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I'm a current 2L at Rutgers and I have already accepted an offer at a mid-sized firm. Subsequent to my acceptance, I got an offer to work for the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park. I would be acting as a park prosecutor there, prosecuting misdemeanors and, under the local rules of EDCA, I would be able to make appearances without an attorney present.

Should I renege and go for Yosemite or stick with the firm?

I am mildly interested in what the firm practices. Yosemite is unpaid.

So let me get this straight, you, coming out of Rutgers, have landed a paid 2L summer job at a mid-size firm that might hire you as a full time associate after you graduate, and you're thinking about reneging on that to take an unpaid internship with zero chance of long term post graduation employment?

If you're deluded enough to think this is a serious decision that has to be mulled over, then you should take the internship at the park and let one of your desperate, unemployed classmates have the firm job.

This should not even be a question. While getting courtroom experience working in a national park sounds cool, you should not pass up the opportunity for paid 2L summer employment that could lead to an actual job.

It is very likely that this firm will not hire me post graduation. They have taken between 3 and 5 interns every year since 2009 and only hired one person in that time. So, out of about 15 or 20 people, they have hired 1.

Also, I am in virtually no debt thanks to scholarships.

1/20 odds is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> than 0% chance of employment. Take the firm.

If you want to continue to fight back against the hive and try to get it to say that working at the park is the right call, then just take the park job. Cuz YOLO. But don't expect the hive to sign off on that decision.

YOU

ONLY

LIVE

ONCE

holy cow I want to be a park prosecutor, prosecuting yogi bear for stealing pic-a-nic baskets

Umm, being a park prosecutor at Yosemite sounds amazing. If that has the potential to lead to full-time employment, I'd absolutely do that over working at some shitty midlaw firm

Worker and Parasite wrote:holy cow I want to be a park prosecutor, prosecuting yogi bear for stealing pic-a-nic baskets

It's the most preftigious outfit in BigPark work.

I know someone who did that in a manhattan central park office. He really enjoyed it but he got quit after he found out all the complaints he issued to the squirrels got buried.

ffemt107 wrote:I'm a current 2L at Rutgers and I have already accepted an offer at a mid-sized firm. Subsequent to my acceptance, I got an offer to work for the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park. I would be acting as a park prosecutor there, prosecuting misdemeanors and, under the local rules of EDCA, I would be able to make appearances without an attorney present.

Should I renege and go for Yosemite or stick with the firm?

I am mildly interested in what the firm practices. Yosemite is unpaid.

The correct answer is to take the paying SA gig. But fuck that shit. Spending the summer in Yosemite and prosecuting misdeameanors sounds awesome.

While you're there, try to get a paying job working for the park service or one of the lodges. (Not a legal job, just any job.) If that works, just stay in Yosemite and don't return to Rutgers for 3L.

Am I kidding/trolling? I might be, but I'm honestly not sure. Truth be told, I'm more than a little jealous of you right now.

Paid job in an interesting field that builds your resume and has a slim (but real) chance of leading to employment.

...versus...

Unpaid volunteer work that has no chance of employment, but makes your feels tingle.

Really, really tough choice here.

I don't know what kind of relationship you have with the people at the firm, but you might try asking them what they would do if they were in your shoes.

Personally, I'm inclined to say go with the firm and find a few days to vacation in Yosemite.

rpupkin wrote:

ffemt107 wrote:I'm a current 2L at Rutgers and I have already accepted an offer at a mid-sized firm. Subsequent to my acceptance, I got an offer to work for the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park. I would be acting as a park prosecutor there, prosecuting misdemeanors and, under the local rules of EDCA, I would be able to make appearances without an attorney present.

Should I renege and go for Yosemite or stick with the firm?

I am mildly interested in what the firm practices. Yosemite is unpaid.

The correct answer is to take the paying SA gig. But fuck that shit. Spending the summer in Yosemite and prosecuting misdeameanors sounds awesome.

While you're there, try to get a paying job working for the park service or one of the lodges. (Not a legal job, just any job.) If that works, just stay in Yosemite and don't return to Rutgers for 3L.

Am I kidding/trolling? I might be, but I'm honestly not sure. Truth be told, I'm more than a little jealous of you right now.

