Summer 2015 Federal Judicial Law Intern Q&A Thread Forum

[Baby_Got_Feuerbach]

Mods, correct me if this is in the wrong place.

Q: How competitive is hiring in flyover districts? What are judges looking for in their applicants? I'm a 1L and I'd like to be a summer intern in 2015. How does the process work?

EDITED: Title.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Oh, okay, first of all, you're not a law clerk while you're a student - you're an intern (or extern). Second, when you say "the summer internship program" it sounds like you're referring to a specific program and I'm not sure what you mean.

Generally speaking, If you want to intern for a judge, you identify the judges you're interested in and you send them an application (usually paper) - cover letter, resume, often a writing sample, sometimes LORs (usually not for internships, though I knew of one COA judge who required them). I would say also send a transcript, but some people apply first thing in December before they have grades. Judges in my law school city didn't generally hire from my school until after people had grades, so people included transcripts, but my school is relatively lowly.

Your school's CSO should be able to advise you about this, too, because it's a really common thing to do, and they'll know what the judges in your area want.

Anyway, from my school judges generally looked for grades, but others at much better schools have said they've been hired without grades, so it's probably some combo of pedigree and connection to the area or the like.

[Baby_Got_Feuerbach]

Oh, okay, first of all, you're not a law clerk while you're a student - you're an intern (or extern). Second, when you say "the summer internship program" it sounds like you're referring to a specific program and I'm not sure what you mean.

Generally speaking, If you want to intern for a judge, you identify the judges you're interested in and you send them an application (usually paper) - cover letter, resume, often a writing sample, sometimes LORs (usually not for internships, though I knew of one COA judge who required them). I would say also send a transcript, but some people apply first thing in December before they have grades. Judges in my law school city didn't generally hire from my school until after people had grades, so people included transcripts, but my school is relatively lowly.

Your school's CSO should be able to advise you about this, too, because it's a really common thing to do, and they'll know what the judges in your area want.

Anyway, from my school judges generally looked for grades, but others at much better schools have said they've been hired without grades, so it's probably some combo of pedigree and connection to the area or the like.

Thanks for the info. I'd be in touch with CSO but I'm looking to go back home, a couple hundred miles from my law school.

When did you hear back about your offer? Did you have one on one meetings with the judge(s)?

[A. Nony Mouse]

I would still talk to your CSO, since the general process is pretty much the same everywhere, and they've probably advised other students who wanted to intern elsewhere.

I think I heard back about three days after I interviewed. (I interviewed in February because of the grades thing.) Many judges will hire the first person (or however many they want) they see that they like in the interview, others will interview a pool and then decide. I know some people interview at home over Christmas break, so they either get hired without grades or the judge might ask to see a transcript once one appears. As with everything judicial, it varies by the judge.

I didn't actually have a one-on-one meeting with that judge, he left his hiring up to his clerks. Other judges interviewed directly, though. And I think people here have reported getting hired without interviews at all?

[Avian]

My feeling is that judges are looking first for at least somewhat competent students and more importantly someone interesting. In NYC, the standard application procedure is to send a cover letter and resume, and I assume this is basically the same in flyover states. If the judge requires additional information, such as a writing sample or grades, they will let you know. You want to have the applications ready to send out on December 1st because judges will start hiring immediately. I have a friend who scheduled an interview two days after our last final and had his offer the next day. Similarly, the judge I interned for hired the first two people they interviewed and was done in the space of about two weeks.

The first thing to know about judicial internships is that they primarily exist because the judge wants to help out law students by giving them an interesting opportunity. The level of work that you do during 1L summer will invariably be relatively simple opinions like summary judgments or default judgments, bench memos and possibly habeas decisions. Each judge is different, but many federal judges did not require grades from my T40 school. Often by the time you get an interview the judge is willing to hire you assuming you get along. The only people I know who didn't get offers after interviews said that they didn't click personality wise with that particular judge.

During my interview I met first with the clerks for about 20 minutes and then one-on-one with the judge for another 20-30 minutes.