The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition Forum

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NYC Law

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The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by NYC Law » Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:49 pm

12/1 is right around the corner, let's do this.

I think I've done all the cover letters I can do for now without going insane.
28ish gov't/DA/AG letters ready to go, 4 firms, 5 Public Interest, and 140 judicial mass mails.

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ph14

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by ph14 » Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:50 pm

Not applying until after finals. Anyone else?

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by xcountryjunkie » Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:56 pm

ph14 wrote:Not applying until after finals. Anyone else?
Bad idea if you want to work for a judge. A lot do all of their hiring on 12/1.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by BEAST_mode » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:01 pm

I've got about 100+ realistic firm letters ready to go on 12/1. Another 50/60 NALP firm letters that are, more or less, hail marys. Will be excited if I even receive a formal rejection from these places. Should have 60+ judicial letters postmarked by then as well, mainly fed. district and state supreme/appellate level. Waiting until after finals for government/advocacy organizations. Which markets is everyone shooting for? I'm hitting DC and my hometown (unpopular secondary market). Unsure if I should cast my net a little wider.

Haven't been focusing on this lately with finals around the corner, but I plan on 12/1 being a long day.

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NYC Law

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by NYC Law » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:05 pm

I'm all over the map. Most of my gov't apps are in DC, everything else is mostly in NYC and my home state. With a couple random apps to paid west coast gigs just because it'd seem fun to spend a summer out there.

I'm really hoping for a government gig the most.

Anyone know when we're supposed to mail snail mail? Does it go out on 12/1? Or can we mail it Tuesday so it arrives around 12/1?

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Richie Tenenbaum

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by Richie Tenenbaum » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:06 pm

xcountryjunkie wrote:
ph14 wrote:Not applying until after finals. Anyone else?
Bad idea if you want to work for a judge. A lot do all of their hiring on 12/1.
Source? And what area?

Applying after finals is not too late for a lot of judges in Texas (state and federal).

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by BEAST_mode » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:07 pm

NYC Law wrote: Anyone know when we're supposed to mail snail mail? Does it go out on 12/1? Or can we mail it Tuesday so it arrives around 12/1?
This. Wondering how much longer I can put off spending $100 on stamps.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by xcountryjunkie » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:10 pm

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:
xcountryjunkie wrote:
ph14 wrote:Not applying until after finals. Anyone else?
Bad idea if you want to work for a judge. A lot do all of their hiring on 12/1.
Source? And what area?

Applying after finals is not too late for a lot of judges in Texas (state and federal).
My source is the pile of rejection letters sent to me on 12/2-5 from judges saying that had already filled their hiring needs for the summer. Plus, tons of anecdotal evidence on this site. I applied to every district court judge in NY/DC/SF.

I'm not saying it's too late to get one after finals. It's certainly possible, but you are removing a ton of judges from the equation.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by Richie Tenenbaum » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:16 pm

xcountryjunkie wrote:
Richie Tenenbaum wrote:
xcountryjunkie wrote:
ph14 wrote:Not applying until after finals. Anyone else?
Bad idea if you want to work for a judge. A lot do all of their hiring on 12/1.
Source? And what area?

Applying after finals is not too late for a lot of judges in Texas (state and federal).
My source is the pile of rejection letters sent to me on 12/2-5 from judges saying that had already filled their hiring needs for the summer. Plus, tons of anecdotal evidence on this site. I applied to every district court judge in NY/DC/SF.

I'm not saying it's too late to get one after finals. It's certainly possible, but you are removing a ton of judges from the equation.
Interesting. Maybe most Texas judges have a different timeline, or UT's CSO just gave me questionable advice last year and I just got lucky. I have a feeling that the former is more likely true though. (I know a lot of judges were interviewing still in February and March.)

FWIW- I applied to ~35-40 judges in Texas the week after finals (so around 15th-20th), mix of TXSC/TXCCA/Federal, and was able to get two judicial internships (split summer between the two).

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by bdubs » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:20 pm

NYC Law wrote:Anyone know when we're supposed to mail snail mail? Does it go out on 12/1? Or can we mail it Tuesday so it arrives around 12/1?
Do many (any?) firms really want snail mail, or would it be acceptable to e-mail all of my CL/resumes?

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by NinerFan » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:24 pm

bdubs wrote:
NYC Law wrote:Anyone know when we're supposed to mail snail mail? Does it go out on 12/1? Or can we mail it Tuesday so it arrives around 12/1?
Do many (any?) firms really want snail mail, or would it be acceptable to e-mail all of my CL/resumes?
Emailed all of mine as a 1L and was fine. Or, at least, none of them were like "WTF you sent your app as an email and this is why we are dinging you."

