1L Summer: DA internship or small law?
Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:26 am
I go to a regional T1 and have two offers for summer work.
One is an unpaid internship with the DAs office in the county where the law school is located. It's in a very desirable part of the country and I would like to stick around this summer if possible. It is unpaid, but I can get four credits for it if I pay the law school tuition. I think there is a cap of four credits or maybe six credits that you can get for externships/internships, and honestly If I don't use them this summer I plan on using them later on. The DA posting specifically said that they want candidates to stay with them for longer than a summer, preferably for two years while working 20 hours a week during school! I think I'm sort of "in" with this DAs office, as are the other people selected to be clerks there. There is a pretty decent shot that this 1L summer job could turn into actual full time employment once I pass the bar, at least according to how DAs offices have been hiring in this state.
The other job is a 9 lawyer firm in a small-town not far from the capitol city. They offered to pay me 15 bucks an hour, and say they have lots of research/writing work for me to do this summer. They seemed to really like me and believe I have lots of potential. They said they would like me to stay and extern with them during the school year if my work is good. (this is possible, only about a 25 minute drive). The firm seems pretty profitable and they have a fairly varied practice. Two criminal defense lawyers, two PI lawyers, two work with their "institutional" partners and do a lot of transactional work. The remaining three are newer and they called them backstops: they seem to do whatever is needed. The two partners I spoke with both mentioned that all of their full-time hires start out as law clerks, and that I could potential work myself into having an offer by 3L.
I don't know what to do.
I think I'd like to work at the DAs office after law school, but that might be mostly because I like the idea of being in court. The firm does have a criminal defense side that spends a lot of time in court... Anyway I had a few questions:
Which 1L summer job is more prestigious?
If I don't accept the DAs offer, have I pretty much written off that career path? (they do all their hiring from their intern pool).
Any thoughts on why one career path (small-mid law vs DA) is better than the other?
Any way I can ask how much the first year associates make at the firm? (this sounds horribly presumptive and not in my character at all) ((I do know the firm won a huge PI case a few years ago and that the partners made millions))
Thanks TLS
One is an unpaid internship with the DAs office in the county where the law school is located. It's in a very desirable part of the country and I would like to stick around this summer if possible. It is unpaid, but I can get four credits for it if I pay the law school tuition. I think there is a cap of four credits or maybe six credits that you can get for externships/internships, and honestly If I don't use them this summer I plan on using them later on. The DA posting specifically said that they want candidates to stay with them for longer than a summer, preferably for two years while working 20 hours a week during school! I think I'm sort of "in" with this DAs office, as are the other people selected to be clerks there. There is a pretty decent shot that this 1L summer job could turn into actual full time employment once I pass the bar, at least according to how DAs offices have been hiring in this state.
The other job is a 9 lawyer firm in a small-town not far from the capitol city. They offered to pay me 15 bucks an hour, and say they have lots of research/writing work for me to do this summer. They seemed to really like me and believe I have lots of potential. They said they would like me to stay and extern with them during the school year if my work is good. (this is possible, only about a 25 minute drive). The firm seems pretty profitable and they have a fairly varied practice. Two criminal defense lawyers, two PI lawyers, two work with their "institutional" partners and do a lot of transactional work. The remaining three are newer and they called them backstops: they seem to do whatever is needed. The two partners I spoke with both mentioned that all of their full-time hires start out as law clerks, and that I could potential work myself into having an offer by 3L.
I don't know what to do.
I think I'd like to work at the DAs office after law school, but that might be mostly because I like the idea of being in court. The firm does have a criminal defense side that spends a lot of time in court... Anyway I had a few questions:
Which 1L summer job is more prestigious?
If I don't accept the DAs offer, have I pretty much written off that career path? (they do all their hiring from their intern pool).
Any thoughts on why one career path (small-mid law vs DA) is better than the other?
Any way I can ask how much the first year associates make at the firm? (this sounds horribly presumptive and not in my character at all) ((I do know the firm won a huge PI case a few years ago and that the partners made millions))
Thanks TLS