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Judicial Internship

Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 7:24 pm
by Anonymous User
I am currently working for a judge in my home state and aside from helping his research the law for her docket, he has me working on a 2-hour powerpoint conference she is presenting in two weeks. My judge assigned the presentation to me yesterday on top of my other duties and writing competition (I should not have started my internship this early...). Not only that, she wants me to translate the presentation into another language. I don't think I'll have time to do a high-quality presentation in both English AND in a foreign language. Should I raise this concern to her?
My judge has a reputation for being a hard worker and pushing his clerks to their limit, so you can imagine why I might want to bite the bullet and at least turn something in on time, even though I know the quality of the foreign-language presentation will be at the same level as the English one.

Re: Judicial Internship

Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 2:06 pm
by NotMyRealName09
Important lesson in the law - be busy, but not too busy. Never blow a deadline, and if you bite off more then you can chew, you'd better stay up late and keep on chewing. Turning in sub-par work in not something you should be considering. Instead, um, work harder?

Good luck.

Re: Judicial Internship

Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 12:10 pm
by lawschoolftw
Agreed, it is a lesson learned. Especially when you're at a firm you need to learn when your plate is actually too full. In the future, speak up when you have too much going on. That said, talk to the judge. If you were actually the clerk, I'd say bite the bullet and work yourself half to death doing it. But, since you're an intern, go talk to him/her and just explain the situation. Even the hardest workers understand that at some point you reach max capacity. Best of luck.