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by merc280 » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:27 pm

Submitting all of my information after the 9th. That's when the last final is, and I doubt 10 days should make that much of a difference. If I'm applying to a firms offices in different cities in Texas, do I send a resume to each office?

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by bostonlawchick » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:29 pm

ph14 wrote:Not applying until after finals. Anyone else?
We have a government/PI thing that has bids due 12/1, and I've submitted bids for all the employers there that I was interested in. Hoping to go home to my secondary (tertiary? invisible?) market for the summer, where hopefully competition won't be as stiff.

I feel like I've heard that if you get an offer from a judge, you can't say no. Is that true? What if you get an offer at the end of December? Our government/PI thing isn't until the end of January.

We've had so many seminars on this stuff and I still feel so lost.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by ak362 » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:33 pm

xcountryjunkie wrote:
Richie Tenenbaum wrote:
xcountryjunkie wrote:
ph14 wrote:Not applying until after finals. Anyone else?
Bad idea if you want to work for a judge. A lot do all of their hiring on 12/1.
Source? And what area?

Applying after finals is not too late for a lot of judges in Texas (state and federal).
My source is the pile of rejection letters sent to me on 12/2-5 from judges saying that had already filled their hiring needs for the summer. Plus, tons of anecdotal evidence on this site. I applied to every district court judge in NY/DC/SF.

I'm not saying it's too late to get one after finals. It's certainly possible, but you are removing a ton of judges from the equation.
This could be for any number of reasons. A judge could have hired 2Ls. Some judges also make it very clear that they don't want to see applications until grades are out (a couple of D.D.C. judges come to mind).

Also, if you are looking at D.C., many DCCA judges do not hire until the Spring (not to mention, with the vacancies on the court, it makes it harder to snag one of these internships). And of course, the D.C. Cir. doesn't sit during the summer.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:45 pm

FWIW, I applied to DC federal judges on 12/1 my 1L year. I had two interviews and an offer before Christmas. As a result I strongly recommend getting your house in order and applying on 12/1. Two reasons: first, it lifts a lot of stress to have the job as soon as possible. Second, since SOME of the jobs will go that quickly, it stands to reason you'll have a better chance if you apply earlier.

It really shouldn't take more than a few concentrated hours, and it will get your mind off of torts for a bit, which could be beneficial. It's easy to get lost amongst the trees and miss the forest this time of 1L year.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by BEAST_mode » Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:07 pm

Anonymous User wrote:FWIW, I applied to DC federal judges on 12/1 my 1L year. I had two interviews and an offer before Christmas. As a result I strongly recommend getting your house in order and applying on 12/1. Two reasons: first, it lifts a lot of stress to have the job as soon as possible. Second, since SOME of the jobs will go that quickly, it stands to reason you'll have a better chance if you apply earlier.

It really shouldn't take more than a few concentrated hours, and it will get your mind off of torts for a bit, which could be beneficial. It's easy to get lost amongst the trees and miss the forest this time of 1L year.
I'm not planning on including a writing sample in my original application packet. Did you have many judges request them?

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:24 pm

BEAST_mode wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:FWIW, I applied to DC federal judges on 12/1 my 1L year. I had two interviews and an offer before Christmas. As a result I strongly recommend getting your house in order and applying on 12/1. Two reasons: first, it lifts a lot of stress to have the job as soon as possible. Second, since SOME of the jobs will go that quickly, it stands to reason you'll have a better chance if you apply earlier.

It really shouldn't take more than a few concentrated hours, and it will get your mind off of torts for a bit, which could be beneficial. It's easy to get lost amongst the trees and miss the forest this time of 1L year.
I'm not planning on including a writing sample in my original application packet. Did you have many judges request them?
I believe I sent like a 5 page slightly cleaned up exert from a 1L memo. Judges don't really have "requirements" for these positions - you just blanket the courts you would be interested in working at. I got a ton of rejections that said things like "not actually hiring interns, thanks for playing" but them's the breaks. It's rare for a judge to have anything like a website with information on where to send stuff much less what to include. You're basically flying blind here.

