Answering all of your 1L judicial externship questions Forum

[ilovesf]

I highly recommend sending one because the great majority of judges will not hire without looking at one first.

[Anonymous User]

Hey so should I send my grades via email to the judge or via certified mail once they arrive? Also, if a judge hasn't gotten back to me yet, I could send my grades to the judge even without being asked, right? How does updating judges with grades work? Do I have to wait until a judge requests them? Thanks!

[ilovesf]

Hey so should I send my grades via email to the judge or via certified mail once they arrive? Also, if a judge hasn't gotten back to me yet, I could send my grades to the judge even without being asked, right? How does updating judges with grades work? Do I have to wait until a judge requests them? Thanks!

Have you contacted by the judge via e-mail before? I did both depending on the judge. Some judges are old school and will not want to correspond via e-mail, and some are more environmentally friend/with the times. I followed up via paper mail, unless otherwise specified to e-mail.

If you have good grades, I would follow up without a grade request. I would write them another letter highlighting how well you did and expressing your continued interest to work there next summer.

[chraruce]

I'd like to apply for a judicial internship at a district court. Should I send an application to all the judges in the court or should I pick and choose (for example, only send applications to the 5 judges nominated by a democrat president). Will it hurt my chances if I just blanket all the judges with an application?

Thanks. I hope to send out my judicial internship applications before the end of the year.

[ilovesf]

I'd like to apply for a judicial internship at a district court. Should I send an application to all the judges in the court or should I pick and choose (for example, only send applications to the 5 judges nominated by a democrat president). Will it hurt my chances if I just blanket all the judges with an application?

Thanks. I hope to send out my judicial internship applications before the end of the year.

It will not hurt your chances at all. You should apply to all of them.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Just apply to all of them. It won't hurt you at all - courts expect people to blanket apply.

(Also, I really don't think which party the president who appointed a judge belonged to is going to have any effect on your experience.)

(Mostly scooped.)

[UnderrateOverachieve]

As the others have stated, no it will not hurt your chances to blanket all the judges. In fact, it will hurt your chances if you don't.

[whereskyle]

I suspect that it is most common for one's externship to be proximal to one's law school. Are students at Cornell considered seriously by the 9th circuit, or is the 9th dominated by Berk, Stan, and UCLA (I.e., regionally)?

[ilovesf]

I suspect that it is most common for one's externship to be proximal to one's law school. Are students at Cornell considered seriously by the 9th circuit, or is the 9th dominated by Berk, Stan, and UCLA (I.e., regionally)?

I didn't work at the 9th Cir., but at least at the Dist. Ct. level there were a lot of students from good east coast schools. I met some students from GW, Georgetown, NYU, etc. You are probably right though that it seems to be more regional, but that may also be because a lot of people tend to go to school near where they would like to practice, so there tend to be more applications from those schools. You should still apply if you want to work in the 9th Cir., I would not let that dissuade you.

[whereskyle]

I suspect that it is most common for one's externship to be proximal to one's law school. Are students at Cornell considered seriously by the 9th circuit, or is the 9th dominated by Berk, Stan, and UCLA (I.e., regionally)?

I didn't work at the 9th Cir., but at least at the Dist. Ct. level there were a lot of students from good east coast schools. I met some students from GW, Georgetown, NYU, etc. You are probably right though that it seems to be more regional, but that may also be because a lot of people tend to go to school near where they would like to practice, so there tend to be more applications from those schools. You should still apply if you want to work in the 9th Cir., I would not let that dissuade you.

Thanks. I love SF too, but I'm going to Northwestern.

[Anonymous User]

If I applied Dec 1 and haven't heard back yet, does that mean the judge(s) weren't interested? I agree with the anon poster above. How do I know whether or not to send my grades to these judges without a request?

[A. Nony Mouse]

If you haven't received an actual rejection and still want to work for the judge, update with grades when you get them - I doubt they will bother to ask, as opposed to just picking someone else who has sent in grades. I also think it's still extremely early for most judges to hire - if they want interns at all, they'll hire when they want to, which is probably not over the holidays. (But admittedly this will vary by judge, so I can't say this is true for everyone - but it is my impression.)

[playpowerball]

is there a big difference between a federal or state court internship for purposes of OCI/biglaw hiring?

[ilovesf]

is there a big difference between a federal or state court internship for purposes of OCI/biglaw hiring?

No, I don't think so. The general consensus is that what you do 1L summer does not impact what your OCI results that much, provided that it's legal experience.

[Anonymous User]

Are most judicial externships full-time? Or is it common to do a split summer with being an RA part-time?

[ilovesf]

Are most judicial externships full-time? Or is it common to do a split summer with being an RA part-time?

Depends on the judge. In federal court, most of the interns I knew were full time. I have a couple of friends who did split summers with state court judges.

[Br3v]

How do I update chambers with grades if I originally mailed them? Another letter or email?

[A. Nony Mouse]

How do I update chambers with grades if I originally mailed them? Another letter or email?

I would send a letter - they're just going to put it with your original (paper) application, this saves them from printing it out to do so. And there's so much litigation stuff that goes to the chambers e-mail, you're probably better off keeping out of it.

But I'm not saying e-mailing would be terrible or ding you or anything, that's just what I'd do.

[Br3v]

How do I update chambers with grades if I originally mailed them? Another letter or email?

I would send a letter - they're just going to put it with your original (paper) application, this saves them from printing it out to do so. And there's so much litigation stuff that goes to the chambers e-mail, you're probably better off keeping out of it.

But I'm not saying e-mailing would be terrible or ding you or anything, that's just what I'd do.

Just worried about time.

[A. Nony Mouse]

How do I update chambers with grades if I originally mailed them? Another letter or email?

I would send a letter - they're just going to put it with your original (paper) application, this saves them from printing it out to do so. And there's so much litigation stuff that goes to the chambers e-mail, you're probably better off keeping out of it.

But I'm not saying e-mailing would be terrible or ding you or anything, that's just what I'd do.

Just worried about time.

Yeah, I get that, but the mail really doesn't take very long to get there. If any of the judges are local it'll get there the next day. If not local, it's harder to tell, but I doubt a couple of days will make a difference. But you might want to ask your CSO or the folks around your school whether people are getting jobs/interviews lined up (I interviewed at the end of February for my 1L judicial internship and it was pretty early, but I'm sure it depends on the judge).

Also, to be honest, except for federal district courts, chambers' e-mails aren't always that easy to find.

[Br3v]

How do I update chambers with grades if I originally mailed them? Another letter or email?

I would send a letter - they're just going to put it with your original (paper) application, this saves them from printing it out to do so. And there's so much litigation stuff that goes to the chambers e-mail, you're probably better off keeping out of it.

But I'm not saying e-mailing would be terrible or ding you or anything, that's just what I'd do.

Just worried about time.

Yeah, I get that, but the mail really doesn't take very long to get there. If any of the judges are local it'll get there the next day. If not local, it's harder to tell, but I doubt a couple of days will make a difference. But you might want to ask your CSO or the folks around your school whether people are getting jobs/interviews lined up (I interviewed at the end of February for my 1L judicial internship and it was pretty early, but I'm sure it depends on the judge).

Also, to be honest, except for federal district courts, chambers' e-mails aren't always that easy to find.

Thanks. I'll just get the letters out. It makes sense.