MHLAC strives to protect and advance the rights of persons with mental health challenges by addressing systemic issues through litigation, policy and education.
Areas of focus include family law; school exclusion and discipline; health care reform; due process rights for persons in psychiatric facilities and the community; mental health care for persons in jail; emergency room mistreatment; and access to state services.
We welcome undergraduate and graduate school students to assist us with projects and cases. Interns generally work on a wide range of tasks during their internship (i.e. legal and factual research and writing, attend meetings, interview clients, case management, litigation prep, and participate in court and administrative proceedings).
Most internships are hybrid. In very limited circumstances, a fully remote internship option may be available.
Office location information: 100 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA
Accessibility: Our office is accessible by the T (10 min walk), and there is a free T shuttle bus that stops at the front of our building and at the local T stop. There is also free parking on site.
Semester Internships
Semester internships are generally part-time (at least 10 hours per week), for credit (through the student’s educational institution), and consider students’ class schedules. We require at least one day in person in the office per week for all part-time semester internships. We also welcome applications for full-time semester internships, and those interns would be required to be in the office two days per week. Your semester schedule is worked out with your MHLAC supervisor.
Fall internships: we accept resumes until September 1st each year or until all spots are filled.
Spring internships: we accept resumes until Jan. 1st each year or until all spots are filled.
Summer Internships
We are no longer receiving applications for summer 2024.
Summer internships are generally a full-time internship experience for at least 10 weeks each summer. Students will receive a stipend from the MHLAC Hennessey Internship Fund in an amount to be determined depending on the number of interns hired as well as other funding considerations (such as students who receive funding via work study or public interest grants). We require a minimum of two days in person in the office per week. Your summer schedule is worked out with your MHLAC supervisor.
Interviews for Summer Internships are conducted the last few weeks of January each year.
To apply
Please send a resume and cover letter to: Lauren Roy, Esq. at lroy@mhlac.org and specify whether you are seeking a full-time summer internship or a full-time or part-time semester internship.
Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action
Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee is committed to providing fair and equitable opportunities for internship, employment and promotion to qualified persons. It is the goal and intent of the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee to ensure that no person shall for reasons of race, color, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, disability, or Vietnam era veteran status, be excluded from fair and equitable consideration in any employment practice, including but not limited to hiring, transfer, promotion, training and compensation.