1L Summer Advice Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello!

I have been fortunate enough to have three offers for a 1L summer internship. They are:

1) Firm - IP Litigation position

2) Large well-known tech company - In house

3) Small tech start up - In house (only 1 GC)

A little bit more about me - I have a tech background (though you may have been able to guess this) and long term I want to work for a tech company in house (not sure if I prefer start up or large company yet). I'm mostly interested in data security and privacy issues but would also be willing to dabble in IP issues. I'm not concerned about getting a firm job 2L summer nor am I particularly concerned about money/location at this stage but my main goal is to get good experience that will help me decide if my long term goal is right for me.

Any thoughts?

Additionally information you would want to know or that I should find out?

[Anonymous User]

Important consideration to keep in mind: if your resume screams IP (hard science ug major, etc,) and do DON'T want to do IP, maybe consider pass on the IP firm if you have good credentials.

I went to a top law school and had median ish grades, but IP credentials. I actually wasn't set on IP going in, though, like you, I was open to it trying it out. Got a V50 1L SA in IP. Come OCI time, I did fantastically with every IP firm, probably like 8 offers and turned a lot of other interviews down. However, I did VERY poorly with firms that didn't do IP (aka every run of the mill NYC firm). I just couldn't convince them that I wanted to do anything except IP. Out of probably 40 non-IP screeners, I got like 4 callbacks. Of those 4 callbacks, despite interviewing for general lit or corporate positions at general non-IP OCI, I found 2 of them had slotted me into interviewing with all IP partners at the callback. Did not get offer at another one, and then cancelled my last non-IP interview because it was scheduled too far out and was gonna lose another offer I liked.

I ended up embracing it and went to a great IP firm 2L, and yet another smaller IP firm post-grad. I hear some IP folks genuinely end up happier with better QOL than their non-IP counterparts, so maybe it worked out for the better. But whether or not that's true, it's a decision that was effectively made for me once I chose to spend my first summer doing IP.

[PeanutsNJam]

What you do 1L doesn't matter and the firm is like 25-30k duder. How yolo rich are your parents? During 2L OCI just say you really wanted firm experience and the IP firm was the best firm offer you had.

[Anonymous User]

What you do 1L doesn't matter and the firm is like 25-30k duder. How yolo rich are your parents? During 2L OCI just say you really wanted firm experience and the IP firm was the best firm offer you had.

I'm the guy who responded above. Take my anecdote however you want, but this was not my experience. Call it confirmation bias. Interviewer sees a resume from pre-LS that indicates IP, and oh, what do you know, they also did IP their 1L summer? They clearly want to do IP. Many of my IP class mates at my upper T14 (there's not many of us) had similar experiences and ended up auto-slotted into IP, even a couple who desperately wanted to *NOT* do IP but chose to take market/above market pay for their 1L summer.

Even the largest most "prestigious" firms are desperate for strong IP resumes these days, so the farther you confirm that presumption the harder it gets to fight against it.

[Anonymous User]

What you do 1L doesn't matter and the firm is like 25-30k duder. How yolo rich are your parents? During 2L OCI just say you really wanted firm experience and the IP firm was the best firm offer you had.

This is just recycled TLS mantra and is simply not true in this case. If you can't speak from personal experience on this matter, your recycled "advice" is more harmful than helpful.

I second the above poster. While most people I knew with IP backgrounds came to law school to do IP, of the people who had IP backgrounds but wanted to try something else, they had a much harder time convincing general lit/transactional groups that they wanted to do that instead.

If you are definitely not interested in IP long-term, don't take an IP job this summer (if the rest of your resume screams IP). But, since it looks like you copped an IP lit offer, it's not necessarily true that the rest of your resume screams IP.

If your resume has other angles to it, then I think it's safe to take the IP lit position (especially since it's lit and not pros).

[nate9933]

I would recommend the startup if you think you'd like to work for a firm that does startup/tech work after graduation. I did something very similar my 1L summer (small tech startup in Boston/Cambridge with only 1 GC) and I think it gave me a huge advantage during OCI for the firms I was targeting. I have absolutely no connections to SF/SV, and only good/decent grades from a T20, but ended up with more than one offer at top tech firms out there, one of which I accepted. I think that a lot of people say they want to work with startups/in tech, especially during OCI, so having actually spent your 1L summer at a startup makes your pitch a lot stronger.

This is obviously anecdotal but working for a startup my 1L summer was probably one of the better decisions I've made in law school so I wanted to share.