3L summer, pre-clerkship employment Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anybody here have any experience with finding a 3L summer pre-federal clerkship SA position? I never worked for a firm in law school and I'd like to get some firm experience (and make some extra cash) during my 3L summer. How'd you (or someone you know) go about doing this, and is this pretty unconventional? Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Does anybody here have any experience with finding a 3L summer pre-federal clerkship SA position? I never worked for a firm in law school and I'd like to get some firm experience (and make some extra cash) during my 3L summer. How'd you (or someone you know) go about doing this, and is this pretty unconventional? Thanks!

Some firms/offices do this, others will outright refuse to consider anyone for there 2L summer class that is not a 2L. The one firm I can think of off the top of my head that actively advertises pre-clerkship SAs is Jenner (unsurprisingly). Your best bet is just contacting law firms offices that you're interested in (whether or not they do it often varies by office), explain what you want to do, and ask them whether they are willing to consider your application. One thing to keep in mind is the bar exam- most people take the bar exam the summer after law school, so you'll have to juggle that as well (as a practical matter, often this means not taking that bar exam and having to juggle work with studying for the feb bar during your clerkship, assuming you want to do well at the firm because you want an offer from them).

[Anonymous User]

Does anybody here have any experience with finding a 3L summer pre-federal clerkship SA position? I never worked for a firm in law school and I'd like to get some firm experience (and make some extra cash) during my 3L summer. How'd you (or someone you know) go about doing this, and is this pretty unconventional? Thanks!

Some firms/offices do this, others will outright refuse to consider anyone for there 2L summer class that is not a 2L. The one firm I can think of off the top of my head that actively advertises pre-clerkship SAs is Jenner (unsurprisingly). Your best bet is just contacting law firms offices that you're interested in (whether or not they do it often varies by office), explain what you want to do, and ask them whether they are willing to consider your application. One thing to keep in mind is the bar exam- most people take the bar exam the summer after law school, so you'll have to juggle that as well (as a practical matter, often this means not taking that bar exam and having to juggle work with studying for the feb bar during your clerkship, assuming you want to do well at the firm because you want an offer from them).

Not OP, but in exactly the same position. Do you think it's too late to apply? Do firms usually have a later timeline for hiring pre-clerkship SAs than normal 2L SAs?

[Anonymous User]

Does anybody here have any experience with finding a 3L summer pre-federal clerkship SA position? I never worked for a firm in law school and I'd like to get some firm experience (and make some extra cash) during my 3L summer. How'd you (or someone you know) go about doing this, and is this pretty unconventional? Thanks!

Some firms/offices do this, others will outright refuse to consider anyone for there 2L summer class that is not a 2L. The one firm I can think of off the top of my head that actively advertises pre-clerkship SAs is Jenner (unsurprisingly). Your best bet is just contacting law firms offices that you're interested in (whether or not they do it often varies by office), explain what you want to do, and ask them whether they are willing to consider your application. One thing to keep in mind is the bar exam- most people take the bar exam the summer after law school, so you'll have to juggle that as well (as a practical matter, often this means not taking that bar exam and having to juggle work with studying for the feb bar during your clerkship, assuming you want to do well at the firm because you want an offer from them).

Not OP, but in exactly the same position. Do you think it's too late to apply? Do firms usually have a later timeline for hiring pre-clerkship SAs than normal 2L SAs?

I thought about trying this too, but I think I eventually decided that it would be better to take the bar in July instead (since it seems like studying for the bar and doing a good job at the firm would be mutually exclusive).

[Anonymous User]

Does anybody here have any experience with finding a 3L summer pre-federal clerkship SA position? I never worked for a firm in law school and I'd like to get some firm experience (and make some extra cash) during my 3L summer. How'd you (or someone you know) go about doing this, and is this pretty unconventional? Thanks!

Some firms/offices do this, others will outright refuse to consider anyone for there 2L summer class that is not a 2L. The one firm I can think of off the top of my head that actively advertises pre-clerkship SAs is Jenner (unsurprisingly). Your best bet is just contacting law firms offices that you're interested in (whether or not they do it often varies by office), explain what you want to do, and ask them whether they are willing to consider your application. One thing to keep in mind is the bar exam- most people take the bar exam the summer after law school, so you'll have to juggle that as well (as a practical matter, often this means not taking that bar exam and having to juggle work with studying for the feb bar during your clerkship, assuming you want to do well at the firm because you want an offer from them).

Not OP, but in exactly the same position. Do you think it's too late to apply? Do firms usually have a later timeline for hiring pre-clerkship SAs than normal 2L SAs?

I thought about trying this too, but I think I eventually decided that it would be better to take the bar in July instead (since it seems like studying for the bar and doing a good job at the firm would be mutually exclusive).

Yeah, studying for the bar while clerking is going to be a bitch, but I don't even know where I'm going to be working post-clerkship (my home state, law school state, and clerkship state are all different). So if I take the bar this summer, I might need to take another bar anyway. Figure I might as well try to snag a firm job and only take the bar once I know that it's the only one I'll have to take.

[Anonymous User]

If someone were interested in applying to a firm different than their 2L summer firm, when do you think would be a good time to reach out? Have all my grades, will be in the same city as the firm for the next couple months.

[Anonymous User]

Bump the above question.