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A couple of weeks ago I spammed all of the federal judges in my district pretty indiscriminately. Apparently I also spammed traffic and minor offenses judges. I just got an e-mail from one of the traffic judges offering me an interview but noting that working in his chambers might not be of the level of complexity I am seeking. He was also nice enough to say that if I declined his interview he would ask around our district to see if there were any civil or criminal judges that needed an extern for the summer.

How do I decline his offer without looking like a dumbass for not having done my research and approaching judges that I would obviously not take offers from?

If you get a traffic ticket in his jurisdiction, then it might be an out due to a conflict of interest. Otherwise, just be direct & respectful when telling the judge your thoughts.

CanadianWolf wrote:If you get a traffic ticket in his jurisdiction, then it might be an out due to a conflict of interest. Otherwise, just be direct & respectful when telling the judge your thoughts.

Definitely. But there's pretty much no way of covering my ass anymore huh? I just googled his name and it took me less than five seconds to find out he's a traffic judge...

Anonymous User wrote:A couple of weeks ago I spammed all of the federal judges in my district pretty indiscriminately. Apparently I also spammed traffic and minor offenses judges. I just got an e-mail from one of the traffic judges offering me an interview but noting that working in his chambers might not be of the level of complexity I am seeking. He was also nice enough to say that if I declined his interview he would ask around our district to see if there were any civil or criminal judges that needed an extern for the summer.

How do I decline his offer without looking like a dumbass for not having done my research and approaching judges that I would obviously not take offers from?

I'd take the offer, dude. In this economy you can never be sure that you'll get something better.

LawMan20 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:A couple of weeks ago I spammed all of the federal judges in my district pretty indiscriminately. Apparently I also spammed traffic and minor offenses judges. I just got an e-mail from one of the traffic judges offering me an interview but noting that working in his chambers might not be of the level of complexity I am seeking. He was also nice enough to say that if I declined his interview he would ask around our district to see if there were any civil or criminal judges that needed an extern for the summer.

How do I decline his offer without looking like a dumbass for not having done my research and approaching judges that I would obviously not take offers from?

I'd take the offer, dude. In this economy you can never be sure that you'll get something better.

I have an interview with my local DA's office in three weeks, that offer is pretty much guaranteed. I spammed the state judges before I realized I had that open door.

He's offering you an out, so take it.

romothesavior wrote:He's offering you an out, so take it.

Yea, I don't get the problem here.

Desert Fox wrote:

romothesavior wrote:He's offering you an out, so take it.

Yea, I don't get the problem here.

Yeah. It already looks like you spammed judges without looking them up, because you did. That's why he's offering you the out. There's no avoiding looking like a dumbass at this point, so just look like a courteous dumbass and thank him for his candor and helpfulness.

BaiAilian2013 wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

romothesavior wrote:He's offering you an out, so take it.

Yea, I don't get the problem here.

Yeah. It already looks like you spammed judges without looking them up, because you did. That's why he's offering you the out. There's no avoiding looking like a dumbass at this point, so just look like a courteous dumbass and thank him for his candor and helpfulness.

Or, you could act like you are genuinely interested in traffic law, but go on to tell him that you recently received another offer that you'll be accepting. That way you completely avoid looking like a dumbass. You can be polite about it, too.

I did the same thing last year. Spammed all of the judges thinking they were all Federa. I got an offer from a lower-level judge but not traffic court. I ended up splitting my summer with him and a small law firm. I had a great experience with that judge and got to see a lot of stuff i haven't gotten to see at my externship with a federal judge. Now I don't say this means you should take the offer, the point was that this happens more than you think. And just as your judge is doing my judge gave me a lot of outs. I bet this happens more than you think and they understand. They were in law school once too.