what's the procedure with externship applications? Forum

[Anonymous User]

about fall externships...

i heard the rule is "accept the first judge that offers"

does that mean if a state court judge calls first, and a federal district court judge calls the week after, you are not allowed to reneg the state court externship?

[Nebby]

"Don't make a girl a promise... If you know you can't keep it."

Cortana

[A. Nony Mouse]

about fall externships...

i heard the rule is "accept the first judge that offers"

does that mean if a state court judge calls first, and a federal district court judge calls the week after, you are not allowed to reneg the state court externship?

What people are usually worried about is whether you can say "no" to a job offer from a judge. There are judges who will expect anyone who applies to work with them to accept the position if offered (sometimes on the spot). There are caveats to this, though: it really only applies to/matters for people applying to work as post-grad judicial clerks, rather than interns/externs; and I don't think it actually happens very often. Lots of judges will give applicants (clerks or externs/interns) some time to think about it, or won't be offended if you decline the offer. If you get an offer and nothing like this has come up, you can ask when they need a response by. (They may turn around and say "now," in which case you have to decide.)

Reneging is different from being able to say no to an offer, though. Any time you renege on an offer you've accepted you have to worry about whether you're burning a bridge and how big a bridge that is. The concern with reneging on judges is that they know lots and lots of people in any given market, and, frankly, many of them are used to be deferred to on some level. Some judges (like any employer) will be annoyed ranging to pissed if you renege, and CSOs will tell you that you can't do it because they don't want the judge being pissed at them/the school. Some judges won't care in the slightest about whether an unpaid intern/extern withdraws from working for them.

Basically, you have to decide whether the benefits of the "better" externship make up for the potential negative consequences if the first judge gets pissed off. For a judicial externship, I would probably ask the second judge if they'd consider me for a position for the spring semester instead (I don't think any one externship is enough "better" than any other to be worth the problems of reneging). But that's just me.

[Yardbird]

"Don't make a girl a promise... If you know you can't keep it."

Cortana

I would give you TLS gold if it existed.

OP, it doesn't matter which judge accepts you first, you are NOT supposed to renege on an offer from a judge. If this was for a summer externship, I would approach Judge 1 about splitting with Judge 2. Since it's for the fall, I don't know if that is possible or wise (you might be taking classes in addition to externing).

[Nebby]

Thanks. I manage to produce one quality post per month.

[Nat Sherman]

Should check your schools policy. At some, renegging on an offer from a judge can put you into serious academic trouble.