Judicial Internship in New City: Funding? Forum

[niederbomb]

I am a 1L (in-state) at UT, and I have a federal judicial internship offer in a city in which I have no interest in practicing (think Arkansas, Oklahoma, or Louisiana).

I know it's bad form to turn down offers from judges, but I am wondering how I am going to afford to pay rent + get a new apartment in a different city (I am from a rural area, and the local federal + state courts did not offer summer internships, so mooching off parents was not an option).

1. Does anyone know what UT's policy is on getting funding for judicial internships? Since UT offers "academic credit," how does this translate into paying for rent/food, etc. over the summer? How do you get a living allowance for 3 credit hours?

2. I suppose I could work the evening shift at McDonalds in order to pay rent, but in the past, I've noticed that even restaurant/retail employers do not like to hire students for only a summer.

3. I am also interviewing with two Big Law firms at the end of February that supposedly allow split summers. Would it be a professional mistake, if they insist on a first half only, to take the firm over the judge?

[bk1]

I am wondering how I am going to afford to pay rent + get a new apartment in a different city

How did you not consider this prior to applying?! Subletting your current apartment could help cover some of the costs.

1. Does anyone know what UT's policy is on getting funding for judicial internships? Since UT offers "academic credit," how does this translate into paying for rent/food, etc. over the summer? How do you get a living allowance for 3 credit hours?

It likely means you can take out loans for summer tuition/CoL.

[yale2011]

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[niederbomb]

I am a 1L (in-state) at UT, and I have a federal judicial internship offer in a city in which I have no interest in practicing (think Arkansas, Oklahoma, or Louisiana).

I know it's bad form to turn down offers from judges, but I am wondering how I am going to afford to pay rent + get a new apartment in a different city (I am from a rural area, and the local federal + state courts did not offer summer internships, so mooching off parents was not an option).

1. Does anyone know what UT's policy is on getting funding for judicial internships? Since UT offers "academic credit," how does this translate into paying for rent/food, etc. over the summer? How do you get a living allowance for 3 credit hours?

2. I suppose I could work the evening shift at McDonalds in order to pay rent, but in the past, I've noticed that even restaurant/retail employers do not like to hire students for only a summer.

3. I am also interviewing with two Big Law firms at the end of February that supposedly allow split summers. Would it be a professional mistake, if they insist on a first half only, to take the firm over the judge?

Turn it down and find something else. But once you accept, you really shouldn't renege.

Turn it down and find something else? I know quite a few 2L's and 3L's at my school who got 0 legal experience their first summer.

How did you not consider this prior to applying?! Subletting your current apartment could help cover some of the costs.

1. Subletting is not allowed.
2. My 2 options were 1) Austin (good luck, even with top grades, it ain't gonna happen if you're not from there) 2) some other city in which I would have to rent another apartment or 3) not taking any summer legal employment at all (good luck explaining that to 2L OCI interviewers). So yes, I considered this, but decided to do it anyway because going broke interning for a federal judge is better than doing nothing at all.

[InnocuousDiatribe]

I'm interning this summer for a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas. Check the local bar associations for various fellowship opportunities. For instance, the one of the bar associations here in Houston gives up to $2k in fellowships for Federal internships in the city. If you can find something comparable, I imagine a couple thousand should be more than enough to cover the rent in a podunk locale like *shudder* Oklahoma.

I don't know which firms you've applied at, but the firms I've interviewed for generally want 1Ls to clerk the first half of the summer only. If that's the case, ask your judge if it's possible to move or restrict the internship to the second half, so you can earn some scratch from an SA first half.

[niederbomb]

I'm interning this summer for a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas. Check the local bar associations for various fellowship opportunities. For instance, the one of the bar associations here in Houston gives up to $2k in fellowships for Federal internships in the city. If you can find something comparable, I imagine a couple thousand should be more than enough to cover the rent in a podunk locale like *shudder* Oklahoma.

I don't know which firms you've applied at, but the firms I've interviewed for generally want 1Ls to clerk the first half of the summer only. If that's the case, ask your judge if it's possible to move or restrict the internship to the second half, so you can earn some scratch from an SA first half.

I (rather dumbly, in retrospect) told the judge that I would intern for the first half because he said there was more litigation during the early summer. The phone interview was a total surprise and came on a Saturday morning without warning (I had previously applied to 11 judges), so winging it without doing research wasn't as irresponsible as it sounds. My CSO says I absolutely should not "bump" the federal judge to the second half--especially since he's a Chief Judge, and a lot of people around TX know him.

I am interviewing with two firms in late Feb. that supposedly allow split summers (one of which says either half is ok), and I've got solid 1 semester grades, but I'm obviously not going to count on it.

Applying for the local fellowships sounds like a great idea. Joining the local bar association does not sound like a bad idea either. Thanks!

[InnocuousDiatribe]

I'm interning this summer for a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas. Check the local bar associations for various fellowship opportunities. For instance, the one of the bar associations here in Houston gives up to $2k in fellowships for Federal internships in the city. If you can find something comparable, I imagine a couple thousand should be more than enough to cover the rent in a podunk locale like *shudder* Oklahoma.

I don't know which firms you've applied at, but the firms I've interviewed for generally want 1Ls to clerk the first half of the summer only. If that's the case, ask your judge if it's possible to move or restrict the internship to the second half, so you can earn some scratch from an SA first half.

I (rather dumbly, in retrospect) told the judge that I would intern for the first half because he said there was more litigation during the early summer. The phone interview was a total surprise and came on a Saturday morning without warning (I had previously applied to 11 judges), so winging it without doing research wasn't as irresponsible as it sounds. My CSO says I absolutely should not "bump" the federal judge to the second half--especially since he's a Chief Judge, and a lot of people around TX know him.

I am interviewing with two firms in late Feb. that supposedly allow split summers (one of which says either half is ok), and I've got solid 1 semester grades, but I'm obviously not going to count on it.

Applying for the local fellowships sounds like a great idea. Joining the local bar association does not sound like a bad idea either. Thanks!

No problem. Try the Federal Bar Association. Also, ask your Career Services for help tracking down the fellowships. They're pretty good about finding them. Note: Accepting a fellowship may limit your ability to get academic credit. I don't know about UT, but my school only lets you pick one--the money or the credit.