Internship and externship opportunities

The Oregon Innocence Project (OIP) launched in 2014 with a mission to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, train law students, and promote legal reforms aimed at preventing wrongful convictions. It is the only project of its kind in Oregon whose sole mission is to actively track claims of innocence, investigate those claims, test DNA and other scientific evidence, and litigate where appropriate. Our goal is to collaborate with all stakeholders (district attorneys, the defense bar, policymakers, police, victims' rights groups, forensic scientists, and other practitioners working in the criminal justice system) to build support for comprehensive criminal justice reform. As well as securing the release of people who have been wrongfully convicted, OIP provides an outstanding educational experience for students. 

We have worked with dozens of law students over the years. Law students get the unique opportunity of assisting in the investigations and litigation of cases at every level of criminal "appeals", including post-conviction relief and federal habeas corpus. Cases usually involve serious felonies that carry lengthy prison terms or life sentences.

Student positions generally are a year-long: full-time during Summer, with 15-hour minimum during Fall and Spring semesters. 

We work with law student interns/externs every year. Interns/externs start in early June and continue though the entire school year. We accept applications starting in December of the previous year through to March 10th of the year in which the internship/externship begins.

Student positions are unfunded from the project but we are willing to work with students with outside grant/stipend funding, work-study programs, and obtaining academic credit through internship/externships.  

Contact our Managing Attorney Kenneth Kreuscher for more information at kkreuscher@oregoninnocence.info.