West Coast Environmental Law is dedicated to safeguarding the environment through law. For almost 40 years, our staff lawyers have successfully worked with communities, First Nations peoples, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and all levels of governments to develop proactive legal solutions to protect and sustain the environment. West Coast uses in-depth legal analysis and research to engage citizens in changing the law, and has helped establish and shape many of BC’s most significant environmental legislative initiatives. We believe in a just and sustainable society where people are empowered to protect the environment and where environmental protection is enshrined in law.

Current opening: Climate Change Professional Practice Intern.

West Coast Environmental Law is currently seeking a Climate Change Professional Practice Intern to work at our office in Vancouver from May to August, 2013, to explore the role of BC’s resource professional associations in addressing climate change.

This is a paid position funded through a grant from Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS). Deadline for applications is 4:00pm Pacific time Monday, April 22nd, 2013.

Click here for more details about this position.

Our application period for summer 2013 (May – August) legal interns has closed. If you are interested in applying to volunteer with us during some other time of the year, please submit a full application including details of when and for how long you would like to volunteer to admin@wcel.org - no phone calls please.

Summer 2013 Posting (now closed):

Law students and interns are a critical part of our work.  The successful candidates will assist staff lawyers in the areas of law reform, legal research and legal education. Our current work includes law reform to address climate change, to integrate Indigenous law with environmental law, and to make urban communities more sustainable. Our work atmosphere is relaxed and informal.

Our summer internships are unpaid, and we encourage students to seek the funding assistance of their law faculties, where available. For interns not able to secure some funding through a bursary or fellowship, we offer a modest honorarium. We are also open to discussing flexible arrangements to permit students to undertake other scheduled part time paid employment.

Please send a cover letter and resume in one PDF file by 4:00pm Pacific time Friday, November 16, 2012 to:

Hiring Committee
Email: admin@wcel.org
Subject line: Summer Law Intern

*please, no calls*

We aim to conduct interviews in early December 2012. If you are applying for public interest bursaries with earlier deadlines, please let us know in a separate email from your application, as well as in your cover letter.

To see the bios of our most recent interns, please click here. Bios of our interns from previous years can be viewed by clicking here.

Read our intern Emma Hume's blog post about her experience traveling with two other West Coast summer law interns to northern BC with West Coast to attend and witness a major gathering of First Nations against tar sands pipelines and tankers in Kitamaat.

For a personal perspective of what to expect working at West Coast, click here to read reflections of two of our 2012 Australian legal interns and  click here to read about the experiences of Dani Bryant and Simone Tielesh, our 2009 summer interns.