Unpaid internships with CFTC are offered year-round and can last from 12 weeks to 12 vary based on the department and/or office in which the intern is placed. CFTCsInternship Program offers valuable experience that contributes to educational and professional growth and may be applied in any future employment endeavor including federal state and local governments or in the private sector.
Internships may begin as early as January 2026.
Position:Law students currently enrolled and in good standing as a J.D. or LL.M candidate in an ABA accredited law school.
The CFTC offers substantive work that gives interns an opportunity to demonstrate their skills through work assist the CFTC with tasks set out by various teams such as research data capturing and working closely with different team members to learn more about the will be assigned to work with CFTC staff members on projects and assignments that cover a broad range of the Commissions work.
The CFTC offers substantive legal work that provides interns an opportunity to demonstrate their writing analytical and advocacy skills. Law students will be assigned to work with CFTC staff members on projects and assignments that cover a broad range of the Commissions work.
Interns may be assigned to one of the following Divisions or Offices:
Chairman/Commissioners Office
Five Commissioners administer the CFTC all Commissioners are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairman. The Chairman and Commissioners sponsor advisory committees as well as provide market oversight.
Duties of a legal intern may include:
Division of Enforcement (DOE)
DOE investigates and prosecutes alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations by filing complaints in the U.S. District Division also provides expert help and technical assistance with case development and trials.
Duties of a legal intern may include:
Division of Market Oversight (DMO)
DMO fosters open transparent fair competitive and secure markets through oversight of derivatives platforms specifically designated contract markets (DCMs) and swap execution facilities (SEFs).
Duties for the Compliance Branch law student intern include working under the supervision of a special counsel includes:
Market Participants Division (MPD)
MPD provides oversight in derivatives market intermediaries including commodity pool operators commodity trading advisors futures commission merchants introducing brokers major swap participants retail foreign exchange dealers and swap dealers as well as designated self-regulatory organizations.
Duties of a legal intern may include:
Office of International Affairs (OIA)
OIA is responsible for overseeing how the CFTC interacts with its foreign counterparts in multilateral and bilateral fora assisting the Chairman Commissioners and staff of the CFTC in analyzing the implications of regulatory policies advising the CFTC on supervisory cooperation issues and providing technical assistance to foreign authorities.
Duties of a legal intern may include:
To be eligible for this volunteer internship all of the following requirements must be met.
If you do not submit sufficient academic documentation necessary to demonstrate that you meet the eligibility requirements described in this announcement your application will be deemed incomplete and you will be ineligible. A completed application will only be accepted via USAJobs. Applications will not be accepted via email.
The experience may have been gained in either the public private sector orvolunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year and indicate number of hours worked per week on your resume
Key Requirements:
Starting on September 27 2025 federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length.Learn more about the new resume requirements.
To meet the Student Volunteer requirements:
All Education must be accredited by an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.) Therefore applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accredited institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants may verify accreditation at the following website:Accreditation. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by OPM accordingly.
***All applications must be received via ***
YouMUSTsubmit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent.
U.S. EDUCATION: Institutions located within the United States that have attained accreditation are listed on the U.S. Department of Educations website. To verify your institutions accreditation please access this website: complete listing of all institutions including those located outside of U.S. territories may be found in Accredited Institutions of Post-Secondary Education a handbook published annually by the American Council on Education (ACE).