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So... I think I've already fucked up my first semester. Sucks. Tough road to bounce back, but I'm willing to put in the work next semester.

However, I'm still interested in trying to get some semi-meaningful legal experience this summer.

What kinds of work or volunteer opportunities are open to students without having to submit grades to be hired? Just trying to get an idea... and by chance are there any firms that will hire without grades if you have great work experience?

Put all of your energy the rest of the semester into grades. Don't even think about jobs until after finals are over.
However, IME state and federal judges often hired interns before grades even came out.

ImNoScar wrote:Put all of your energy the rest of the semester into grades. Don't even think about jobs until after finals are over.
However, IME state and federal judges often hired interns before grades even came out.

Add Most PDs to that list. I've been surprisingly successful despite being pre-grades.
Also, it might be helpful to apply to places now, because if you're materials are exceptional enough you can land an interview+offer before your grades come in. Super helpful if you're like me and you know what's coming. Just don't forget to attach your shit to your emails...

Pretty much any non-profit organization is willing to look past grades or never cared in the first place. But seriously, now is not the time to worry about this anyway.

I worked at a state government job 1L summer and I skipped the space where I was supposed to fill in my GPA (I think because I didn't have it yet) - got the job anyway...

eta: Volunteer opportunities are plentiful and you can probably get school credit for doing them. Probably better than working for minimal hourly wage anyway and they often don't care/ask for grades.

I actually worked in-house for my 1L summer and they never even asked for my transcript. One interviewer asked "How are your grades?" and that was literally the only mention of it. My grades suck (well below median), so I was very surprised but very relieved. This is obviously an extremely rare experience.

Keep working hard regardless of what you think you're gonna get, you never know what grades you'll end up with.

Speaking from experience, I'd say your best bet is a DA internship. I fucked up my first semester, too, but always had a backup plan of applying with a DA's office. (Not sure where you live or attend school, but some cities also have County Attorney's offices that handle misdemeanor cases.) As it turned out, the DA's office (I won't name names but let's just say it's one of the largest) didn't even make me interview in person, let alone submit a transcript; I got the job after one phone interview. (I will admit that it probably helped matters that the ADA interviewing me attended the same T14 law school I attended for undergrad. It probably also helped that I interviewed while home for winter break, when it was impossible for me to interview in person.) Also, I don't know if this is the case at your school, but at mine virtually everyone who got a job at a local DA's office ("local" meaning any county within an hour's drive) had the option of receiving either a fellowship stipend from the school, if they needed the money, or class credit if that mattered more. (ABA regs prevent you from receiving a fellowship *and* class credit.)

As for the job itself, it was fucking AWESOME. I know all DA internships aren't like mine, but my ADA team (consisting of a chief ADA and two younger assistants) had four jury trials over the course of the summer, and I was also asked to do substantive research on several areas of criminal law that were actually really interesting. Most of my law school friends had judicial internships their 1L summer, mostly federal but also some state-level district and appellate courts, and it sounded like I got A LOT more out of the experience than any of them.

Thanks for the feedback!

Throwing in the towel this early is criminally stupid. Having an awesome 1L job won't do much for you long term unless it's an SA.

Anonymous User wrote:Throwing in the towel this early is criminally stupid. Having an awesome 1L job won't do much for you long term unless it's an SA.

Applying to my top 10 PD offices took literally 45 minutes. (Wrote cover letters, and did office research pre-September). Preparing for the worst =/= throwing in the towel, and it also does not prevent one from giving their best effort.

I also think it's a little early for the OP to decide they fucked up the first semester when they don't have any grades yet.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:I also think it's a little early for the OP to decide they fucked up the first semester when they don't have any grades yet.

Exactly. I think the typical reaction for most students is to thin that they got bad grades or otherwise screwed up their exams (I know I did). There is no reason to throw in the towel yet.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:I also think it's a little early for the OP to decide they fucked up the first semester when they don't have any grades yet.

No lie.

Anonymous User wrote:Throwing in the towel this early is criminally stupid. Having an awesome 1L job won't do much for you long term unless it's an SA.

I'm still studying my ass off until the last final. There's definitely one class where I'm pretty sure I've already fucked it up, because we've had major grades other than a final exam. Thinking I've completely bombed the entire semester though, I'm probably just overthinking it and bracing myself for the worst case scenario. In a worse case scenario, I was just wondering what my options would be trying to land employment that isn't especially grade dependent.