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So I have tried searching around and I could not find what people thought about this. I am not working in a judicial internship this summer. I do want to have this experience, and while I do want to clerk, I understand that this is very competitive, and so a fall externship may be my only opportunity.

Should I consider/apply for a fall internship in a federal district court? My motivations are both or either to experience a federal judicial internship and to perhaps help my future clerkship applications. I understand that (1) this is really premature, (2) even with good grades at a top school, clerkships are super competitive, (3) (summer) judicial internships have a very negligible impact on clerkship hiring but it may help me give a frame of reference, and (4) OCI and OCI related stuff in the fall will be very stressful and busy time.

While I am taking a full course load with 3 substantive classes, I am lucky to not have any class two days. I assume term internships will be part-time, but perhaps others with experience can speak to this (could I do 1/day a week, 2/days a week? say 10-15 hours?). Alternatively, would it be of use to apply to other internships (I know this will depend on what I am interested in, but are there any particularly interesting, useful externships that people have had)?

If it is a good idea to do this, what should the time-line be? When will judges look at fall applications? I assume I am not too late in this, because I do not know anybody else doing this. I want to send out firm applications in July, so I am just trying to plan this out. Thanks!

[Edit] This is somewhat helpful, but more info like this would be helpful: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p#p4318828

[Edit 2]: I forgot about journals/which I will be applying to. So related, do this on top of law review (probably not a "problem" I will have...)? Do this instead of secondary journals?

Anonymous User wrote:So I have tried searching around and I could not find what people thought about this. I am not working in a judicial internship this summer. I do want to have this experience, and while I do want to clerk, I understand that this is very competitive, and so a fall externship may be my only opportunity.

Should I consider/apply for a fall internship in a federal district court? My motivations are both or either to experience a federal judicial internship and to perhaps help my future clerkship applications. I understand that (1) this is really premature, (2) even with good grades at a top school, clerkships are super competitive, (3) (summer) judicial internships have a very negligible impact on clerkship hiring but it may help me give a frame of reference, and (4) OCI and OCI related stuff in the fall will be very stressful and busy time.

While I am taking a full course load with 3 substantive classes, I am lucky to not have any class two days. I assume term internships will be part-time, but perhaps others with experience can speak to this (could I do 1/day a week, 2/days a week? say 10-15 hours?). Alternatively, would it be of use to apply to other internships (I know this will depend on what I am interested in, but are there any particularly interesting, useful externships that people have had)?

If it is a good idea to do this, what should the time-line be? When will judges look at fall applications? I assume I am not too late in this, because I do not know anybody else doing this. I want to send out firm applications in July, so I am just trying to plan this out. Thanks!

[Edit] This is somewhat helpful, but more info like this would be helpful: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p#p4318828

[Edit 2]: I forgot about journals/which I will be applying to. So related, do this on top of law review (probably not a "problem" I will have...)? Do this instead of secondary journals?

You should constantly be checking your school's Symplicity (or whatever career posting website they use) -- that's where a majority of judges will be posting internship possibilities. If there are specific judges you want, it can't hurt to cold mail them, or even just give a call to the clerk asking when they start accepting applications. Most judges will hire the first person they like who they interview, so earlier is almost always better. Also, apply to your top choices first -- if you get an offer, you have to accept it.

As for the time commitment, 2L Fall is a rough time with OCI, LR (or a secondary) and regular classes, but I think you can make this happen. Two things to check on that would make your life easier. First, see if you can get credit for the judicial internship -- some schools give up to 6 credits depending on the total number of hours -- and then you can drop one of your classes. Expect to have to work for the judge for at least 12-15, and sometimes up to 20 hours a week, depending on the judge. Second, see if you can begin sometime after September 12th. For most schools, that will be after OCI, and into the callback phase. While callbacks are time-consuming, I found that it was easier to schedule them over the OCI screening interviews which you have no say in. Plus, it is generally acceptable to skip class for callbacks, so if you start a little later, you won't have to miss much, if any, work.

HTH

[OP]: Thanks, Sup. I do not think I can get academic credit, but I will try. I will also try to send the apps out soon.
Does anyone else have any suggestions about time management? I hear our secondaries are not so bad, but I presume law review is a lot of work.