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I'm applying for internships at DA's offices. When they ask for references, do they mean any standard references, or from profs? I ask because I have a background in law enforcement, but wouldn't want to send a reference sheet full of cops if they're expecting law profs.

FWIW, our career office recommends 3 references for all 1L summer jobs: 1 law prof, 1 undergrad prof, 1 professional/other. The one exception they mentioned was for folks who had been out of school for awhile in between undergrad and law school - then it's appropriate to substitute the undergrad reference with a law prof or professional reference.

danidancer wrote:FWIW, our career office recommends 3 references for all 1L summer jobs: 1 law prof, 1 undergrad prof, 1 professional/other. The one exception they mentioned was for folks who had been out of school for awhile in between undergrad and law school - then it's appropriate to substitute the undergrad reference with a law prof or professional reference.

+1. Same with our CSO (whom I normally don't praise, but on this issue, I think they're right on).

This is a question you can, and should, ask the office. Most likely they won't care who they are from, but if you guess, and guess wrong, you're done, while there is absolutely no harm in asking.

Sup Kid wrote:This is a question you can, and should, ask the office. Most likely they won't care who they are from, but if you guess, and guess wrong, you're done, while there is absolutely no harm in asking.

FWIW, the law professor I asked to be my reference told me that for every 100 people she asks to be a reference, she gets a call or e-mail for one or two. I wouldn't sweat it too much. I used two law profs and one reference from my previous career and that seemed to work well.