Taking an interview after accepting a summer job w/ judge? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Conflicted..

Accepted a summer job working for Judge A. Just got an offer to interview with higher court Judge B (who wants interns to split summer). Had committed to work full summer for Judge A, but am enticed by the potential of splitting the summer + higher court experience.

Q; Should I take the interview and see what happens? Or not bother risking that Judge A finds out and make a bad impression?

ETA: Both Judges are at same courthouse, which makes this riskier.

ETA for clarity: Would not be reneging all together on Judge A - instead would be asking to split summer post-acceptance.

[mjb447]

Can you not (respectfully) ask Judge A how he'd feel about it before the interview? I think a lot of judges would be fine with it, and you probably won't have a very good summer with Judge A if he'd revoke your offer just because you asked.

[pml87]

Conflicted..

Accepted a summer job working for Judge A. Just got an offer to interview with higher court Judge B (who wants interns to split summer). Had committed to work full summer for Judge A, but am enticed by the potential of splitting the summer + higher court experience.

Q; Should I take the interview and see what happens? Or not bother risking that Judge A finds out and make a bad impression?

ETA: Both Judges are at same courthouse, which makes this riskier.

Sounds like you have 2 options: Option 1) Take the interview and the very real risk that Judge A would know about your interview from Judge B and burn all your bridges with Judge A. Even if you do get a gig, you would have to amend your commitment with Judge A, thus burning more bridges; the upside to this is a potential gig at Judge B's chamber. Option 2) Do not take the interview and have avoid antagonizing Judge A; you can always come back to Judge B in the future if you heart wants.

I think judges can hold a grudge for a long time. Unless you know for sure you won't practice in Judge A's locale in the future, you should really think long and hard about this.

[Anonymous User]

Can you not (respectfully) ask Judge A how he'd feel about it before the interview? I think a lot of judges would be fine with it, and you probably won't have a very good summer with Judge A if he'd revoke your offer just because you asked.

OP here. Considered this route, but prefer to not "stir the pot" without even having on offer on hand. I don't expect a revocation, but would prefer to avoid any chance at a bad impression unless necessary.

[Anonymous User]

Conflicted..

Accepted a summer job working for Judge A. Just got an offer to interview with higher court Judge B (who wants interns to split summer). Had committed to work full summer for Judge A, but am enticed by the potential of splitting the summer + higher court experience.

Q; Should I take the interview and see what happens? Or not bother risking that Judge A finds out and make a bad impression?

ETA: Both Judges are at same courthouse, which makes this riskier.

Sounds like you have 2 options: Option 1) Take the interview and the very real risk that Judge A would know about your interview from Judge B and burn all your bridges with Judge A. Even if you do get a gig, you would have to amend your commitment with Judge A, thus burning more bridges; the upside to this is a potential gig at Judge B's chamber. Option 2) Do not take the interview and have avoid antagonizing Judge A; you can always come back to Judge B in the future if you heart wants.

I think judges can hold a grudge for a long time. Unless you know for sure you won't practice in Judge A's locale in the future, you should really think long and hard about this.

I agree with this... leaning towards option 2 although I am very tempted. Don't know if being reasonable or just paranoid. What would you do?

[mjb447]

Can you not (respectfully) ask Judge A how he'd feel about it before the interview? I think a lot of judges would be fine with it, and you probably won't have a very good summer with Judge A if he'd revoke your offer just because you asked.

OP here. Considered this route, but prefer to not "stir the pot" without even having on offer on hand. I don't expect a revocation, but would prefer to avoid any chance at a bad impression unless necessary.

I think if you're going to go on the interview and have committed to a full summer with Judge A you should talk to Judge A first. Curious what you plan to say if Judge B asks you (as he almost certainly will if he prefers split summers) if you've got anything lined up for the rest of the summer.

That said, I also don't think that the risk of a 'bad impression' is so significant that you shouldn't go on the interview just for fear of offending Judge A. Not saying there's no risk, but I think you're overestimating it. (You obv know Judge A better than I do, though.)

[Anonymous User]

I think if you're going to go on the interview and have committed to a full summer with Judge A you should talk to Judge A first. Curious what you plan to say if Judge B asks you (as he almost certainly will if he prefers split summers) if you've got anything lined up for the rest of the summer.

That said, I also don't think that the risk of a 'bad impression' is so significant that you shouldn't go on the interview just for fear of offending Judge A. Not saying there's no risk, but I think you're overestimating it. (You obv know Judge A better than I do, though.)

You've got a point. I need to think about it further. But to answer your question, I was just planning on being honest ... "I've got a job lined up with Judge A but would love an opportunity to split my summer between higher court & lower court .. otherwise, I will just be working with Judge A for all 10/12 weeks".

[Npret]

If they work in the same courthouse you have to assume both judges will find out. I don't know why JudgeA isn't enough do you to use as 1L summer experience?