+1

As cool as the Yosemite job sounds (and it does sound fucking rad), I just can't recommend you take it over the SA job. I assume you want to work and NJ, and you can at least get some contacts through that firm that you wouldn't get at Yosemite. Unless the squirrels in the park are originally from the Garden State

I'm going to Yosemite. The firm was chill about it. Maybe it's the best choice, maybe it's not- who cares I'm going to spend a summer as a federal criminal prosecutor for the National Park Service in Yosemite. Under the local rules there, law students can make appearances without attorneys.

It helps not having loans to pay back, it gives me freedom to do things like go to Yosemite for 10 weeks.

ffemt107 wrote:I'm going to Yosemite. The firm was chill about it. Maybe it's the best choice, maybe it's not- who cares I'm going to spend a summer as a federal criminal prosecutor for the National Park Service in Yosemite. Under the local rules there, law students can make appearances without attorneys.

It helps not having loans to pay back, it gives me freedom to do things like go to Yosemite for 10 weeks.

You are so dumb

OP catching a quick nap between littering citation hearings:



Also pictured: OP's post-grad employment prospects.

ffemt107 wrote:I'm going to Yosemite. The firm was chill about it. Maybe it's the best choice, maybe it's not- who cares I'm going to spend a summer as a federal criminal prosecutor for the National Park Service in Yosemite. Under the local rules there, law students can make appearances without attorneys.

It helps not having loans to pay back, it gives me freedom to do things like go to Yosemite for 10 weeks.

Congrats, you made the right choice. Yosemite is about as prestigious as BIGPARKLAW gets

FWIW, Yogi Bear lives in Jellystone, not Yosemite.

This dude, on the other hand, probably does deserve some prosecuting

baal hadad wrote:

ffemt107 wrote:I'm going to Yosemite. The firm was chill about it. Maybe it's the best choice, maybe it's not- who cares I'm going to spend a summer as a federal criminal prosecutor for the National Park Service in Yosemite. Under the local rules there, law students can make appearances without attorneys.

It helps not having loans to pay back, it gives me freedom to do things like go to Yosemite for 10 weeks.

You are so dumb

Maybe, but I'll have an awesome summer in Yosemite and you won't. I'll spend my days getting time on my feet in court and spend my weekends in the most epic landscape in the nation.

smarter than the average bear

I too like to burn money and opportunity to prosecute litterbugs

ffemt107 wrote:I'm going to Yosemite. The firm was chill about it. Maybe it's the best choice, maybe it's not- who cares I'm going to spend a summer as a federal criminal prosecutor for the National Park Service in Yosemite. Under the local rules there, law students can make appearances without attorneys.

It helps not having loans to pay back, it gives me freedom to do things like go to Yosemite for 10 weeks.

You're making a terrible mistake. Why don't you just visit Yosemite for two weeks prior to starting at the firm?

"Prosecuting" littering charges is not going to get you employment after graduation.

sanjola wrote:

ffemt107 wrote:I'm going to Yosemite. The firm was chill about it. Maybe it's the best choice, maybe it's not- who cares I'm going to spend a summer as a federal criminal prosecutor for the National Park Service in Yosemite. Under the local rules there, law students can make appearances without attorneys.

It helps not having loans to pay back, it gives me freedom to do things like go to Yosemite for 10 weeks.

You're making a terrible mistake. Why don't you just visit Yosemite for two weeks prior to starting at the firm?

"Prosecuting" littering charges is not going to get you employment after graduation.

As an idealist, it's not just about being in the park, it's about enforcing the mission of the National Park Service and protecting something that is priceless. As a realist, the only way I would have chosen the firm was if they could have given me a reasonable assurance that it would lead to a full time job. But, they said that situation is extremely unlikely.

On the one hand, I have an opportunity to serve the purpose that I went to law school for with free housing in the most epic setting in the country, and, on the other hand, a paid temporary position at a firm in a practice area that is only mildly interesting to me. Long term, I don't want to be at a firm- I want to work in the government or for a non-profit. Also, I'm in no debt, so I don't care how much I make for a summer.

I did not pose this question to ask what someone else should do; I posed it to ask what I should do.