Legal Intern

Chaberton Energy is seeking a Legal Intern in Rockville, MD, to support its legal team in managing contracts and compliance. The role involves simplifying legal documents, leveraging technology for legal processes, and ensuring adherence to laws and regulations. Ideal candidates are university students with strong communication skills and a passion for renewable energy. The internship offers an opportunity to contribute to sustainable energy projects and develop legal expertise.
About Chaberton:

Chaberton Energy is a public benefit corporation headquartered in the greater Washington DC area. We develop sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy projects, from site conception to full operations, with a focus on distributed energy generation, community solar and commercial & industrial projects.

We care deeply about the communities we serve, including our employees, landowners, farmers, neighbors, customers, regulatory agencies, development partners, investors, off-takers, and our partners. With our core values of creativity, excellence, and humanity, the Chaberton Team creates sustainable, renewable energy projects that accelerate the clean energy transition, reduce pollution, address climate change, save money for residents & businesses and lead the way for the energy transition.

Legal Team Description:

Chaberton's legal team offers comprehensive legal and commercial support to all internal business teams, playing a crucial role in the company's business strategy, transactions, and operations. The team is composed of business-minded professionals with legal expertise. We are seeking an enthusiastic Legal Intern who is eager to:
• Demystify Legal Documents – Simplify complex legal language and translate it into clear, actionable insights for internal teams.
• Leverage Technology – Use innovative tools and technologies to streamline and optimize legal processes.
• Support Compliance Efforts – Help ensure that all teams adhere to relevant laws, regulations, and business standards.

The ideal candidate is passionate about the renewable energy transition, possesses strong writing and communication skills, is adept with AI-powered tools, and brings a structured, creative, and entrepreneurial approach to their work. A strong desire for continuous improvement and learning is essential for success in this role.

Key Responsibilities:

CONTRACTS
• Support management of Company’s contract lifecycle, from intake through review, negotiation, execution and administration using SpotDraft AI-enabled contract management system.
• Support management of Company’s incoming and outgoing NDAs and work through proposed changes.
• With assistance from the Legal team, develop comprehensive contract playbooks that guide stakeholders through specific contract types (such as leases, vendor contracts, and NDAs), negotiations of these contracts, and SpotDraft workflows for these contracts, negotiations, and processes.
• Develop training materials and coordinate cross-functionally to provide guidance to stakeholders on using contract playbooks and processes.

COMPLIANCE
• Review the Company’s compliance policies to assess whether such policies address identified risk areas.
• Support development of implementation plan to address any gaps identified from review of compliance areas.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:
• Current university student majoring in Philosophy, Economics, Business, English, Liberal Arts or similar area of study.
• Desire to learn and aid in the legal aspects of project development.
• Excellent communication skills, highly organized, critical thinker, with high level of attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and as a team member; innovative mindset to operate as an important contributor within a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications:
• High-flying, rising 2L student enrolled in an ABA-accredited JD Program or recently graduated LLM student (not currently licensed in any US jurisdiction).
• An individual with at least 2 years of experience within the law or legal industry.
• Enthusiastic about use of technology (esp. legal technology) to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and improve legal practice.
• Experience with reviewing and negotiating contracts.

Internship Logistics:

SALARY
• $18.00 and up commensurate with experience.

LOCATION
• Preference for individual to be located in the DC/Maryland area, with ability to work from Chaberton headquarters in Rockville, MD, 2-3 days per week.

SCHEDULE
• Full-time internship targeting 32-40 hours/week.
• 3-month internship (with opportunity to extend to 6 months)
• May 2025 start for Summer 2025 Internship.