Core components of the Legal Practicum: Internship + Seminars

Internship

Do an 8-week internship at an organization or company focusing on law, civil rights, human rights or public policy.

• You will be tackling project-based work to directly contribute to the key objectives of the company or organization where you are interning, ensuring that you’ll gain real experience and know-how through substantial, mission-driven work. 

• You will have a dedicated Puentes Mentor, who will oversee your internship experience.

• For the legal practicum, you will work at your internship four days of the week, during the 8-week program. You can participate in either Session A (June 3 to July 31) or Session B (June 24 to August 21) for the internship program.

The internship will be coordinated by Puentes Abroad through our In-Person Internship Program.

Internship roles for the Legal Practicum:

Interns participating in the Legal Practicum will be placed in internships with companies or nonprofit organizations that are aligned with their professional and academic interests. Example internship projects include but are not limited to the following:

• Prepare legal case presentations summarizing key facts, legal arguments, and findings to support decisions regarding whether cases should be rejected or remain under consideration for further review by the nonprofit working to address wrongful convictions.

• Collaborate with attorneys on ongoing legal matters at the law firm, by conducting legal research, drafting and reviewing documents, organizing case materials, and assisting with client communications.

• Research the impact of human rights violations on people living below the poverty line and other vulnerable communities in Argentina, including people with disabilities, migrants, women, and residents of low-income neighborhoods.

• Analyze organizations, institutions, and networks working on human rights and social justice issues in Argentina and across the region, identifying potential opportunities for collaboration and advocacy between organizations working in the field.

• Conduct comparative research by examining national and international experiences and best practices to identify approaches that could inform and strengthen public policy efforts in the City of Buenos Aires.

• Conduct comparative legal research by analyzing the structure and organization of Argentine and U.S. legislation and preparing accessible guides to help explain and compare regulatory texts from both countries.

• Participate in legislative activities within a local Argentine congressional office, gaining firsthand insight into the day-to-day work of elected officials and their teams.

Seminars

Participate in 6 interactive and dynamic seminars during your Legal Practicum program in Buenos Aires.

• Seminars will be designed to focus on experiential learning through seminars with experts in their field, guided visits to museums and key historical sites in the city, and interviews with community leaders in human and civil rights.

• The seminars will take place one day of the week, on the day that you are not interning, to be scheduled from June 28 to July 30.

• Each seminar activity will last half a day, or approximately four hours.

• The legal practicum participants will also be given preparatory or follow-up resources designed to help you further engage with and deepen your understanding of the topics covered in the seminars.

Seminar themes for the Legal Practicum:

The purpose of the legal practicum seminars is to provide participants with insights and learnings from real experiences in human rights activism in Argentina over the past 50 years. You will be taken on an experiential learning journey to understand the core elements of the repressive plan implemented by the last civic-military dictatorship in Argentina (1976 to 1983) and the political and social context in which that violence unfolded, as well as the forms of organization and resistance that made it possible to first overturn impunity and to later expand the struggle for rights across various stages up to the present day.

The following are example seminar themes. The finalized itinerary of seminar themes and activities will be finalized closer to the program date.

Seminar 1: State terrorism and the role of the human rights movement in the process of memory, truth, and justice.

• Guided tour of the ESMA Site of Memory Museum (formerly a clandestine detention, torture, and extermination center). (led by museum staff and accompanied by CELS).

• Seminar and discussion with members of the CELS Memory, Truth, and Justice team regarding the organization’s origins, the role it has played from the dictatorship to the present day, and an assessment of the current state and challenges of the memory, truth, and justice process.

Seminar 2: Youth and Activism.

• Workshop on memory and forms of activism in Argentina.

• Group activity on the possibilities and concerns surrounding youth human rights activism today.

Seminar 3: Experiences in organizing and resisting authoritarianism, and of building democracy.

• Walking tour of downtown Buenos Aires and a conversation with CELS members about milestones that highlight the boldness and collective imagination applied to the struggle for a more just and egalitarian society.

• Conversation with key community leaders involved in these milestones.

Seminar 4: The symbolic, social, and political link between street mobilization, human rights, and democracy.

• Seminar and discussion with the CELS Democratic Security and Institutional Violence team about social protests in Argentina, the state’s approach to social protest, and civil society initiatives aimed at regulating and monitoring police conduct and promoting mobilization.

Seminar 5: Litigation as a tool for the defense and promotion of human rights.

• Seminar and discussion with the CELS Litigation and Legal Defense team about the role of litigation at different stages of CELS’s history, major achievements and unexpected setbacks, coordination with other work strategies, and characteristics and possibilities of domestic and international litigation.

Seminar 6: What does defending human rights mean today, for an Argentine organization with a Latin American perspective?

• Interview and discussion with the CELS Executive Director.

• Closing reflections, conclusions, and takeaways on building a professional path in law, human and civil rights, or public policy.

By participating in the Legal Practicum, you will be part of a cohort of fellow interns in Buenos Aires who will join together for cultural activities and professional events during your 8-week program.

The Puentes Internship Program includes all of the following components:

The Legal Practicum is a track within the Puentes Internship Program that is specifically designed for undergraduate students and recent graduates with an interest in attending law school or pursuing a career in public policy.

The Legal Practicum seminars will be conducted in English. However, at least an intermediate Spanish level is required for the internship; the more Spanish proficiency you have, the more internship options will be available to you and the more opportunities for cultural and professional immersion you will have while in the country.

1- Submit your INTEREST FORM and speak with us

Submit your Internship Interest Form, including an upload of your resume and statement of interest. When asked for the Program Type on the form, choose “Bridge Select Summer Program.” On the form, be sure to confirm your interest in applying to the Legal Practicum track.

After you submit the Internship Interest Form, you will receive the link to schedule an Advising Call with Puentes so that we can learn more about you and your internship preferences, tell you more about the program, and determine if you are a good fit.  

Admissions happen on a rolling basis until the spots are filled or until February 15, 2027, so we recommend applying early.

2- Confirm your enrollment

After your advising call, we will notify you of the admissions decision for the Internship Program and for the Legal Practicum. If admitted to the program, you will be required to pay the Program Fee in full by February 21, 2027, to confirm your enrollment and secure your spot in the program.  

3- Finalize your internship placement

Once all summer interns are confirmed and enrolled, Puentes will coordinate online interviews between interns and potential internship sites (companies and organizations).  After the interviews, we will collect interns’ interview feedback and the internship sites’ preferences in order to confirm the internship placement for each summer intern.

We will then work with you on comprehensive pre-program preparation to ensure that you are fully prepared to dive into your Puentes experience.