Greater Colorado
Law Student Experience
The Greater Colorado Law Student Experience is an internship/externship opportunity desigend to expose law students to legal practice in a rural Colorado community.
The Greater Colorado Law student expereince provides students with an immersive opportuntiy to grow in your legal skills while living and working in a rural Colroado community.
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Students take part in a combined Judicial and Private Practice/Public Interest based internship in one of six sites across Colorado. In addition to the unique blend of time working in the courts and working with a community partner, interns also have Fridays off, to explore their community and Greater Colorado!
To Apply
Send your Resume & Cover Letter to
By February 14th
The first reason to explore a legal career in rural Colorado is the need. Twenty-six of Colorado's 64 counties meet the ABA's definition for a rural legal desert.* When you take into account the number of attorneys in rural communities who are judges, work for the government, or hold some other position that makes them unavailable to help address their community's civil legal needs, a full 60% of Colorado counties are effectively legal deserts and another 15-20% are on the verge of being legal deserts. That means that across most of the state, when people have life problems, there are not enough attorneys and other legal resources to help people find legal solutions to those problems. Attorneys are essential to helping people know how to navigate the legal system and understand what legal remedies exist to solve their problems. Attorneys also play a vital role in the economic health of a community, helping to establish small businesses and to plan for the seamless transfer of property from one generation to the next.
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The second reason to explore a legal career in rural Colorado is the opportunity. As a student you can begin to build relationships with judges and other community leaders that you might not have access to in larger communities. You can see the impact of your work, on individuals and in the community as a whole. Past interns have said they felt like "rock stars" in the community during their internship because their presence was so universally appreciated. And life happens at a different pace in rural communities. In rural Colorado it can be much easier to find a work-life balance that is more difficult to achieve in busier metro areas.
The Details
Dates: June 2nd - July 25th (8 weeks)
Stipend: Interns receive a $5000 to help cover the cost of housing and living expenses.
Other Dates: In addition to the program dates, we ask all interns to participate in two pre-intership meetings and a post-internship wrap up.***
Sites
When you apply to the Greater Colorado Law Student Experience you apply to the program as a whole. after the interview process, interns are assigned to a site. We will take preferences and connections to sites into consideration, but we do not guarantee placement at any specific site. Each site brings unique opportunities to discover different parts of the state. In 2025 our sites are:
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Alamosa​ Central Mountains
Cortez Northern CO
Pueblo Southeastern CO
Other Information
Rural communities are often spread over a large geographical area. As such, many of our sites require interns to have reliable transportation to move between court houses and around the judicial district. Please be aware that a car in good working order is a must for this internship.
​
Housing costs vary from site to site. We will help interns find housing in each placement. Interns are assigned to placements in pairs. In most circumstances housing is more affordable if interns choose to share housing with the other intern assigned to the same site (this is by no means a requirement, just something to be aware of).
Greater Colorado
Law Student Experience
The Greater Colorado Law Student Experience is an internship/externship opportunity desigend to expose law students to legal practice in a rural Colorado community.
The Greater Colorado Law student experience provides students with an immersive opportunity to grow in their legal skills while living and working in a rural Colorado community.
​
Students take part in a combined judicial and private practice/public interest based internship in one of six sites across Colorado. In addition to the unique blend of time working in the courts and working with a community partner, interns also have Fridays off, to explore their community and Greater Colorado!
To Apply
Send your Resume & Cover Letter to
By February 14th
Why Rural Colorado?
The first reason to explore a legal career in rural Colorado is the need. Twenty-six of Colorado's 64 counties meet the ABA's definition of a rural legal desert.* When you take into account the number of attorneys in rural communities who are judges, work for the government, or hold some other position that makes them unavailable to help address their community's civil legal needs, a full 60% of Colorado counties are effectively legal deserts. Another 15-20% of Colorado counties are on the verge of being legal deserts. That means, across most of the state when people have life problems there are not enough attorneys and other legal resources to help people find legal solutions to those problems.**
​
The second reason to explore a legal career in rural Colorado is the opportunity. As a student, you can build relationships with judges and other community leaders that you might not have access to in larger communities. You can see the impact of your work on individuals and in the community as a whole. Past interns have said they felt like a "rock stars" in the community during their internship because their presence was so universally appreciated. And life happens at a different pace in rural communities. In rural Colorado, it can be much easier to find a work-life balance that is more difficult to achieve in busier metro areas.
Program Details
Dates: June 2nd - July 25th (8 weeks)
Stipend: Interns receive a $5000 to help cover the cost of housing and living expenses.
Other Dates: In addition to the program dates, we ask all interns to participate in two pre-intership meetings and a post-internship wrap up.***
​
If you have any questions, email Jason Roberts at jroberts@coloradoaccesstojustice.org
Sites
When you apply to the Greater Colorado Law Student Experience you apply to the program as a whole. After the interview process, interns are assigned to a site. We will take preferences and connections to sites into consideration, but we do not guarantee placement at any specific site. Each site brings unique opportunities to discover different parts of the state. In 2025 our sites are:
​
Alamosa​ Central Mountains
Cortez Northern CO
Pueblo Southeastern CO
Other Information
Rural communities are often spread over a large geographical area. As such, many of our sites require interns to have reliable transportation to move between courthouses and around the judicial district. Please be aware that a car in good working order is a must for this internship.
​
Housing costs vary from site to site. We will help interns find housing in each placement. Interns are assigned to placements in pairs. In most circumstances, housing is more affordable if interns choose to share housing with the other intern assigned to the same site (this is by no means a requirement, just something to be aware of).
* The American Bar Association defines a county as a rural legal desert if there is less than 1 attorney for every 1000 residents.
​
** Attorneys are essential to helping people know how to navigate the legal system and understand what legal remedies exist to solve their problems. Attorneys also play a vital role in the economic health of a community, helping to establish small businesses and to plan for the seamless transfer of property from one generation to the next.
​
*** In late April, interns will be asked to participate in a "meet and greet" Zoom call to meet the other interns and the leadership from their assigned site. The week before the internship begins (the last week of May), interns will participate in an orientation program, also held over Zoom. Following the end of the internship, we will ask interns to debrief their experience and share feedback about the program.