Paid Intern - Legal

This is a Part Time Paid Internship

(I) Legal Intern

Internship Purpose

We seek an energetic, driven law student with strong interpersonal skills to assist the Legal department at SXSW, LLC, from October 2025 to March 2026. This position is a paid internship. As a Legal Intern, you will have a broad range of responsibilities and mentorship opportunities, including supporting the core legal functions of an in-house team and providing transactional support to the lawyers, primarily in entertainment law, intellectual property law, and risk management. The ideal candidate will be proactive, efficient, highly organized, detail-oriented, discreet, and comfortable juggling multiple priorities. This is an excellent opportunity to do real in-house legal work and develop strong legal skills.

What you will learn:
• Practical Law - You will gain hands-on experience applying your legal skills in an in-house setting, particularly within Entertainment Law.

• Transactional Law - You will learn the process involved in negotiating various agreements, including vendor, production, trade, and sales agreements.

• Intellectual Property Management - You will gain exposure to managing an IP portfolio and gain real-world experience in trademark enforcement.

• Issue Spotting - You will gain experience in identifying and addressing issues related to various questions/fact-patterns as they come in from different departments.

Duties & Responsibilities
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
• Assist lawyers with operational and technological functions to support the daily operations of the legal department.

• Work with lawyers to complete certain transactional legal functions, such as NDAs, Vendor Agreements, Production Agreements, and Trade Agreements.

• Help maintain SXSW's rights tracking database with modifications to various agreements.

• Assist lawyers in managing the SXSW IP portfolio involving trademark and copyright defense matters.

Qualifications & Skills
You must be enrolled in an accredited university or college to be eligible for an SXSW Internship.
• Bachelor's degree and, at a minimum, a 1st-year student in good standing at a US-accredited law school.

• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills.

• Excellent analytical ability and legal drafting skills.

• Self-starter, dependable, detail-oriented, and able to work independently.

• Exceptional oral and written communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively across diverse internal groups and departments.

• Experienced with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, macOS, and Gmail required.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that an employee must meet to perform the essential functions of this job successfully:
• Prolonged periods of sitting or standing at a desk and working on a computer.

• Ability to lift up to 5 pounds occasionally, as needed.

• Manual dexterity to operate standard office equipment such as computers, phones, printers, etc.

• May require occasional bending, reaching, kneeling, or climbing stairs.

• Ability to work in an outdoor environment, which may include exposure to varying temperatures or noise levels.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work Location, Schedule & Pay
This position is in Austin, Texas. Core business office hours are Mon-Fri, 10 am - 6 pm. The position can work up to 16 hours a week, but must be available to work at least 10 hours a week. This position may begin in October 2025 and continue through March 2026. All applicants must be available to attend the SXSW 2026 Conference and Festivals in person, held from March 9-18, 2026, in Austin, Texas, and work up to an entire 40-hour week during this time. This is a paid internship at $12.00/hr.