Law-Related Volunteer Positions? Forum

[Paraflam]

I'm a rising junior, and I've been spending the summer trying to find somewhere in the legal field that I can volunteer at (more as a resume booster than anything else, not expecting to do meaningful work from which I can gain useful knowledge about the profession).

So far I've mass emailed every possible law office I could find within a 30 mile radius of me with my resume, explaining that I'm interested in going to law school, etc. The handful of attorneys that took the time to respond to me told me they don't need any help. One of them suggested I call the legal aid office, so I did, and they said that the economy is so bad that all the volunteer positions that used to be held by college students are now filled with actual attorneys ( ).

Is there anywhere else I can look? I really don't care if I'm filing papers or making some dood's coffee. I just want something on my resume that shows I'm interested in law and have taken some kind of action to find out more about it.

[Lwoods]

Are you in a decent sized legal city (NY, DC, Chicago, SF, LA)? The BigLaw firm where I used to work would hire college students over the summer as summer paralegals. It was paid work, too, though I imagine pretty mind-numbing at times since they often got the work no one else wanted to do.

If you're in a smaller city (or if there are smaller cities nearby), you might want to check the prosecutor's or public defender's office. I'm pretty sure my dad's office took college-level interns when he was a prosecutor.

[Paraflam]

Thanks, I'll look into that. I'm in the Chicago suburbs, by the way, and would prefer not to have to commute to the city for a volunteer gig (shitty traffic), but a paid biglaw position I would consider.