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So I'm a T14 that struck out at OCI. Now I'm looking for a summer job that will put me in a better position for 3L OCI and/or massmailing. Can you guys rank the following in terms prestige..or which would be better on my resume. Yes, I know I haven't been offered any of these positions, but would like to make an informed decision if it comes to that.

-Judicial Externship - District Court Judge
-Judicial Externship - State Court of Appeals Judge
-Judicial Externship - Staff Attorney's Office for the _______ Circuit Court of Appeals.

Thx. Inb4 I should forget about biglaw and focus on dropping out.

The order you've placed them in is the ranking I'd use (from best to worst).

Assuming these are all in your preferred location, federal district judge is probably most prestigious.

I'd also consider your chances of getting a clerkship there. FWIW, at my state court of appeals sometimes interns are hired as post grad clerks. So if your grades are competitive for a state court clerkship or USCOA staff attorney position (and not very competitive for USDC clerkship), those might be better summer options.

Better yet try too split between district judge and state COA.

OP here, thanks for the input. My grades are competitive, which is why I made this inquiry. Splitting does seem like a good choice (again if I'm fortunate to be in that position), I just didn't think it would be possible with judicial externships. FWIW, where I'm at, the externship for a district judge is actually much easier to obtain than the state COA externship.

Depends on the court/judge for splitting. It's the norm where I am. I'd guess most judges realize (1) judicial internships are unpaid, (2) they're unlikely to lead to full time employment, and (3) interns are pretty useless, anyway. So neither the intern nor the judge usually want it to last all summer. Whenever we hire interns, I encourage them to split the summer.

Yeah, splitting isn't that common where I am, and I'm pretty sure some judges I know wouldn't be okay with it. Your law school may be able to help you with more specific info if it places in this market frequently (and also let you know the likelihood of parlaying an externship with a particular judge into a clerkship).