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I have two questions I was hoping people could give me some insight on.

First, when should I go about applying for Fall 2L internships/externships? Also, how do I find them? I'm thinking judicial externships and local DA's Offices.

Second, I haven't done any legal internships or volunteer work during 1L year, while a lot of my classmates have been volunteering and working all year. Other than my summer legal experience, I'm not going to have anything else legal on my resume. I know grades, school and law review are most important, but can anyone give me some insight on going into OCI without having done any volunteer work during the first year?

dusk2k2 wrote: First, when should I go about applying for Fall 2L internships/externships? Also, how do I find them? I'm thinking judicial externships and local DA's Offices.

Your school should have tons of info on this stuff either in your CSO/CDO or a dedicated externship coordinator, including where past students have externed, timelines for applying, etc. I externed for a district court judge, and I believe they started looking at resumes/doing interviews at the end of the Spring semester to fill slots for the upcoming Fall semester. (I'm sure this is by no means universal though.)

dusk2k2 wrote: Second, I haven't done any legal internships or volunteer work during 1L year, while a lot of my classmates have been volunteering and working all year. Other than my summer legal experience, I'm not going to have anything else legal on my resume. I know grades, school and law review are most important, but can anyone give me some insight on going into OCI without having done any volunteer work during the first year?

As long as you have some good, substantive legal experience during your 1L summer, you will be absolutely fine for OCI (assuming you have the grades, etc.). In my experience, the vast majority of 1Ls don't work or even really get involved in much of anything during the first year. It's definitely a time to focus on grades. With that said, if there are any on-campus organizations you are interested in that wouldn't be too much of a time-drain to get involved with, that could be something nice to have on your resume (ACS, Fed Soc, Business Law Society, Law & Econ, etc.).

I would check about externship opportunities sooner rather than later (like, this week). I know at my school judicial externship apps for fall were due on March 7.