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Heres the Dilemma:

Had interview today with magistrate judge in district court. 2 hours later, got an offer and I have till monday to accept.

Here's the problem:

I have sent out 300 apps to judges, pretty much all district court judges. I have had some responses from judges in extremely competitive districts (top choices for me) saying they need my grades becuase they are scheduling interviews soon. Also, I have had interviews with usao's and gov agencys that pay and will be making decisions in mid feb (also need my grades). However, I dont have grades, other than a median grade in one class. we also have oci coming up at my school where im sure ill get some interviews.

I just dont know what to do. If my grades are not great, i would happily accept the offer. But if my grades are halfway decent, I think i can pull a legit summer district court judge, or paying fed agency job. I am a solid interviewer and have a good resume. I am just in the dark, my school is taking forever to get grades back and at this point, i can say truthfully, they have hurt me for my 1l summer internship.

Anyone have any advice, or gone through something similar in the past?

1. As a matter of etiquette, you need to accept. There's a sort of un-written rule whereby if a judge accepts you, you can't say no.

2. If you're like me and think "to hell with 'etiquette', in this profession and in this economy I'm only looking out for numero uno," then you need to ask your career advisor what'll happen to you if you turn the judge down. Only if you decide you can live with those consequences should you even be asking this question.

3. From 1st-hand experience, I can tell you working for a magistrate was a great 1L summer gig. You'll spend lots of time working in the nitty-gritty world of pre-trial motion after pre-trial motion, which of course is just like the rest of your life as a litigator will be.

Accept it; and in the future do not apply with a judge unless you intend to accept. If you need to wait on other jobs, don't send your resume until you get dinged from those jobs. Judges in lower courts (at least in my area) accept/look for interns as late as April and May.

Bullshit. That's bogus and no judge should be doing that to 1Ls. My district court judge specifically told me to take a week or so and see what else materialized. The etiquette your talking about is more of a clerkship etiquette thing rather than an internship etiquette one. Talk to your CSO, but I'd guess there's nothing wrong with being a) honest and saying you'd like some time to see what materializes from some other promising opportunities you're pursuing or b) bullshit it and say thanks, but you think you'd like to accept another offer so as not to seem like he's your second choice.

That's my answer to your question. That said, I think anyone who turns down a job right now is a fool, but if you want to go down that road, don't feel like etiquette precludes you from doing so.

-3L who was in the exact same situation

DO NOT WORK FOR A MAGISTRATE. I did this last semester and it was a big mistake. You will be bored out of your mind with social security benefit appeals.

I am working for a district judge my 2L summer.

Danteshek wrote:DO NOT WORK FOR A MAGISTRATE. I did this last semester and it was a big mistake. You will be bored out of your mind with social security benefit appeals.

I am working for a district judge my 2L summer.

1. Who cares what you work on. Nobody cares what you did your 1L summer, as long as it's somewhat respectable. Working for a magistrate is plenty respectable, unless you're HYS or something.

2. I worked for a magistrate and never did a single SS benefit case. It's totally dependent on geography. My magistrate was located in a Western border district, so I had motions on tons of cool cases involving drug traffickers, murders, etc. I have no interest in doing criminal law as a career, and no 2L OCI firms cared much about the nature of the cases I worked on during 1L summer.

3. So what if you do SS benefit appeals, and you find them boring? Almost everything we do as attorneys (and especially lowly 1L summers) is boring. Welcome to the rest of your life.

op here, i mean, i think its ok to turn it down, hence the deadline. And also, i didnt know it was a magistrate when i accepted the interview, i wouldnt have had it so soon if I had known that. also, i know its a job, but ive had positive responses so far and i feel like id be blindly accepting cause i only have 1 grade. im just confused. I think im going to ask for an extension cause my parents are on vacation and i dont even know if theyll let me stay at home this summer for free, which is crucial if i take it

so unprestigous bro

Why are earth did you apply to 300 judges, especially when you weren't sure you wanted to worked for them?

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:Why are earth did you apply to 300 judges, especially when you weren't sure you wanted to worked for them?

I agree. Unprofessional at best.

Anonymous User wrote:Anyone have any advice, or gone through something similar in the past?

I went through something similar. Ended up scheduling interviews with 4 judges over 3 days (out of town). All of them made offers on the spot, so I ended up telling two "no." (I split the summer). I regret having to do it, but it happens. I was forthright during the interviews about my other interviews.

But I think it's not kosher to interview and then decline the offer simply because you want to get something more prestigious. I think you should stick with the judge unless you really got a bad vibe in the interview.

My only advice would be to request a half-summer internship if the judge has not already set the dates. That way you can explore other options.

I had the exact same dilemma this time last year.

My suspicions, which were confirmed by OCS, was that I had to accept the magistrate no matter what. I did, somewhat reluctantly (I had already had one D.Ct. interview, was about to have another the next day, and later received two more D. Ct. interviews and a CoA interview, all of which I now had to turn down). I got the magistrate offer unexpectedly by phone on MLK Day while the judge was sitting at home.

In the end it was a fantastic summer. I didn't see a single social security appeal - sorry that the poster above had a bad experience. I was lucky in some respects that the district I was in treats magistrates virtually identically to district judges. I got to see criminal cases, civil rights cases, corporate cases, health cases, you name it. I had substantial writing responsiblity and a couple of my memos/opinion drafts were enacted pretty much verbatim.

Accept the job, let go of the stress, and go have a great summer.

Also as mentioned above ^ see if you can split. I worked at a firm half the summer and the judge the other half. Both were happy.

OCS will always tell you to take a job. For one, they're thinking about the school and the reputation it will have with that judge, and god forbid you do something in your best interest that would harm that (That's where this notion that you can't turn down a judge you interviewied with: OCS. Clerkships, yes; internships:no.) Second, OCS is typically risk-averse so they will always tell you to take a job when you can.

So, take their advice with a grain of salt. Generally, they could really give a shit about you individually...

I don't really see what the big deal is. Just take the internship with the magistrate. You'll have a good experience and you'll learn a ton about litigation. Be glad that your search for a summer job is over.

Edited for egregious diction error.

vamedic03 wrote:I don't really see what the big deal is. Just take the internship with the magistrate. You'll have a good experience and you'll learn a ton about litigation. Be glad that you're search for a summer job is over.

Ditto. Nobody cares what you do 1L summer.

Friend of mine interned for magistrate judge and had a great experience. I agree that you should just take it, dedicate the rest of your time to schoolwork without the distraction of a job search, and enjoy the experience. As long as you can spin it well, it can only help.