Freaking Out. Still No Summer Job. Need Advice Forum

[Anonymous User]

Just finished 1L. Fall semester grades were Top 25 % at a T1. I've applied to literally hundreds of jobs, and had about a dozen final interviews for in house positions. Interested in corporate & IP work, but at this point I'll take anything available so I can have a legal job. Any advice on getting a job quickly? Worried that I completely struck out and shouldn't bother with the rest of law school.

[Nebby]

You haven't struck out with law school. Check your school's simplicity for anything that still has applications open. Even if it's not paid out something you're not particularly interested in. Legal experience is all you should be looking for.

[Anonymous User]

Disclaimer: 0L

Have you tried contacting professors regarding a summer research assistantship? Perhaps one of the corporate or IP professors at your school will let you do research with him or her? Or even just any professor. This will give you legal research experience. I know a lot of law students who do this their first summer because of how difficult it is to get a job. Good luck!

Mod edit: This forum is for current students and graduates.

[filibuster]

Get on symplicity. Your best bet is to RA with a professor at your school

[whatsyourdeal]

Try to extern for a local superior court judge. You can try to randomly email a judge or go through your cso to see if they can set something up.

[Anonymous User]

OP here.

A family friend is a Superior Court judge. We spoke before law school started, but haven't spoken much since then. Would it be bad form to call him and ask if he is looking for externs? I want to do this, but feel weird calling explicitly to ask for a job.

The timing could also be weird there- I'm meeting on Monday with the solo that works as counsel of record for the accelerator that my startup is in. We're going to talk about me taking some of the contracts, due diligence, etc. off his plate this summer. I don't want to call the judge, get a position, and be forced to choose between burning a bridge with my current professional colleagues or a judge.

[sundontshine]

OP here.

A family friend is a Superior Court judge. We spoke before law school started, but haven't spoken much since then. Would it be bad form to call him and ask if he is looking for externs? I want to do this, but feel weird calling explicitly to ask for a job.

The timing could also be weird there- I'm meeting on Monday with the solo that works as counsel of record for the accelerator that my startup is in. We're going to talk about me taking some of the contracts, due diligence, etc. off his plate this summer. I don't want to call the judge, get a position, and be forced to choose between burning a bridge with my current professional colleagues or a judge.

Wait until Monday and see how that plays out. If you still need something, talk to the family friend then as long as you're close enough with him that it wouldn't be weird for him to get a phone call from you.

[thegrayman]

Where located? In NY the Unemployment Action Center is still looking for interns, on a rolling basis. regional.uac@gmail.com for more info.

[whatsyourdeal]

OP here.

A family friend is a Superior Court judge. We spoke before law school started, but haven't spoken much since then. Would it be bad form to call him and ask if he is looking for externs? I want to do this, but feel weird calling explicitly to ask for a job.

The timing could also be weird there- I'm meeting on Monday with the solo that works as counsel of record for the accelerator that my startup is in. We're going to talk about me taking some of the contracts, due diligence, etc. off his plate this summer. I don't want to call the judge, get a position, and be forced to choose between burning a bridge with my current professional colleagues or a judge.

Wait until Monday and see how that plays out. If you still need something, talk to the family friend then as long as you're close enough with him that it wouldn't be weird for him to get a phone call from you.

Not weird at all to contact the judge and ask for an externship. I agree with sundontshine though, and wait until after the meeting with the solo. You don't want to screw over a judge/family friend by asking a favor and then saying "never mind" because he your first choice fell through.

[worldtraveler]

Does your school have any research centers about IP law or anything relevant to your interests? They probably won't pay but will take you.

[iliketurtles123]

Did you apply to local gov. agencies?

Some of them hire a boatloads. They may be full but you never know.

Also you won't get paid but it's better than nothing. There are many gov. positions that do transactional work or other type of work that may be relevant to your interest.

[jbagelboy]

Go beg a prof to RA

[Anonymous User]

DOE Office of Electricity and Fossil Energy reached out this past week looking for someone in DC.

[suzige]

Does your school have a career office? I hate asking that bc I know some (most?) schools' offices suck, but sometimes they know people or can put you in touch with someone who may be looking for interns last minute. But start throwing a huge net out. Ask everyone you know if they know someone. Def. call up the judge after Monday. Tell him you'll work for free for whatever hours he wants. The worst he can say is no.

[cinephile]

Does your city have a volunteer lawyers project? They will typically take student volunteers, so if nothing else, you can volunteer there.

[Anonymous User]

1L here. Interviewing off and on since January. Interviewed on Thursday for an inhouse thing and got offered on Friday. There is hope.

[beepboopbeep]

Disclaimer: 0L

Have you tried contacting professors regarding a summer research assistantship? Perhaps one of the corporate or IP professors at your school will let you do research with him or her? Or even just any professor. This will give you legal research experience. I know a lot of law students who do this their first summer because of how difficult it is to get a job. Good luck!

Mod edit: This forum is for current students and graduates.

Despite mod edit, this is solid advice (as others have repeated). I'd add that if you talk to a prof with whom you have a good relationship, even if that person isn't hiring or has already filled their RA slots, they can point you toward others in your area of interest and even put in a good word. Lots of RA jobs get filled without ever being posted to symplicity.

Also for 0Ls reading this board: people RA for reasons other than not being able to get other jobs. I'm doing it this summer and accepted the RA gig before most other places started hiring. Having talked to a number of other RAs, I'd wager that most people RAing at my school are doing so purely by choice as a way to test the waters w/r/t academia + build up clerkship recs + just because the projects are interesting. Also it's basically your last summer of freedom pre-2L SA and RA is probably the best path toward being able to enjoy it, given that a lot of profs don't require you to be in the library full-time. I know mine basically only requires an hour or two of facetime per week (though obviously the work required is much more than that).

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks for the advice all. Have a couple in-house interviews set up with startups in SF in addition to the venture fund lead. Also talking to my IP prof. about RA-ing. Appreciate all the advice.