Pre-Law Paralegal

New York City, NY;
Washington, D.C.

EARLY APPLICATION SEASON FOR THE KOSTELANETZ PRE-LAW PARALEGAL PROGRAM WILL OPEN ON OCTOBER 12, 2026.

While Kostelanetz LLP’s application process for its Pre-Law Paralegal Program will open on November 20, 2026, and close on January 5, 2027, Kostelanetz will review applications from highly-qualified applicants during an Early Application Cycle.

Applications for this early cycle may be submitted from October 12, 2026 through October 17, 2026
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Outstanding candidates for the Pre-Law Paralegal Program are encouraged to apply early, during this period.

The program is extremely competitive. During last year’s cycle, we received over 400 applications for five positions. The five individuals who joined us from that process received undergraduate degrees from Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and UVA (and two had master’s degrees from graduate institutions). The seven alumni who left the program that year went on to Harvard Law School, NYU Law School, UVA Law School, and Cambridge University.

Successful candidates typically have GPAs above 3.9 and a demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in law. Such interest is often reflected through legal internships or participation in law reviews or journals, mock trial, moot court, or speech and debate. Applicants must also have strong writing samples and perform effectively during our interview process.

In the event that we make an offer to a candidate, we will expect the candidate to withdraw applications for other opportunities (e.g., fellowships) that would preclude the accepted candidate from joining Kostelanetz for a two-year period starting in June 2027.

During the regular application cycle, we may review applications from candidates who applied during the early cycle but were unsuccessful in securing a position through the early-application process.

Kostelanetz LLP is soliciting applications for its Pre-Law Paralegal Program in New York City and Washington D.C. Candidates should be able to begin with the firm by June 14, 2027 and remain employed with the firm through June 29, 2029.

The Kostelanetz pre-law paralegal program is a uniquely immersive experience. The goal of the program is to provide the law firm’s clients with paralegal support from brilliant, innovative pre-law professionals, while affording those future law students an opportunity to see how lawyers work and how a law firm operates. Since its inception, the program has had over 50 participants. Alumni of our pre-law paralegal program have gone on to attend law schools at Berkeley, UChicago, Columbia, Emory, Harvard, NYU, Stanford, UVA, and Yale.

Three former program participants have returned to the firm upon graduating from law school.

Kostelanetz is a boutique law firm with roughly 50 lawyers who focus on tax litigation, white collar criminal defense, complex commercial civil litigation, tax planning, trusts and estates, securities law, and government procurement. The firm is highly ranked and has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Hackensack. We currently have 11 pre-law paralegals. They recently graduated from Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, UPenn, Spelman, Vanderbilt, and UVA.

After receiving initial classroom-style training on the basics of working as a paralegal, our pre-law paralegals begin supporting our lawyers on substantive matters and assisting our operations staff on administrative projects.

The pre-law paralegals’ responsibilities on legal matters include communicating with clients, taking notes at internal and external meetings, tracking deadlines and activities on our matters, conducting legal research, and reviewing documents, all under the supervision of…