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So here's the deal:

I am a 1L.

I've already accepted an internship with a Federal Agency for the summer. However, I have only accepted via email - I have not driven to their office yet, I have not signed any forms, I have not been drug tested, etc.

Today I received an offer from a Judge to work as intern for him. He is a criminal judge, and I want to do criminal defense in the future. Also, with this judge, I will receive school credit hours + pro bono hours - whereas, with the Agency, I would only receive pro bono hours.

Can I back out of the Federal Agency for the summer without ruining my reputation with the Agency forever? If not, how do I go forward?

Bottom Line: HELP! WHAT AM I DO?

Burn the bridge or don't burn the bridge. Your choice. Nothing terrible will happen if you back out, but you don't get to back out and keep your reputation squeaky clean. If you don't want to go back to the agency, then don't worry about it. But you will almost certainly shut that door.

just tell them you can't pass the background check

No one likes a quitter. You're not going to learn enough as a 1L from a judicial internship to burn the opportunity with the federal agency. And it's a state court judge vs. fed agency internship. Tell the judge you have a prior obligation but would love to intern fall or spring semester next.

If you haven't been drug tested, couldn't you just go in and piss dirty? That would probably work.

Ron Mexico wrote:If you haven't been drug tested, couldn't you just go in and piss dirty? That would probably work.

Are you sure a fed agency will drug test for a 1L internship? Federal judges don't, but I don't know beyond that.

Wow I don't know much about your situation but I think fed agency is the much better play.

If you don't want to work at the federal agency, just tell them so. You'll piss off one or two people for a couple of hours and they'll just go to the next person on the list. You're not some special snowflake that's irreplaceable. Just don't count on expecting the couple of people you tick off today to want to hire you in the future.

I walked out on a federal job offer and ended up working the same agency 2 years later.

OP here, just wondering if anyone else has any advice?

Should I choose the Judge or Federal Agency for my 1L summer?

A criminal law judge? What's that? Are we talking state judge here? If so there is no excusable reason to back out of a Fed Agency. Even for a Fed Judge, I'd probably say the same thing.

daleearnhardt123 wrote:A criminal law judge? What's that? Are we talking state judge here? If so there is no excusable reason to back out of a Fed Agency. Even for a Fed Judge, I'd probably say the same thing.

Doesn't sound like the OP wants to work at the federal agency.

NotMyRealName09 wrote:
No one likes a quitter. You're not going to learn enough as a 1L from a judicial internship to burn the opportunity with the federal agency. And it's a state court judge vs. fed agency internship. Tell the judge you have a prior obligation but would love to intern fall or spring semester next.

TCR. You can probably work with each at some point, so better to keep your current obligation and try to find another time period to work with the judge.

Also, remember that getting school hours almost always means having to pay for them. In the summer. When you normally don't pay tuition.

OP here,

The judge works in the criminal division at the State level.

My mentor knows him and says he's a real cool dude.

The Federal Agency has always been my dream job, however with the recent budget cuts, I'm thinking: (1) I won't get an offer from them after graduation, (2) I'm not going to be able to have any influence whatsoever in this type of bureaucracy, whereas with the judge I might be able to have some type of influence, even if minute, which seems appealing.

I don't mean to sound like a crazed fool - I feel very lucky to be choosing between 2 very cool internships for the summer. However, I'm worried that I'll be missing out on making valuable connections with a judge in my district if I turn this opportunity down. I'm not sure how the Federal Agency will benefit me in the future except for the fact that (1) it looks pretty cool on a resume and (2) not many other students in my first year will have this opportunity.

Is the consensus that I should stay with the Federal Agency?

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

The judge works in the criminal division at the State level.

My mentor knows him and says he's a real cool dude.

The Federal Agency has always been my dream job, however with the recent budget cuts, I'm thinking: (1) I won't get an offer from them after graduation, (2) I'm not going to be able to have any influence whatsoever in this type of bureaucracy, whereas with the judge I might be able to have some type of influence, even if minute, which seems appealing.

