Judicial Internship Forum

[dakatz]

So I'm looking to apply for a bunch of judicial internships back in my home state, but not entirely sure how to go about it. I found a list of all federal judges from my home state, but no email addresses listed for anyone. So does this mean to send everything hard copy? I don't have any real access to anything but the school library, so would it look bad to just send it on regular paper as opposed to some fancy type paper? Do you always refer to judges as "The Honorable..."?

I can't believe I have to spend time printing out 100 different cover letters and resume copies while I'm trying to study for finals. But I guess thats the only way to get one of these federal judicial internships.

[ak362]

I think the large majority of judges still have things done via snail mail. I used resume paper -- though there is a difference of opinion as to whether this matters. (If you have FedEx/Kinkos print it up for $.10 a page, it really can be a bargain and a huge timesaver).

A suggestion for address labels/address on letters (just a suggestion -- again, reasonable minds differ -- there is no one right way, per se, though there are wrong ways):

The Honorable << full judge name >>
<< Court Name >>
<< Court Address 1 >>
<< Court Address 2 >>
<< City, State ZIP >>

The Honorable John Q. Doe
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifteenth Circuit
Jane Doe Courthouse
123 Main Street
Anywhere, AN 12345

"Dear Judge << last name >>:" works as a salutation. E.g.: "Dear Judge Doe:"

HTH.

P.S. Some federal judges will indicate on their webpages if they accept e-mail applications. If anything, you could also call chambers and ask.

[dakatz]

Thanks for the info. Given that I'm applying to nearly 100 federal judges, I'd imagine it would be too impractical to call each judge and find out what materials to send. So is there a set packet of info that most people send? Or do people actually contact each judge? I was just planning on sending a resume, cover letter, and writing sample. Seeing as I have no grades yet, I figured a transcript isn't necessary. How about letters of recommendation? Or do you just give them a list of references they can call?

[warumnicht]

I had an awesome judicial internship my 1L summer and all I sent was my cover letter and resume, unless the judge specified that he/she wanted a writing sample. If they want a transcript, they'll ask. Just say something to the extent of "Please let me know if I can provide you with any additional information" to insinuate that you do, indeed, have a writing sample to provide, should they want to see one

Call me old-fashioned, but I do think you should get some resume paper at the bookstore. You should be able to load it into library printers.

[ak362]

Thanks for the info. Given that I'm applying to nearly 100 federal judges, I'd imagine it would be too impractical to call each judge and find out what materials to send. So is there a set packet of info that most people send? Or do people actually contact each judge? I was just planning on sending a resume, cover letter, and writing sample. Seeing as I have no grades yet, I figured a transcript isn't necessary. How about letters of recommendation? Or do you just give them a list of references they can call?

Your experience may vary, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt.

Most folks send over a resume, cover letter, and transcript (but as you don't have a transcript yet, you'll probably hold off on that). In my experience, LORs weren't necessary as part of the initial application; a judge can ask for letters of recommendation as you move forward with the interviewing process (happened to me). I know people who've sent resume + cover letter + transcript + writing sample + references. This can get costly though (about $1.30~ per application, via USPS), so a resume + cover letter + references should suffice.

[dakatz]

I had an awesome judicial internship my 1L summer and all I sent was my cover letter and resume, unless the judge specified that he/she wanted a writing sample. If they want a transcript, they'll ask. Just say something to the extent of "Please let me know if I can provide you with any additional information" to insinuate that you do, indeed, have a writing sample to provide, should they want to see one

Call me old-fashioned, but I do think you should get some resume paper at the bookstore. You should be able to load it into library printers.

Oh I have no problem going to Kinkos and having them print it on resume paper. I'm just not sure how to do it, seeing as I have 100 individual letters that are all different.

[warumnicht]

I had an awesome judicial internship my 1L summer and all I sent was my cover letter and resume, unless the judge specified that he/she wanted a writing sample. If they want a transcript, they'll ask. Just say something to the extent of "Please let me know if I can provide you with any additional information" to insinuate that you do, indeed, have a writing sample to provide, should they want to see one

Call me old-fashioned, but I do think you should get some resume paper at the bookstore. You should be able to load it into library printers.

Oh I have no problem going to Kinkos and having them print it on resume paper. I'm just not sure how to do it, seeing as I have 100 individual letters that are all different.

