2L: Struck out for private law firms. Go with an externship? Forum

[Anonymous User]

2L and struck out of OCI and no uck mass mailing. Got an an offer with a judge for externship over the summer. Take it? Is it awkward for 2L's to do an externship over summer? I mean at this point, it is this or jobless it seems.

[rad lulz]

I mean it's better than nothing but working forms judge 2L summer is pretty low on the list of desirable options.

Take it if you have 0 other prospects I guess

[misterjames]

It's definitely not horrible, but it wouldn't be great either. I would try to put off giving an affirmative response as long as possible and continue to look around. After all, it is only February

[Anonymous User]

honestly, it depends on what you want to do after graduation. if you want to clerk, externing is a great idea because you'll actually get to see what clerks do. i don't think it's low at all (personally, i would trade you.)

[OutCold]

You should at least do something that might have even the slightest chance of leading to employment.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I knew a couple of 2Ls who went judicial externship 2L summer --> clerkship --> biglaw, so it doesn't have to be the end of the world, but obviously it depends a lot on your market and what else you bring to the table.

[joetheplumber]

^^ Well, I accepted the offer. Hopefully I will be able to secure a clerkship going this route. Gotta make sure I do a good job and get a LOR from the Judge. But I feel this is going to be hard since only the clerk interacts with the Judge.

[A. Nony Mouse]

A lot of judges aren't comfortable writing LORs because they're concerned it will look like an abuse of their judicial position ("I, judge, am telling you, employer that might appear before me, to hire this person!"). They may agree to be a reference where someone can call them, but they may not want to write an actual letter.

[patogordo]

A lot of judges aren't comfortable writing LORs because they're concerned it will look like an abuse of their judicial position ("I, judge, am telling you, employer that might appear before me, to hire this person!"). They may agree to be a reference where someone can call them, but they may not want to write an actual letter.

i think he meant as an LOR for clerkships

[A. Nony Mouse]

True. The judges I knew that had "no letter" policies didn't really distinguish, but I can see why that's different.