SEC Enforcement Internship - Just Good for Litigators? Forum

[carsondalywashere]

I am considering applying for a 3L school-year internship with the SEC. However it would be a regional office which does almost only enforcement work. Is there any benefit for a transaction attorney to do an internship like this?

[Anonymous User]

I did the exact same as you as a 2L, and now practice as an M&A attorney.

I enjoyed it and it was critical in helping me decided that I definitively wanted to rule out long-term government work down the road (not unenjoyable, just not my personal career goal). If you're vaguely interested in perhaps working for the SEC some time down the road (even in a non-Enforcement capacity), it's valuable perspective.

That said, make sure you get school credit for it.

[Wild Card]

No, perversely, my 5 classmates and I at the SEC Enforcement Division all ended up in corporate:

2 Skadden, 1 Davis Polk, 1 Jones Day, 1 Shearman, 1 Sidley,

[lapolicia]

I don’t think it’ll be particularly useful if you are set on transactional. However, if you are interested in (non-litigation) regulatory practice areas, then I think it will have lots of value.

[Dodocogon]

Did an internship w/ Enforcement (part time- 15 hr/week) having already committed to a corporate group this past fall - the value for me was getting to make sure I didn't want to do litigation in a very low-committment scenario, which it did for me. Was good to talk to in interviews as well due to my relative lack of legal experience - extra line on the resume didn't hurt.