[pml87]

Conflicted..

Accepted a summer job working for Judge A. Just got an offer to interview with higher court Judge B (who wants interns to split summer). Had committed to work full summer for Judge A, but am enticed by the potential of splitting the summer + higher court experience.

Q; Should I take the interview and see what happens? Or not bother risking that Judge A finds out and make a bad impression?

ETA: Both Judges are at same courthouse, which makes this riskier.

Sounds like you have 2 options: Option 1) Take the interview and the very real risk that Judge A would know about your interview from Judge B and burn all your bridges with Judge A. Even if you do get a gig, you would have to amend your commitment with Judge A, thus burning more bridges; the upside to this is a potential gig at Judge B's chamber. Option 2) Do not take the interview and have avoid antagonizing Judge A; you can always come back to Judge B in the future if you heart wants.

I think judges can hold a grudge for a long time. Unless you know for sure you won't practice in Judge A's locale in the future, you should really think long and hard about this.

I agree with this... leaning towards option 2 although I am very tempted. Don't know if being reasonable or just paranoid. What would you do?

My experience is that some, not all, judges think they are god's gift to law students. Revising your commitment to said judges has a real risk of their remembering your perceived slight down the road where he has real power over you (eg. where he resides over your case or can badmouth you to a colleague who does reside.) Plus, what are you thinking long term? If you are just focusing on OCI, having judge A to be a potential recommender is sufficient anyway. The upside of a judge's having long memory is that some judge would, after you demonstrated that you have done good work for them, went to great length to get you interviews and networking opportunity. I would stay with judge A and do good work for him. Judge B can wait.

[mjb447]

I think if you're going to go on the interview and have committed to a full summer with Judge A you should talk to Judge A first. Curious what you plan to say if Judge B asks you (as he almost certainly will if he prefers split summers) if you've got anything lined up for the rest of the summer.

That said, I also don't think that the risk of a 'bad impression' is so significant that you shouldn't go on the interview just for fear of offending Judge A. Not saying there's no risk, but I think you're overestimating it. (You obv know Judge A better than I do, though.)

You've got a point. I need to think about it further. But to answer your question, I was just planning on being honest ... "I've got a job lined up with Judge A but would love an opportunity to split my summer between higher court & lower court .. otherwise, I will just be working with Judge A for all 10/12 weeks".

I think it's odd that you won't talk candidly to Judge A about this because it's too risky, but you're willing to take the risk of talking to Judge B about your plans with Judge A and hoping that it doesn't come up (later during the interview or if Judge A and Judge B talk) that you haven't actually cleared anything with Judge A yet.

All of this is assuming that you're actually interested in the different experience available in Judge B's chambers for whatever reason. If you're just looking for a second recommender or the perceived 'prestige' of an internship with a higher court (dubious), I tend to agree that it's not worth the risk because you're probably not going to get as much out of Judge B as you're hoping.

[Skool]

Honestly, I would just put my cards on the table for Chambers A. Let them know you have this interview offer and why you want to explore the opportunity to split. You could even ask them if they think splitting is a valuable experience for you. If they're cool with it, interview with Chambers B. If not, drop the idea immediately. The transparency will prevent them from thinking of you negatively.

How would splitting impact your OCI plans?

Also, one internship with chambers is enough. You should probably look as Chambers B as gravy and not be too upset if this doesn't work out.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I think if you're going to go on the interview and have committed to a full summer with Judge A you should talk to Judge A first. Curious what you plan to say if Judge B asks you (as he almost certainly will if he prefers split summers) if you've got anything lined up for the rest of the summer.

That said, I also don't think that the risk of a 'bad impression' is so significant that you shouldn't go on the interview just for fear of offending Judge A. Not saying there's no risk, but I think you're overestimating it. (You obv know Judge A better than I do, though.)

You've got a point. I need to think about it further. But to answer your question, I was just planning on being honest ... "I've got a job lined up with Judge A but would love an opportunity to split my summer between higher court & lower court .. otherwise, I will just be working with Judge A for all 10/12 weeks".

I think it's odd that you won't talk candidly to Judge A about this because it's too risky, but you're willing to take the risk of talking to Judge B about your plans with Judge A and hoping that it doesn't come up (later during the interview or if Judge A and Judge B talk) that you haven't actually cleared anything with Judge A yet.

All of this is assuming that you're actually interested in the different experience available in Judge B's chambers for whatever reason. If you're just looking for a second recommender or the perceived 'prestige' of an internship with a higher court (dubious), I tend to agree that it's not worth the risk because you're probably not going to get as much out of Judge B as you're hoping.

Totally agree with this. If you want to pursue Judge B, ask Judge A if you can split first - it's a reasonable enough question. If you don't want to ask Judge A, pass on Judge B (or ask if you can do the internship during the semester or something).