I don't mean to sound like a crazed fool - I feel very lucky to be choosing between 2 very cool internships for the summer. However, I'm worried that I'll be missing out on making valuable connections with a judge in my district if I turn this opportunity down. I'm not sure how the Federal Agency will benefit me in the future except for the fact that (1) it looks pretty cool on a resume and (2) not many other students in my first year will have this opportunity.

Is the consensus that I should stay with the Federal Agency?

You're not going to get a job from either one because you worked there as a 1L. Just work for the agency and then extern for the judge during the semester. The agency sounds way better anyways.

goldeneye wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

The judge works in the criminal division at the State level.

My mentor knows him and says he's a real cool dude.

The Federal Agency has always been my dream job, however with the recent budget cuts, I'm thinking: (1) I won't get an offer from them after graduation, (2) I'm not going to be able to have any influence whatsoever in this type of bureaucracy, whereas with the judge I might be able to have some type of influence, even if minute, which seems appealing.

I don't mean to sound like a crazed fool - I feel very lucky to be choosing between 2 very cool internships for the summer. However, I'm worried that I'll be missing out on making valuable connections with a judge in my district if I turn this opportunity down. I'm not sure how the Federal Agency will benefit me in the future except for the fact that (1) it looks pretty cool on a resume and (2) not many other students in my first year will have this opportunity.

Is the consensus that I should stay with the Federal Agency?

You're not going to get a job from either one because you worked there as a 1L. Just work for the agency and then extern for the judge during the semester. The agency sounds way better anyways.

If you do good work you could really improve your odds.

IAFG wrote:

goldeneye wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

The judge works in the criminal division at the State level.

My mentor knows him and says he's a real cool dude.

The Federal Agency has always been my dream job, however with the recent budget cuts, I'm thinking: (1) I won't get an offer from them after graduation, (2) I'm not going to be able to have any influence whatsoever in this type of bureaucracy, whereas with the judge I might be able to have some type of influence, even if minute, which seems appealing.

I don't mean to sound like a crazed fool - I feel very lucky to be choosing between 2 very cool internships for the summer. However, I'm worried that I'll be missing out on making valuable connections with a judge in my district if I turn this opportunity down. I'm not sure how the Federal Agency will benefit me in the future except for the fact that (1) it looks pretty cool on a resume and (2) not many other students in my first year will have this opportunity.

Is the consensus that I should stay with the Federal Agency?

You're not going to get a job from either one because you worked there as a 1L. Just work for the agency and then extern for the judge during the semester. The agency sounds way better anyways.

If you do good work you could really improve your odds.

That's true but being a 1L it's kind of early to assume it'll get you the job

goldeneye wrote:

IAFG wrote:

goldeneye wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,

The judge works in the criminal division at the State level.

My mentor knows him and says he's a real cool dude.

The Federal Agency has always been my dream job, however with the recent budget cuts, I'm thinking: (1) I won't get an offer from them after graduation, (2) I'm not going to be able to have any influence whatsoever in this type of bureaucracy, whereas with the judge I might be able to have some type of influence, even if minute, which seems appealing.

I don't mean to sound like a crazed fool - I feel very lucky to be choosing between 2 very cool internships for the summer. However, I'm worried that I'll be missing out on making valuable connections with a judge in my district if I turn this opportunity down. I'm not sure how the Federal Agency will benefit me in the future except for the fact that (1) it looks pretty cool on a resume and (2) not many other students in my first year will have this opportunity.

Is the consensus that I should stay with the Federal Agency?

You're not going to get a job from either one because you worked there as a 1L. Just work for the agency and then extern for the judge during the semester. The agency sounds way better anyways.

If you do good work you could really improve your odds.

That's true but being a 1L it's kind of early to assume it'll get you the job

Worse still I think my work product 1L summer would have completely excluded me from full time hiring.

lol I just never did a huge project for a professor I was "lent to" during my 1L summer. Fuck that guy though, he gave me a B+ in Contracts.

If you want to do criminal defense, I think you overestimate the value in interning with the judge as a 1L.

edit: it won't change my opinion that you should stick with the agency, but out of curiousity, which agency is it?

I don't think it makes sense to back out on an agency that you would want to work for in order to do a summer judicial internship.

OP here,

I decided to stay with the Federal Agency and turn down the judicial internship.

Thanks for the input everyone!