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1L here. It seems like a state court I interviewed with is going to offer me a position, provided they have the space. It will be unpaid. I also have an interview with a state administrative agency coming up, which they said *might* be paid, depending on their budget. Finally, I may have an opportunity to work for a small firm (like 5 lawyers), which would be paid.

Assuming I get all of these, I guess I'm trying to decide if it's worth doing the paid small firm job instead of the court. I've heard that the court is a great experience, and I might be able to get a couple thousand dollars of funding from my school's public interest organization, but they are stretched this year and I think people with jobs at direct legal services organizations and that sort of thing have a better shot at the money. (this is sort of hypothetical because if I get an offer from the judge I have to take it per our career center's policy...if I get one of the other jobs first I might withdraw my application there).

These jobs are all in the same city, so the pay and possible resume boost/experience are the only distinguishing factors. Any advice? Thanks in advance!

I'm the original poster...I guess I should add that my goal is to work for a big firm after school, in case that affects anyone's answer.

Ask the judge for a term-time externship instead, take the small firm.

come back when you actually have those offer options. does your school require you to accept any intern/extern position with judges? If so, you may not have to choose if the judge picks you first.

target wrote:come back when you actually have those offer options. does your school require you to accept any intern/extern position with judges? If so, you may not have to choose if the judge picks you first.

Yes...I said that in the original post. Sorry if it didn't come across clearly.

I thought about asking the judge for an internship during the academic year, but I'm worried that if I am on a journal I won't have time to do that and then I'd look bad for backing out.

I realize I don't have any of the offers in hand yet, I'm just trying to figure out my strategy in case I do get them. I am working for the small firm now, so I should know about that one pretty soon. The court will be in the next month or so, but they said if I get an offer elsewhere let them know and they'll try to get me an answer sooner. Not sure what the timeline is for the gov't agency, but that one isn't very competitive and they asked me for an interview like an hour after I sent my application in, so I feel pretty good about my odds there.

yup, RC fails on my part. assuming you would get all three of them in a way that you dont have to take the judicial intern, I'd vote for the one that paid. all judges that I talked to accept 2Ls as intern/externs. So if you feel like you need to learn some specific skillset working with a judge, you can do it next summer.