I snail-mailed a cover letter (somewhat specialized, at least based on location), resume, references, and short writing sample to 20 or 25 judges. I think I wound up with a total of 2 rejections and 3 interview offers, but my first interview turned into an on the spot offer which I accepted on the spot.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by bdubs » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:16 pm

Request: If you're going to post anon in ITT, then please identify the range of school and market you were in.

A lot of the anecdotal evidence may not carry over from market to market or school to school.

Thanks.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by $peppercorn » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:30 pm

ph14 wrote:Not applying until after finals. Anyone else?
That was the plan but this thread makes me feel otherwise

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by AlexanderSupertramp » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:33 pm

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! I haven't done anything.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by c3pO4 » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:35 pm

Most of my friends didn't apply until after finals. Many ended up with judge jobs 1L and even some federal circuit ones. Small firms don't even care about NALP deadlines and won't start looking at people until after the holidays/new years anyway. Large firms are easy to apply to if you are qualified, but in all likelihood you aren't qualified for a V100 1L SA.

If you think there is even a small chance of applying to jobs affecting your grades on finals, don't do it. Just don't. Eventually you will realize the 1L summer is almost worthless. As long as you do SOMETHING legal, even just as an RA to a prof, you will be fine. ALL that matters is 2L OCI, and that is coming up much sooner than you think. Your 1L fall grades matter for the rest of your career. Your 1L summer job is irrelevant. Focus on apps now at your own risk. Just here to say that everyone I know who did really well in school did not apply to jobs at all until they were done with finals. They all have jobs from 2L OCI and had good jobs as 1L's. I'm at a T30-50.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by 071816 » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:36 pm

For those of you that have applied to/are going to apply to extern for Fed. District Court judges, how many did you/are you going to apply to?

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by bdubs » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:43 pm

c3pO4 wrote: Large firms are easy to apply to if you are qualified, but in all likelihood you aren't qualified for a V100 1L SA.
Care to elaborate on what would "qualify" someone for a V100 1L SA? Is it just grades, and/or diversity? Are there some experience profiles that they are actually looking for?

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by Richie Tenenbaum » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:48 pm

c3pO4 wrote:Most of my friends didn't apply until after finals. Many ended up with judge jobs 1L and even some federal circuit ones. Small firms don't even care about NALP deadlines and won't start looking at people until after the holidays/new years anyway. Large firms are easy to apply to if you are qualified, but in all likelihood you aren't qualified for a V100 1L SA.

If you think there is even a small chance of applying to jobs affecting your grades on finals, don't do it. Just don't. Eventually you will realize the 1L summer is almost worthless. As long as you do SOMETHING legal, even just as an RA to a prof, you will be fine. ALL that matters is 2L OCI, and that is coming up much sooner than you think. Your 1L fall grades matter for the rest of your career. Your 1L summer job is irrelevant. Focus on apps now at your own risk. Just here to say that everyone I know who did really well in school did not apply to jobs at all until they were done with finals. They all have jobs from 2L OCI and had good jobs as 1L's. I'm at a T30-50.

That is all.
I generally agree with this, except for the 1L SA comment. I know a good chunk of 1Ls who landed a biglaw 1L SA. Most had great grades, but some had more average grades. (I don't want to come off as making it sound like it's easy to nab one--it's not. It's possible though, depending on school and location.)

If you are gunning for a biglaw 1L SA, it is well worth it to apply 12/1. Of course, you should adjust your expectations depending on your school and if the firms in your area hire a decent amount of 1Ls. Besides the money, having an offer in hand from your 1L summer firm before 2L OCI starts is a great place to be and can curb a lot of stress.

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Re: The Official 1L Summer Employment Thread - 2012 Edition

Post by c3pO4 » Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:01 pm

bdubs wrote:
c3pO4 wrote: Large firms are easy to apply to if you are qualified, but in all likelihood you aren't qualified for a V100 1L SA.
Care to elaborate on what would "qualify" someone for a V100 1L SA? Is it just grades, and/or diversity? Are there some experience profiles that they are actually looking for?
All I know is outside the T20 maybe less than 3-5 students per school will get a 1L SA job at a biglaw firm. And in the top schools, you probably still need top grades. If your school places 40% in biglaw during 2L OCI, then when you consider the small amount of 1L SA slots at firms, you probably need to be top 10%. IDK, I could be wrong. I just knew I wasn't going to have a chance coming from my school and what I (accurately) predicted my grades would be, so it didn't matter.

Also, having a 1L SA is not key to getting a 2L SA, which is all that really matters, going back to my previous point which is --- focus on finals unless you know applying to jobs won't affect your grades.

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