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Hi all,

I recognize the answer to this question will probably be 'either, who cares?' but I'd like your opinions nonetheless. I'm going to be externing in the Fall and have an offer from OIL DOJ Appellate and a judge on the D.D.C. I liked both groups that I interviewed with. I might be interested in going OIL in 5-7 years, but I have debt that I have to take care of first. I'm also interested in clerking, but I doubt I'll get a leg up with the judge at the D.D.C. on the basis of an externship. I'm summering at a v10 and have strong grades from a t14. Thoughts? I'm interested in getting as much writing experience as possible and want a strong writer to be able to edit my work. I also want to do appellate work but realize how unlikely that is if I don't go into immigration.

My understanding is that if you get an offer from a judge, you do not turn it down.

From my experience, externing can absolutely help you with a clerkship. For one thing, if you really hit it off with your judge and he or she is one of the judges who will hire their externs, that obviously gives you a leg up. For another, even if the judge won't hire you (and most judges out of principle will not consider their interns/externs for clerkships), having a judge recommend you or even better, call another DDC or DC-area judge on your behalf will be a significant boost. It looks like you don't study in D.C., which I'm assuming means you'll be externing full time. That makes the potential benefits of externing for clerkships even higher, because you'll be able to build a connection with a judge that the average part-time extern won't.
That being said, different judges will use their externs for different things, so your experience could be very different depending on the judge. As in, you could be stuck handling FOIA requests all semester, which sucks, or you could be pulled in on really interesting cases, and the experience would be amazing. I can't speak to OIL because I don't know anyone who has done it, but I'm assuming it would be a good opportunity to build connections as well. If you have never worked for a judge before and are seriously interested in clerking though, I would probably take the externship over it, in order to get at least some experience in chambers and and idea of what clerking might look like.

Be aware that in my experience as an extern (two semesters of externing with District judges (ND Ill)) you are not going to get a lot - if any- face time with the judges. That being said, the experience is phenomenal. I've had the opportunity to draft opinions, bench memos, etc., and have drastically improved my writing skills.

I'd take the DDC externship if I want to clerk later.

Anonymous User wrote:Be aware that in my experience as an extern (two semesters of externing with District judges (ND Ill)) you are not going to get a lot - if any- face time with the judges. That being said, the experience is phenomenal. I've had the opportunity to draft opinions, bench memos, etc., and have drastically improved my writing skills.

12:50 anon above you here. That is going to be very judge specific. When I was interning (summer and full-time, so slightly different than your typical externship), I had a ton of face time with my judge. I also know of several people who are externing / have externed at DDC, some who said they did not have much interaction with their judge, and some with a closer relationship.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Be aware that in my experience as an extern (two semesters of externing with District judges (ND Ill)) you are not going to get a lot - if any- face time with the judges. That being said, the experience is phenomenal. I've had the opportunity to draft opinions, bench memos, etc., and have drastically improved my writing skills.

12:50 anon above you here. That is going to be very judge specific. When I was interning (summer and full-time, so slightly different than your typical externship), I had a ton of face time with my judge. I also know of several people who are externing / have externed at DDC, some who said they did not have much interaction with their judge, and some with a closer relationship.

THis is a good point. I only have experience during the semester. Only in chambers 8-12 hours per week, and have the ability to work remotely.