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Anyone else thinking about quitting law school after their 1L year? I've been unlucky in an internship search and it's been really discouraging. I go to a T1 and have decent grades (probably just outside top 25%), but I question my marketability since I can't even get a summer internship.

I used to be an Electrical Engineer and there's a huge demand for my technical skills, so I'm thinking that I should just abandon law and go back to engineering.

Anyone else contemplating the same thing? Does not getting an internship lead to further difficulties for the 2L internship?

notyou wrote:Anyone else thinking about quitting law school after their 1L year? I've been unlucky in an internship search and it's been really discouraging. I go to a T1 and have decent grades (probably just outside top 25%), but I question my marketability since I can't even get a summer internship.

I used to be an Electrical Engineer and there's a huge demand for my technical skills, so I'm thinking that I should just abandon law and go back to engineering.

Anyone else contemplating the same thing? Does not getting an internship lead to further difficulties for the 2L internship?

I know a corporate in-house guy who transferred from part to full time after 1L, and as a result took summer classes throughout the rest of law school, thereby removing his ability to do summer internships, and he didn't seem too put off about it, and he's done pretty well for himself. He also was at a T1 outside of the T14.

did you try the us patent office? someone told me that if you promise to work for them after you graduate that they'll pay for your tuition. the source that told is enrolled in a part time program and works at the office during the day.

i would at least wait until OCI for an honest assessment of your "marketability". you'll probably be surprised. granted, that requires paying fall tuition, but i'd say still stick it out. did you register for the Loyola Patent Fair? unfortunately its too late if you didnt...but you could still register for the one in Atlanta.

i'm at a T14 and many of the "IP guys" do not have IP-related summer jobs.

I haven't even started law school yet and I'm thinking about quitting.

4 more years of UG FTW!

wiseowl wrote:i would at least wait until OCI for an honest assessment of your "marketability". you'll probably be surprised. granted, that requires paying fall tuition, but i'd say still stick it out. did you register for the Loyola Patent Fair? unfortunately its too late if you didnt...but you could still register for the one in Atlanta.

i'm at a T14 and many of the "IP guys" do not have IP-related summer jobs.

If you're non-IP, I think you'd know whether you want to quit after your 2nd semester grades. But since you're IP, it's more complicated because employers consider a wider range of qualifications.

wiseowl wrote:i would at least wait until OCI for an honest assessment of your "marketability". you'll probably be surprised. granted, that requires paying fall tuition, but i'd say still stick it out. did you register for the Loyola Patent Fair? unfortunately its too late if you didnt...but you could still register for the one in Atlanta.

i'm at a T14 and many of the "IP guys" do not have IP-related summer jobs.

I registered for the Loyola Patent Fair. I was thinking of maybe see what would happen at that before deciding.

Thought about doing DA work for the summer? It's interesting to say the least but you probably won't get paid.

Grad_Student wrote:Thought about doing DA work for the summer? It's interesting to say the least but you probably won't get paid.

I don't think I'd like to be on the DA side, but the Public Defender side would be ok. However, I don't think that I have the extracurricular activities to be desirable in that area. I've been living in the engineering bubble the past few years, so I have no public interest type of activities. I've also had some people tell me that they feel that their internships are beneath me since I have a graduate degree + work experience as an electrical engineer. I don't mind being a lowly slave though.

My only interview has been with a very large law firm, but I would have been happy to exchange it for 5 interviews with small firms or non-profits.

noname086 wrote:did you try the us patent office? someone told me that if you promise to work for them after you graduate that they'll pay for your tuition. the source that told is enrolled in a part time program and works at the office during the day.

This is no longer valid. The patent office used to pay for tuition until about March '09. The primary motivation was retention. With the recession on, there is little need to do that.

Don't quit because your 1L summer opportunities seem dim. The worst thing that can happen is you take summer classes and that's not bad at all.

There are still unpaid internships out there. I would mass-mail every State trial level judge asking for a summer internship. Get a list of judges in places you would be willing to commute to and send them all your cover letter/resume. At this point, don't worry too much about the type of court it is. Just apply to every judge and hope to get a few phone calls.

Good luck!

notyou wrote:

Grad_Student wrote:Thought about doing DA work for the summer? It's interesting to say the least but you probably won't get paid.

I don't think I'd like to be on the DA side, but the Public Defender side would be ok. However, I don't think that I have the extracurricular activities to be desirable in that area. I've been living in the engineering bubble the past few years, so I have no public interest type of activities. I've also had some people tell me that they feel that their internships are beneath me since I have a graduate degree + work experience as an electrical engineer. I don't mind being a lowly slave though.

My only interview has been with a very large law firm, but I would have been happy to exchange it for 5 interviews with small firms or non-profits.

Try, just try.