DOL EMPLOYEE BENEFITS SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN WASHINGTON DC

The Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits offers a student internship program with the Office of Enforcement of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the United States Department of Labor in its Washington, D.C. location. The Office of Enforcement promotes the protection of pension and welfare benefits under ERISA by ensuring a strong and effective enforcement program through policy formulation, project identification and implementation, guidance development and implementation, and by acting as a liaison with other EBSA offices, Department of Labor agencies and other government entities. The Office of Enforcement establishes a general framework through which the agency’s enforcement activities can be efficiently and effectively focused. The investigative staff in EBSA’s field offices conducts investigations to detect and correct violations of Title I of ERISA and related criminal laws. EBSA’s benefit advisors respond to telephone, written and electronic inquiries from plan participants, employers and plan sponsors, assisting them in understanding their rights and obligations under the law and in obtaining benefits that may have been denied.

As an internship, the student will be paid, but will not receive academic credit hours.  The pay grade for this position is either a GS-5 or GS-7, depending on qualifications.

The purpose of the DOL internship is to provide employee benefits students with a blend of theory and practice of law that would assist them in their later practice of law.

Details of this DOL internship program include:

(1) It is supervised by Professor Kathryn Kennedy, a full-time faculty member (referred to as the program director) in conjunction with Dennis Fish, Investigator at the EBSA’s National Office in Washington, D.C.

(2) Students interested in applying to the program must have taken Fundamentals I and II courses (EB 361 and EB 362) and be enrolled as a candidate for a joint degree or LL.M. degree program in employee benefits. Students with a quantitative undergraduate degree (e.g., accounting, math, finance) are preferred. Students must be in good academic standing in order to apply. The DOL requires students to forward a copy of the student’s law school transcript, a writing sample, and three professional recommendations. Interviews will then be scheduled via phone conference with Mr. Fish before he selects a qualified extern.

(3) An initial on-site visit will be conducted by the Program Director prior to selecting the first Intern. On-going visits will be made on as-need basis; the program director will be in email or phone contact with Mr. Fish.

(4) The classroom component consists of meeting with the program director weekly or every other week to update him/her on the student’s progress in the program. Other educational experiences consist of assisting DOL attorneys on current projects.

(5) Summaries of the students’ assignments will be placed in the student’s file. At the conclusion of the summer, the student’s DOL supervisor will prepare a formal written evaluation (sample copy attached) of the student’s proficiencies and deficiencies in legal skills and general traits, to be placed in the student’s file.

(6) Each extern is assigned to a DOL supervising attorney, who is responsible for the intern’s orientation; verification of hours worked; introduction to other DOL attorneys, paralegals and clerical/administrative staff; assignment of work; and final evaluating of performance (listing of responsibilities attached).

(7) Formal written evaluation of the student’s performance is made at the end of each summer and forwarded to the program director. Students also must meet with the program director for an exit interview to assess the student’s intern experience. Copies of the student’s formal evaluation and the results of the exit interview are kept in the student’s file.

(8) Students are expected to be afforded a variety of writing experiences (e.g., memorandum, client letters, and policy guidelines) in their assignments.

(9) The number of students participating in the DOL internship will vary depending on the DOL’s need. We expect one student for the summer of 2008.

(10) List of current field placement supervisor with addresses and phone numbers:

Dennis Fish or Abbie Price

DOL EBSA

Office of Enforcement

Francis Perkins Building

200 Constitution Ave. NW Rm N-5702

Washington, DC 20010

(11) The educational objectives of this internship are as follows: to provide students with practical experience in a specialized area of employee benefits law by becoming thoroughly familiar with the legal and policy implications of the DOL employee benefits practice; to further develop research, writing and drafting skills; to learn practical lawyering skills of document review and application of law and policy. 

(12) Program director will keep in phone contact with the applicable DOL supervisor on a regular basis during the term of the externship, as well as periodic email/phone meetings with the student during the summer and a final exit interview. At the conclusion of each semester, the program director reports to the Dean and Professor Kandaras (director of the Clinical Education Program) by a written memorandum as to the results of the student’s experience.