Research assistantship--at a different law school Forum

[cecrum]

Tl;DR I was curious if anyone knows if it is a good idea or even possible to do a summer research assistantship with a professor from a different law school.

When selecting law schools I used the traditional ROI analysis of cost scholarship and ranking and did not apply to a particular school. Because the school was too far away and wasnt ranked as highly as the one I am attending, I chose the one I am attending instead. Now that I am starting to look into creating my resume and finding a voice, I realized that not only is a professor at the school I didnt go to a world expert on the type of research I want to do, but I worked closely with his brother in undergrad. Would it be possible/advisable to reach out to him and see if I can work with him either remotely or as a summer research assistant, or do I just need to let that missed connection go? If anyone has any insight, I would love to hear it!

[zot1]

You can't do it.

[thesealocust]

It's pretty unlikely - most schools pay RAs at least a small amount, and that money definitely won't be available to you without being a student. You could certainly try to arrange something informal, which could still give you good experience and something to put on your resume, but even that would be unusual.

I wouldn't worry too much about "missing an opportunity" though - if you are passionate about the topic and have access to a computer, you can do compelling legal research and writing on it. Find a similar prof at your school, or even just do it in your spare time, and you won't be losing any ground academically/professionally.

[A. Nony Mouse]

You probably can - there isn't really anything stopping the person in question from hiring you as a RA - but it seems unlikely that they would want to hire someone they've never met over students they know (and presumably can pay through their school more easily) (if they have some kind of independent grant they can hire who they like). Especially if you're going to be local to that school during the summer you could reach out and inquire, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

If you really are developing your own research you might have as much luck reaching out to them once you have articles drafted and asking if they'd be willing to read them/give you feedback, if they're in the same field.

WRT either of these, you will have a much better shot if the brother is willing to hook you up with this scholar.

[WhiskeyAndCupcakes]

.

[jbagelboy]

You can't do it.

It isn't so black and white. I did joint research with a professor at another school, but I was introduced to them through a professor at my school. We wound up all working on a paper together. Of course the work I was paid for was through my own school's system, but RA pay isn't much anyway so that's hardly the primary motivation.

[zot1]

You can't do it.

It isn't so black and white. I did joint research with a professor at another school, but I was introduced to them through a professor at my school. We wound up all working on a paper together. Of course the work I was paid for was through my own school's system, but RA pay isn't much anyway so that's hardly the primary motivation.

My bad. That's what I was told from a few schools in SoCal. It made sense at the time because the reasoning was that professors wanted to give the opportunity to their own students. But if it has been done, surely it can be done again.