California court of appeal externship Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi, just curious about how a CA court of appeal externship compares to federal district court externships. My long term goal is biglaw, so I'm curious about the prestige factor. Also, if anyone could shared what their experience was like, I'd really appreciate it. I was told that the office only has research attorneys and no clerks during the summer.
Thanks!

[FascinatedWanderer]

Neither this nor a district court externship is at all prestigious, so that shouldn't be a concern.

[mjb447]

Neither this nor a district court externship is at all prestigious, so that shouldn't be a concern.

+1. Judicial externships don't carry "prestige" in the way that you're thinking. Go with whatever is more likely to give you an experience that you'll enjoy (or perhaps a good reference going forward, which varies by judge).

[Anonymous User]

I externed for a very well known circuit judge. Overall, great experience. But that's because I had a great judge, not because it was a circuit court. While I agree with the above that it's not "prestigious", many interviewers during OCI were impressed when they saw it on my resume. Again, it could be the judge?

It's somewhat of an easy thing to get an externship, and doesn't at all compare to the level of difficulty as attaining a 1L summer associateship. But it makes for a good ice breaker, and I did learn things that were helpful in my 2L classes.

[rpupkin]

As others have already said, no prestige attaches to an externship.

If you extern for a district court judge in the district in which a big law office is located, that can help a bit with interviews. But that's because it gives you something of interest to discuss. It's not a prestige thing.