Case Research & Editorial Intern
OpenVerdict is a recently incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating a nonpartisan civic legal deliberation platform. The public reads landmark and active legal cases (Supreme Court matters, FTC consumer protection cases, civil rights litigation), weighs both sides through structured arguments, and casts verdicts that the platform tracks statistically over time. Our mission is civic legal literacy and public engagement with the legal system.
About This Role
This is a research and writing role. You will read court records, FTC complaints, judicial opinions, and agency findings, then translate them into clear case summaries that ordinary readers can understand and deliberate on. Editorial judgment matters: which cases are worth surfacing, how to present both sides fairly, what evidence to link.
Responsibilities
- Identify and triage new cases worth adding to the platform: Supreme Court matters, FTC consumer protection cases, civil rights litigation, and others where public deliberation would surface useful evidence
- Pull primary source documents (court opinions, FTC complaint filings, agency findings, judicial financial disclosures) and link them on each case page
- Write clear, nonpartisan case summaries in OpenVerdict's editorial voice
- Tag cases by category, court level, legal topic, and relevant statutes
- Source and verify evidence: every claim cited, every quote accurate
- Identify cases worth flagging for amicus briefs, signal reports, or extended editorial coverage
- Maintain accuracy standards
Qualifications
- Interested in Law
- Strong reading comprehension of dense legal documents. You will be reading 50-page court opinions and FTC complaint filings regularly. You should find this energizing, not exhausting.
- Editorial judgment: ability to distinguish a case worth featuring from a case worth skipping.
- Curiosity about courts, civil rights, consumer protection, and civic legal processes.
- Self-directed. You will not be micromanaged.