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_ The Wikimedia Foundation _ Sabotage WMF from within as a summer intern!

Posted by: Shalom

Description
The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that runs Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, is looking for legal interns for the Summer of 2012! The Office of the General Counsel runs a legal internship program to educate and train promising law students or in the areas of internet law and free knowledge organizations. The interns would work 40 hours per week at the Wikimedia Foundation's downtown San Francisco office.

The Wikimedia Foundation faces a myriad of legal issues ranging from complex copyright questions to international freedom of speech issues to mobile development to internal corporate compliance. Because of the wide array of legal issues, the interns will be assigned challenging projects based on their particular interests and strengths. These projects could range from researching a particular legal question to drafting licensing agreements to developing internal and external policies. Each intern will receive individualized projects that they will be expected to spearhead under the supervision and guidance of an attorney from the Office of the General Counsel. Interns will work closely with their supervising attorney -- attending and participating in internal and external meetings, collaborating on projects, receiving feedback and support, and generally learning about the practical dimensions of practicing law in-house at a web-based company.

An ideal candidate has:

-High energy for and commitment to the Wikimedia Foundation's free knowledge mission, including an interest in free culture issues, open source software, Creative Commons licensing, etc.

-A very good sense of humor and the ability to excel in a fast-paced, multitasking environment that demands fast turn-around.

-Intellectual curiosity and flexibility that makes them enjoy tackling difficult and ambiguous problems in creative ways. Students with a strong research background are preferred.

-Experience working with large online user communities (or at least the desire to). Students with experience with wikis or Wikimedia projects are preferred.

-The ability to flourish in a highly transparent and collaborative environment and work with a wide diversity of demographic and cultural characteristics. Multilingual students (especially German, French, and/or Italian) are a plus!

-Excellent writing skills that can be adapted to communicate complex legal concepts to a large audience with varying (or no) backgrounds in law. Students with experience and coursework in drafting agreements and/or policies are preferred.

-Completed coursework in some or all of the following areas of law: internet law, freedom of speech (domestic and international), intellectual property, contract drafting, international law, privacy, data security, and/or licensing. While coursework in these areas is not required, students who have experience in these areas are heavily preferred.

When the opportunity exists, the Office of the General Counsel will work with an intern's university to facilitate earning academic credits and/or receiving funding for the intern's time at the Wikimedia Foundation.

The Wikimedia Foundation values and promotes diversity. We invite applications from candidates regardless of race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Please submit a resume, transcript, references, and a short writing sample to mpaulson@wikimedia.org.

.Division
Legal and Community Advocacy Department
Geographic Preference
West (CA, NV, UT, CO, MT, WY)
Position Type
Summer, Externship Program
Practice Area(s)
All Practice Areas, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Copyright, Corporate Law, Employee Benefits, Foundations, General Practice, Intellectual Property, International Law, Internet Law, Libel, Licensing, Public Interest, Trademarks
Location(s)
Location
City
San Francisco
State/Province
CA
Country
United States
Contact Information
Michelle Paulson
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street
3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
mpaulson@wikimedia.org

Posted by: EricBarbour

And they stand an excellent chance of getting a number of takers. Because American law schools have been on a bender in recent years, grinding out lawyers like sausage--many of whom never find employment in the field. Every legal blog has https://lawschooltuitionbubble.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/law-graduate-overproduction-by-state-aka-%e2%80%9cthe-holy-grail%e2%80%9d/ about the situation.

Posted by: melloden

QUOTE(EricBarbour @ Wed 15th February 2012, 9:52pm) *

Every legal blog has https://lawschooltuitionbubble.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/law-graduate-overproduction-by-state-aka-%e2%80%9cthe-holy-grail%e2%80%9d/ about the situation.

Poor South Dakota.