they expect is that you’re willing, careful, and useful with the tasks that are suited to an intern. And those tasks are very learnable. Here’s exactly what they look like.
Quick answer: what law firm interns do
Law firm interns mostly do legal research, prepare first drafts and summaries, assist with due diligence and document review, and observe how associates and partners work. You’re supporting live matters in small, defined ways, not running them. Done well, this support is genuinely valuable to a team, which is exactly why good interns get remembered.
The core tasks, explained
Legal research. The most common intern task. An associate needs to know the position on a point of law and asks you to find it. The skill isn’t just searching. It’s reading what you find, understanding it, and turning it into a clear, usable research note with the relevant authorities and reasoning. A concise, well-structured research note is one of the fastest ways to impress.
- First drafts and summaries. You might prepare the first draft of a clause, summarise the facts, compile a chronology of key dates, or prepare a note on a document. Your work will be reviewed, revised, and refined, and that’s exactly how the process is meant to work. Your job is to give the associate a strong starting point, not a perfect final product.
- Due diligence and document review. On corporate matters, interns often help review documents and flag key points, for example, noting particular clauses across a set of contracts. It can be repetitive, but it teaches you how deals are actually checked, and attention to detail here gets noticed.
- Reading and understanding matters. You’ll spend time simply getting up to speed on what a matter is about. This isn’t “nothing”; understanding context is what lets you do the other tasks well.
- Observing. Sitting in on calls, discussions or, in disputes, hearings. Watch how questions get asked, how problems get framed, and how senior lawyers think. This is real learning, even when you’re not producing anything.
What’s expected of you (and what isn’t)
- Expected: that you’re punctual, careful, and communicative; that you try before you ask; that you proofread; that you take feedback well; and that you’re pleasant to have around
- Not expected: that you already know how to do everything, that you never make a mistake, or that you produce polished work with no guidance. The gap between those two lists is where a lot of unnecessary intern anxiety lives. Let it go.
YLCC ACTION STEP: When you’re given your first task, before you start, confirm you’ve understood it: “Here’s what I think you need and how I’ll approach it, does that sound right?” Getting the brief right is more than half the job, and it instantly signals you’re switched on.
Is intern work boring?
Sometimes, yes, parts of it are repetitive, and not every task is exciting. That’s true of real legal work too, so it’s useful to see it now. But here’s the reframe: even the “boring” tasks are teaching you how legal work is actually done, and how well you handle them is exactly what earns you more interesting work. Interns who do the dull tasks carefully get trusted with better ones. Interns who visibly can’t be bothered get handed nothing, which is the real recipe for a boring internship.
PLEASE DON’T DO THIS: Please don’t sit quietly for hours hoping someone notices you have nothing to do. If you’re free, ask, “Is there anything I can help with?” Availability and initiative are half of what makes an intern useful.
Litigation and in-house teams: how it differs
The core skills remain the same: research, drafting, and understanding legal matters. What changes is the nature of the work. In a disputes or litigation team, you’ll spend more time on case law research and may have the opportunity to observe court hearings. In an in-house legal team, you’ll see more contract review and learn how legal supports business decisions on a day-to-day basis. The underlying skills are the same, but the environment is different. That’s why interning in different settings is one of the best ways to discover what suits you.
FAQs
- Will I do “real” legal work as an intern? Yes. Research, drafting and review are real work that supports live matters. You won’t run matters, but your contribution is genuinely used.
- What if I don’t know how to do a task? Try first, then ask a specific question. Nobody expects an intern to know everything; they expect you to make a sincere attempt and communicate.
- Is a law firm internship boring? Parts can be repetitive, but that’s true of legal work generally. Handling those tasks well is what earns you more interesting ones.
- How do I stand out as an intern? Submit clean, usable work, meet deadlines, proofread, take feedback well, and be easy to work with. Reliability stands out more than brilliance.
- Do interns get to observe hearings or meetings? Often, yes, especially in dispute teams. Treat observation as active learning, not downtime.
Thank you for reading!
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