I doubt that it's going to be a problem, but if you're concerned, I recommend combining them into a single .pdf file and asking Kinkos to print that file instead of 100 .doc files.

[dakatz]

The .pdf sounds like a good idea for getting this done relatively quickly. Guess I just need to buy a few hundred sheets of that resume paper. Do you guys happen to know if Kinkos has it available in-store? Or would it be cheaper to get it on my own? Sorry for all the questions. I'm just totally lost when it comes to this stuff since I'm so focused on finals right now.

[pasteurizedmilk]

Kinko's will usually have it their for purchase in standard packaging - I don't think they have a stock of it independent of the boxes on display.

You should just buy it at your local bookstore or something and then print it at your library's computer. Way cheaper and any of those big laser printers libraries have can handle the thicker stock.

[jimmyd11011]

do they typically want work references or academic ones?

[pasteurizedmilk]

do they typically want work references or academic ones?

For 1L? Academic will do. If you have substantive work experience I'd list that as well and, if you don't know enough profs to get 3 references I'd list a non-substantive WE one as well.

[kurla88]

You're going to do a mail merge, right? Printing off a 100 letters/envelopes and resumes really isn't that much trouble if you use mail merge. (If you don't know how, look online or ask career services.)

[pasteurizedmilk]

Send them as soon as possible too. Like, December 1st.

[wiseowl]

I snail mailed all judges and sent cover letter and resume only. This let me mail in regular envelopes. If I had included writing samples, I would have had to go to manila envelopes and what was already a several hundred dollar venture (I mailed ~100 firms and ~100 judges and went through 3-4 ink cartridges) would have doubled.

Several judges emailed or called later to ask for writing samples. None ever asked for references.

[dood]

...

[Geist13]

This is what I want to do over the summer. Am I going to be SOL if I wait until exam end to mail everything?

Also, are most available internships unlisted? Should I just be mailing unsolicited cover letter and resumes?

[dood]

...

[dakatz]

Ok so I have 50 resumes printed out on nice paper, and I have all the cover letters set, each one with the correct info on it. With this thick resume paper, is it still ok to fold it into a regular envelope? Or is it better to use the large flat ones? Also, what should I do for the labels? I'm really not sure at all how to do the mail merge thing.

[renaissanceman83]

Large flat envelopes are more professional for official and important documents to important people. (Think: acceptance letters vs. rejection letters.)

Better learn how to do mail merge. Or pay someone who knows. No hand-written addresses.

[dakatz]

Large flat envelopes are more professional for official and important documents to important people. (Think: acceptance letters vs. rejection letters.)

Better learn how to do mail merge. Or pay someone who knows. No hand-written addresses.

Ok, and did you guys have the addresses printed directly onto the envelopes? Or is it labels that I'm supposed to be making?

[dood]

...

[dakatz]

Large flat envelopes are more professional for official and important documents to important people. (Think: acceptance letters vs. rejection letters.)

Better learn how to do mail merge. Or pay someone who knows. No hand-written addresses.

Ok, and did you guys have the addresses printed directly onto the envelopes? Or is it labels that I'm supposed to be making?

labels was much easier. avery labels come with self explanatory software.

These things need to be out by Wednesday. I unfortunately don't have time to do software or anything like that. I did what someone suggested and paid someone to take care of the labels in an avery computer program. But now I gotta hope that my fedex kinkos has that actual size that these avery labels are formatted for. My friend said she got em to fit on 5163 and 5262, so I'm praying that the kinkos has these sizes or else idk what I'm gonna do. I tried getting the kinkos to just print directly onto the large envelopes, but they said they would only do that if I was printing somewhere close to 500, and wouldn't do it for 100 envelopes.

[wiseowl]

I just printed straight on the envelopes.

[dakatz]

Guess it was worthwhile paying someone to do this. I went to Staples to get the right size Avery labels to match the mail merged file that my friend made for me. I'm assuming Kinkos will take the labels I just bought and print them out for me.

[kurla88]

I used regular size envelopes and printed directly on them. It's really easy, considering I think you already have the mail merge set up for the cover letters. Just go to page setup in Word and switch to envelope. Paste your return address in the appropriate corner, and the mail merge address info in the middle. Run mail merge. Figure out how to feed your printer envelopes. (Make sure to do a test couple first.)

And as far as this being official/important enough to merit a huge envelope, I doubt the judge thinks so, but if you want to spend the money I guess it's up to you.