1L judicial internships and SAs...apply before grades? Forum

[manofjustice]

Assuming for a moment these things exist, should you apply to them before or after your 1L grades come out? My strategy: apply before, and then if my grades come back and they're good, submit a short letter of update; if they come back and they're bad, I'll pretend I have no grades until I'm asked, hopefully in an interview, when I can be charismatic.

I have solid pre-LS WE.

Your thoughts TLS?

[thesealocust]

Assuming for a moment these things exist, should you apply to them before or after your 1L grades come out? My strategy: apply before, and then if my grades come back and they're good, submit a short letter of update; if they come back and they're bad, I'll pretend I have no grades until I'm asked, hopefully in an interview, when I can be charismatic.

I have solid pre-LS WE.

Your thoughts TLS?

By this time my 1L year I'd already accepted a summer position with a judge, and my background wasn't spectacular or at all legal.

1L positions aren't nearly as grades-based as 2L positions. Your plan makes sense.

[20130312]

I sent everything out by December 3rd and already have an interview lined up.

[stillwater]

I would send them out as soon as possible. I sent them out Dec 1 and already have a couple interviews lined over the winter break. Judges will tell you if they want to see grades, etc. when they come out.

[manofjustice]

So it sounds like I'm a little late to the game? If so, am I at a disadvantage? Or, if they're out in the next day or so, I'll have barely made it?

[thesealocust]

You're certainly not late, but also no longer early. Every year people who wait for grades still get jobs, but the supply will dwindle from here on out so it's best to get a move on.

When I worked with my judge about half of us interviewed and got the jobs before grades came out, for what it's worth. Other judges probably wait for grades in all cases; hard to paint a broad picture except to say there's no good reason to wait.

[manofjustice]

You're certainly not late, but also no longer early. Every year people who wait for grades still get jobs, but the supply will dwindle from here on out so it's best to get a move on.

When I worked with my judge about half of us interviewed and got the jobs before grades came out, for what it's worth. Other judges probably wait for grades in all cases; hard to paint a broad picture except to say there's no good reason to wait.

Makes perfect sense.

What does BigLaw care about more, judicial internships (district and CoA, or only CoA?) or a 1L SA at another firm?

[Bildungsroman]

Also, you shouldn't wait for grades because some employers don't care about grades. I don't think the place I worked my 1L summer ever asked for (or received) a transcript from me.

And remember that it's not just judicial internships and SAs out there. Think of something you're passionate about or that you think is a fun/interesting/neat issue or area of the law, and see if there are legal organizations that do work involving that issue. Look in Westlaw at interesting cases you read in class, or cases you hear about from other sources that interest you, and see what organizations are litigating those cases or authoring amicus briefs in those cases. I got my 1L summer job by just sending out an application to an organization with a mission I strongly agreed with, and it was so cool to work on those issues over the summer.

[thesealocust]

What does BigLaw care about more, judicial internships (district and CoA, or only CoA?) or a 1L SA at another firm?

It doesn't matter. RA, clerk, work for a judge, public interest, government job, whatever. As long as you did something legal you can discuss as necessary in an interview what you do your 1L summer will not meaningfully impact your future employment prospects. This has been discussed and analyzed to death in the law school world and is pretty well settled.

District court judges hire more clerks and CoA judges aren't nearly as uber-selective for 1L summers as they are for clerks, the "prestige" ladder just isn't spooled up for 1L summer.

The dual mandate is (1) do something legal and (2) all else being equal, follow the money. Tangential is something for personal development/learning (i.e. want to litigate? you'll learn more with a judge than you will with the FTC).

[manofjustice]

What's the chance of commin up with bupkis 1L summer ITE?

[thesealocust]

What's the chance of commin up with bupkis 1L summer ITE?

Bupkis as in nothing? Slim to none. Profs hiring research assistants are an amazing safety net for the incompetent, lazy, or academically inclined. Judges aren't that picky and there are lots of quirky job opportunities.

Big firm jobs are extremely elusive, and often not strictly meritocratic. Connections / diversity get you much further than a pocket full of As.

[manofjustice]

What's the chance of commin up with bupkis 1L summer ITE?

Bupkis as in nothing? Slim to none. Profs hiring research assistants are an amazing safety net for the incompetent, lazy, or academically inclined. Judges aren't that picky and there are lots of quirky job opportunities.

Big firm jobs are extremely elusive, and often not strictly meritocratic. Connections / diversity get you much further than a pocket full of As.

So it sounds like a BigLaw 1L SA is pretty darn > anything else. But it's not quite like other things in our profession, as in getting less than the top isn't going to bar you from the top in 2L OCI... 1L summer job is more of a minimum requirement in any case, could help a lot if it's a BigLaw SA, or could just be something to talk about in your interview if it's anything else.

[thesealocust]

Yep.