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Can int'l students (JD) do judicial internships at a federal court for their 1L summer?
I hear different answers depending on who I ask...

Do you mean you're an international student at an American law school? I know at least one international student at an American law school who did this. Or do you mean you're a student at a non-American law school who wants to intern at a US federal court? If so, I don't know - it might depend on your course of study and the country. You could just contact chambers where you'd like to intern to ask - if there isn't a policy against it, it may depend on the judge.

Yeah I meant an international student at an American law school, enrolled for JD program.
Does anybody know if SDNY or EDNY allow international 1L students to intern there?

I would just contact chambers and ask. Or just apply and make sure it's clear in your materials and see what happens.

what do you mean by "contact chambers"?
do i contact specific judges?

From my personal experience (I am an international student and I have worked in federal district court), the answer is yes. If you are here on F1 visa, you need to apply for CPT to have proper eligibility.

You cannot clerk in a federal court because they are not allow to pay a non-US citizen via governmental payroll. Judicial extern is a different story because you are not paid. So people are not wrong when they tell you you cannot clerk, but you can extern.


It is theoretically possible if you clerk for free, but the odd is extremely slim and completely against you due to the OPT timeline. Your best chance is to clerk for a State Court. Federal Court is virtually impossible.

I just realized you were asking about externship and not clerking, so the answer is yes you can be a judicial extern. And you dont even need CPT or OPT because you will not be paid. Actually any for credit internship for the law school do not need CPT nor OPT, so don't waste your hour. Those are only relevant if you are getting paid, i.e. working at a firm.