Help! FCC Internship vs. Court of Appeals Internship Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am a student at one of the T14 with a GPA in the top third.

I have two choices for internships this summer and I am conflicted.

One is with a bureau in the FCC in DC. It deals a lot with regulatory work.

The other is with a 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals judge.

In the long term, I'm just looking to get into the most prestigious Biglaw firm I can; no preference for cities really.

Where should I go?

[Anonymous User]

Go to whatever city you eventually want to practice in. "Most prestigious" firm is kind of meaningless, both cities have great firms.

[3|ink]

It depends, but I lean heavily towards the clerkship.

When you land biglaw, do you want to practice in federal communications law?

[Nelson]

The FCC will (probably) be more interesting. Judicial externships are boring since anything important or interesting will probably go to the clerks.

[Anonymous User]

OP here

No, I'm not sure what area I want but it is not communications law.

I'm trying to gauge my grades with what city I have the most chance of landing a better firm in.

NY or DC both are on the table and I'm ambivalent to both.

[09042014]

FCC. It's good experience in regulatory work that DC firms will like. Everybody and their mother does judicial externships.

[Nelson]

OP here

No, I'm not sure what area I want but it is not communications law.

I'm trying to gauge my grades with what city I have the most chance of landing a better firm in.

NY or DC both are on the table and I'm ambivalent to both.

Big firms in NY and DC do not give a crap about why you want to work there or where you worked 1L summer as long as it's legal. The DC job will (again probably) give you more interesting stuff to talk about at OCI.

EDIT: what DF said

[Anonymous User]

OP here:

So I should just go with whatever opportunity gives me the most stuff to talk about during OCI?

I talked to a career services woman at my school and she told me that the CoA was "more prestigious" to BigLaw firms

but I had the feeling she didn't have a clue what she was talking about

[Ohiobumpkin]

OP here:
but I had the feeling she didn't have a clue what she was talking about

They never really do.

[oblig.lawl.ref]

I really don't think it matters. 1L internships are not really prestigious, ever. I just can't believe you don't have a preference over NYC v. DC. Or regulatory work v. court stuff (?). If you just want to be in biglaw, NYC seems to make sense because the top 20 or so firms there hire a million SAs and you could always tell NYC firms in interviews how much you loved NYC and that you just want to come back but like other posters have said, FCC sounds more interesting. Ultimately doesn't really matter, imo. Don't you have friends in one city or the other you'd like to see in the summer?

[Anonymous User]

OP here:

I have friends and family in both cities actually.

Also, as to what kind of work I'd like to do...it's really divergent. On the one hand, doing antitrust or regulatory work at places like Arnold Porter sound awesome; but on the other hand, doing M&A stuff at places like Cravath are also awesome.

I'm not really sure right now so I'll probably decide on the city based on the grades I get this year.

Keep posting PLEASE I really appreciate your feedback!

[Anonymous User]

I just wanted to chime in and say I worked at the FCC last summer and it was a phenomenal experience. Helped greatly with DC, which is where I will be working in big law this summer. I can't speak to what doing a Court of Appeals internship is like, but I highly doubt you will have a bad time at the agency. As far as interviewing for next summer, think about the fact that there are going to be way fewer people who have FCC internships; you will have something interesting to say in interviews.

It would help if I knew which bureau you had an offer with, as different bureaus are culturally different and basically run their own internship programs (some of which are better and some worse), but it's fine if you don't want to say.

[Anonymous User]

OP: I think it was the wireless telecommunications bureau

How many interns work at the FCC per summer?

[Anonymous User]

Former intern who posted earlier:

I think there are around 30? Unsure, because you spend most of your time in your own bureau. I haven't heard bad things about Wireless; I think that's one of the good ones (also, you'll probably get to do cool stuff there because they're doing all the Incentive Auction things). Number of interns varies from office to office. I want to say Wireline has a lot, something like 8+. Runs all the way down to 2 or 3.

I will say that it may not be that useful if you want New York, ultimately. I did both cities for OCI, and this is probably somewhat of an anomaly, but I actually did better in DC than New York, though my lack of enthusiasm for NY may also have been the killer, I don't know.

[Elston Gunn]

Do you get a stipend for the FCC but not the judge?

Either way, slight edge to FCC if you genuinely have no preference.

[FattyMcFatFat]

I'm slightly surprised that some people are saying to take the FCC over the Second COA. Not that they are wrong. I just have always thought, perhaps incorrectly, that the latter was pretty much the best outcome a 1L could hope for, only because I don't think SCOTUS takes 1Ls.

Also, I think the substantive value of what you would do at the COA could vary. I know someone who did a judicial internship after 1L and got several things published on Westlaw.

[Nelson]

I'm slightly surprised that some people are saying to take the FCC over the Second COA. Not that they are wrong. I just have always thought, perhaps incorrectly, that the latter was pretty much the best outcome a 1L could hope for, only because I don't think SCOTUS takes 1Ls.

Also, I think the substantive value of what you would do at the COA could vary. I know someone who did a judicial internship after 1L and got several things published on Westlaw.

Nobody gives a crap about judicial internships. Something where you get more practical experience is better.

[jess]

.

[Anonymous User]

Former intern again:

I will amend my previous answer by acknowledging that Jessuf is right on all points. The FCC is an incredibly independent place, but to give a contrasting portrait: I worked in an office with two other interns, so it was much easier to get attention. I personally liked having a lot of supervisors, because I made a point to talk to/get coffee/lunch with many of them, and it gave me a lot of contacts for the future.

When I interviewed with firms, I not only had multiple people at the FCC who knew attorneys at firms going to bat for me, one of my supervisors essentially applied for me to a firm that was not interviewing at my school, and I subsequently got an offer there as well. In the past year, a number of them have actively stayed in touch and emailed me periodically to let me know what the FCC is up to. When I want career advice, I literally pick up the phone and call somebody, and they're always available. (To be fair, I am going into regulatory work.)

My general advice on whatever you end up picking is to keep this in mind: everybody there was very friendly and helpful, but I had to take the initiative. If you feel uncomfortable doing that (or if the bureau has an overwhelming number of interns), then it may not be the best choice for you. And also, like I said previously, all the bureaus have different cultures, so your experience may well depend heavily on that.

[jbagelboy]

While I would defer to the people who have done these internships and know more, I highly doubt your choice between the two will be at all dispositive at OCI. As long as you do a little writing and tackle a legal problem/question of vague interest of some sort to pre-package for a 20min interview question you will be fine. Go with where you want to be and what sounds cooler/less dull.

One thing I would mention is that at least at my school, turning down judges was a pretty major faux pas. Usually you respond pretty quickly & affirmatively, although that's probably just cso garbage. Not sure if you're in some unique circumstance because it's so late in the semester.