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I have an SA at a biglaw firm where I hope to be doing securities enforcement work next summer; I’m wondering if I’d run into issues if I’d try and intern at a regional SEC office (different market and not NY) my 3L year. As long as I don't work on the same matters I worked on over summer or matters where my firm would be adverse to the SEC I should be OK in terms of conflicts right? Or would I be conflicted out solely by working adverse to the commission on some matters the prior summer?


Asking because I’d like to possibly work for the commission down the road and am worried that my current resume (school term undergrad internship there, school term legal internship at state securities regulator) may not be strong enough without an SEC legal internship.

The SEC will have its own conflicts/ethics rules, but generally speaking I would say you likely have the gist right—you won’t be able to work on anything where you worked on the other side or anything where you are adverse to a firm where you have an agreed-on employment relationship. It shouldn’t be a conflict that you worked on SEC matters generally.

I assume you are interested in enforcement based on your question. I don’t actually think you need an SEC law school internship on your resume to be competitive for an SEC enforcement position down the road, although possibly it could help at the margins. What’s going to make you competitive is the usual stuff—good school, good firm experience, clerkships, etc. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do it, but I wouldn’t worry about it as a big resume gap.