Judicial Internship Coverletter Forum

(On Campus Interviews, Summer Associate positions, Firm Reviews, Tips, ...)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous User
Posts: 428477
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Judicial Internship Coverletter

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:19 am

Does anyone have a template cover letter that they used for applying to judicial internships?

Post here and I will pm you for a copy.

Thanks

Anonymous User
Posts: 428477
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Judicial Internship Coverletter

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:32 pm

I'm currently externing for a court of appeal judge, and I actually asked him this morning about what he likes to see from applicants since the topic naturally came up. I specifically asked him why he picked me as I have very mediocre grades and I'm still shocked I got the position.

Granted, this is just one judge, and they vary tremendously, but I can't imagine his insight would hurt you.

His response: grammatically, it has to be flawless. FLAWLESS. If there is even a tiny error, he automatically rejects an applicant, even if they're top 1% at Yale. In fact, he won't even know you're top 1% at Yale unless it's before he spots an error because he'll just throw an application out in its entirety. He says it's a matter of principle. I know this is pretty standard in the legal world because it demonstrates you aren't careful and meticulous enough, which obviously is very important. He says he also wants it to sound genuine, i.e., not full of fluff and awkward diction no one would use in everyday conversation. I don't know how else to articulate that, really, because it's so CL-specific.

Substantively, it should demonstrate why you are a good fit for the position, which, for this position, means you know how to write and research well. Writing samples count a lot, and he said mine was a huge decision in why he chose me.

I personally think a proven record to multitask and keep things organized is important, but my guess is judges assume a law student would be able to keep their stuff together.

Hope this helps.

User avatar
Cupidity

Gold
Posts: 2214
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:21 pm

Re: Judicial Internship Coverletter

Post by Cupidity » Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:37 pm

My cover letters sucked. Writing sample got me interviews.

User avatar
dood

Gold
Posts: 1639
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Judicial Internship Coverletter

Post by dood » Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:26 pm

my CoA judge said it was 98% based on my ties to the region

Anonymous User
Posts: 428477
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Judicial Internship Coverletter

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:03 pm

OP here thanx.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Legal Employment”