Top Law Schools

If anyone has done a summer internship with The Rutherford Institute, or has had any significant contact with them, I'd like to hear about it. Feel free to PM me.

soccerfreak wrote:If anyone has done a summer internship with The Rutherford Institute, or has had any significant contact with them, I'd like to hear about it. Feel free to PM me.

I've heard of them. I suspect this would be fine as a 1L internship, but would "mark" you the same way something with the ACLU, Blackstone, Sierra Club, etc would. It would be bad if you were aiming for a non-political govt job.

I know two who interned there as 1Ls. One is still jobless, the other is clerking for Judge Wilkinson.

LawIdiot86 wrote:but would "mark" you the same way something with the ACLU

Why do you think working for the ACLU would mark you? Lawyers are a largely liberal group and they do some great litigation.

LawIdiot86 wrote:

soccerfreak wrote:If anyone has done a summer internship with The Rutherford Institute, or has had any significant contact with them, I'd like to hear about it. Feel free to PM me.

I've heard of them. I suspect this would be fine as a 1L internship, but would "mark" you the same way something with the ACLU, Blackstone, Sierra Club, etc would. It would be bad if you were aiming for a non-political govt job.

This "marking" is basically what I'm worried about. They seem like they actually give students some pretty cool work, and I'd like to spend a summer in that part of the country. I'm mostly worried about getting involved with a somewhat political organization that I may not agree on everything with.

I know two who interned there as 1Ls. One is still jobless, the other is clerking for Judge Wilkinson.

Haha, Quite the contrast.

I'm a 2L and I was offered an internship position as well. It is fairly well known, and it would be a good opportunity even though most of their political ideals are the complete opposite of mine.
Other than that, the only alarming issue for me was the application process. I applied on Thursday afternoon and I got the offer for the internship on Friday morning. I'm not complaining, but it just seems a little quick.

amcsl wrote:I'm a 2L and I was offered an internship position as well. It is fairly well known, and it would be a good opportunity even though most of their political ideals are the complete opposite of mine.
Other than that, the only alarming issue for me was the application process. I applied on Thursday afternoon and I got the offer for the internship on Friday morning. I'm not complaining, but it just seems a little quick.

When I talked to them they said they pretty much take as many interns as want to come. They're looking at about a dozen.

I'm a 2L and I was offered an internship position as well. It is fairly well known, and it would be a good opportunity even though most of their political ideals are the complete opposite of mine.
Other than that, the only alarming issue for me was the application process. I applied on Thursday afternoon and I got the offer for the internship on Friday morning. I'm not complaining, but it just seems a little quick.

I had a very similar experience. I applied yesterday, got an email acknowledging my app this morning and an acceptance letter about an hour ago. I'm also a 2L and I haven't had many employment prospects thus far. Sure enough, a professor emailed me today and offered me a position as a research assistant, too.

As far as preparing for my post-graduation job hunt, what do you think would be a better job (though neither is ideal)? Get paid barely above min. wage to research an interesting topic with one of my favorite profs, or (hopefully) gain more practical experience and make connections @ Rutherford... I was a judicial extern for the presiding judge at a state court last summer and both seem like a step down IMO.

Also looking at studying abroad for a month, which is more about traveling for a month while I still can.

ResJudicata738 wrote:

I'm a 2L and I was offered an internship position as well. It is fairly well known, and it would be a good opportunity even though most of their political ideals are the complete opposite of mine.
Other than that, the only alarming issue for me was the application process. I applied on Thursday afternoon and I got the offer for the internship on Friday morning. I'm not complaining, but it just seems a little quick.

I had a very similar experience. I applied yesterday, got an email acknowledging my app this morning and an acceptance letter about an hour ago. I'm also a 2L and I haven't had many employment prospects thus far. Sure enough, a professor emailed me today and offered me a position as a research assistant, too.

As far as preparing for my post-graduation job hunt, what do you think would be a better job (though neither is ideal)? Get paid barely above min. wage to research an interesting topic with one of my favorite profs, or (hopefully) gain more practical experience and make connections @ Rutherford... I was a judicial extern for the presiding judge at a state court last summer and both seem like a step down IMO.

Also looking at studying abroad for a month, which is more about traveling for a month while I still can.

Since you're a 2L I would definitely take whichever means the better job prospects, whether that's connections with a professor or, more likely, at TRI.

I'm in a similar boat, although a 1L, trying to decide between the safer option: local drug court in the city I want to practice, or more interesting internship in a different part of the country.

I externed at TRI last semester. I recommend it. I know summer interns get to attend a summer speaker series. It came up during interviews and resulted in good conversations. I got hired by a judge who did not have a problem with it. TRI can appeal to liberals and conservatives.

katjust wrote:I externed at TRI last semester. I recommend it. I know summer interns get to attend a summer speaker series. It came up during interviews and resulted in good conversations. I got hired by a judge who did not have a problem with it. TRI can appeal to liberals and conservatives.

Well that's good to hear. It seems like it would be interesting. I think it's naive and unreasonable to expect that we would enjoy or agree with everything we ever do while working, be it in the legal profession or flipping burgers. I got other OCI hits and other chances for summer work too right after I said I would accept the internship at TRI, but since it won't start until June I can at least entertain the though of other offers so perhaps I could do both. At least from what I read about Charlottesville there are many apartments that are very cheap to live in where I won't be forced to sign a lease. All in all, I'm looking forward to it.