Senate/House Committees and Legal Internships Forum

(On Campus Interviews, Summer Associate positions, Firm Reviews, Tips, ...)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous User
Posts: 428122
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Senate/House Committees and Legal Internships

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Sep 05, 2009 6:27 pm

Hi all,

I know it's a little too soon to start thinking about internships for 1L summer - but I've been talking with a few people on the Hill and was wondering... would it be worthwhile to pursue a legal internship with a House or Senate Committee? I have a few connections on the Hill who might be able to assist me with getting a law/policy internship (e.g. not administrative work - already did my time for that...) - and was curious if it would be worthwhile following up with these connections.

Obviously, ITE, 1L summer associate positions with a firm are completely out of the picture... but given that traditional advice is to intern for a judge, public agency (e.g. DOJ, Public Defender, etc.) or a non-profit, I was wondering if going up the Hill route would be a wise idea. Working for a federal court would obviously be ideal, but I'm sure they are rather difficult to get. Committee-wise, Judiciary would obviously be ideal, but there's no guarantee as I'm sure a million people will be applying for those jobs.

I'm at a non-T14 school (somewhere down in T1) - looking to go into litigation after graduation. Not expecting to go into government work immediately after graduation but hopefully the opportunity will present itself somewhere down the line. What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

User avatar
Amira

New
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:38 am

Re: Senate/House Committees and Legal Internships

Post by Amira » Sun Sep 06, 2009 7:39 am

I don't know anyone who has had a legal internship with a House or Senate Committee, so this is just my speculation. It sounds like a very prestigious position that would be helpful in a lot of ways. However, if you are looking for biglaw during 2L and after graduation, some firms may assume that you are interested in government/political work down the road rather than staying with them. I have no idea if the prestige factor would outweigh that.

Also, working for a federal court 1L summer is not that difficult to get.

TLSNYC

Silver
Posts: 509
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 1:38 pm

Re: Senate/House Committees and Legal Internships

Post by TLSNYC » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:15 am

bump

Anonymous User
Posts: 428122
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Senate/House Committees and Legal Internships

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:28 am

If you have a heavyish political background, and you want to work in a city other than DC, then yes, it might be a problem. I was in a similar situation, and had an opportunity to intern for a committee, and turned it down because I knew everything on my resume would scream beltway politics, and I was not interviewing in DC. And still, I got a ton of questions as to why I was no longer interested in politics.

If you want to be in DC, do it for sure.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Legal Employment”