Legal Assistant jobs in DC Forum

[zipper77]

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[Anonymous User]

I can't help you with your second question, but for your first: If you're interested in administrative law (that is, work with an agency) or environmental law, take the internship with the DOJ. Otherwise, take the internship with the Office of the Clerk. Working for any court will give you great practical experience that a lot of people don't get even during the course of law school. As for what will look better on your app -- it won't matter which internship you take. Law schools' primary concerns (and I mean 95%+ of what they care about) are grades and the LSAT. You're in a great position grade-wise, so kill the LSAT and you'll be in good shape to end up at a top school (with your grades, the sky's the limit if you do well on the LSAT).

[zipper77]

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[Aberzombie1892]

You have a better plan than most, but I would caution moving to VA only for law school purposes. While UVA prefers in state students, they still charge those students a fortune. If I were moving to a state to gain residency for the purpose of law school, I would seek a state that has reasonable in state rates for the best public school (Texas, Wisconsin, etc.).

[lolwat]

You have a better plan than most, but I would caution moving to VA only for law school purposes. While UVA prefers in state students, they still charge those students a fortune. If I were moving to a state to gain residency for the purpose of law school, I would seek a state that has reasonable in state rates for the best public school (Texas, Wisconsin, etc.).

I don't think OP was moving to VA only for law school purposes, s/he also wanted to find a job in DC for a few years prior to going to law school and that's not happening if s/he's living in Texas. And if OP wants to go to DC after law school I think going to a VA school with perhaps higher state tuition rates will bump the chances up moreso than going to another state with lower tuition rates.

Anyway, as with the first response, I think where you should take the internship probably depends on your interests... Office of the Clerk of SCOTUS sounds quite good (prestigious, omg!) but if the latter gets you more legal experience, I'd probably actually take that since it could help you determine if you even really want to go to law school.

[KidStuddi]

I'd go with whichever internship you think would result in the most contact with attorneys. Both will look great as a line on a resume, but that isn't going to sway a law school application appreciably. If, however, you can get letter of recommendation from a practicing attorney from either place, that could actually be a sizable boost.

As for after graduation, you certainly have a great shot of landing a job as a paralegal / legal assistant with your stats. I worked in and around D.C. as a paralegal between '09 and '11 (the very depths of the downturn) and my UGPA was considerably lower than a 3.9.

[CanadianWolf]

Your main obstacle may be your undergraduate school rather than your internship experience. Are you aiming for a position as a paralegal or as a legal assistant ? Paralegals typically all start together as a clas and a two year committment is requested.

P.S. Any foreign language proficiency/fluency ?

[zipper77]

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[CanadianWolf]

Large law firms have their own training programs for paralegals. Most, if not all, just require a college degree (usually from an Ivy, baby-Ivy, or schools like Northwestern and UChicago). Spanish proficiency will get you interviews with law firms & DA offices.

[dailygrind]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=189981

[KidStuddi]

@Lolwat has it right. I'm not moving to VA solely for law school purposes but if I have to choose somewhere to live while I work in DC, VA seems to provide me with the most benefits down the road.

I wasn't aiming for a paralegal position because I don't think I have the education for it (all I have is my BA degree) so I'm really just thinking about work as a legal assistant. From the internship evaluation I was given, the SCOTUS one doesn't have substantial work but you get to work with a lot of incredible people. The evaluator who did the internship last year said that he spent a lot of time with the Clerk of SCOTUS and got to meet all nine Supreme Court justices but was, for the most part, doing work in the mail room and running papers around for people. The evaluator for the DOJ internship, who is currently holding the position, said that she was looking over briefs and memos and is handed a number of other legal projects like trial books and does little to no clerical work. It seems to me like it's a difference between contacts and full-on legal experience. Trying to figure out which one is more important seems to be the hard part.

I'm proficient in Latin and Spanish. I can't imagine the former helping me much.

You don't need any specialized training to be a paralegal. My BS in neuroscience + BA in philosophy got me in the door no problem. Also, its worth mentioning that the distinction between legal assistant and paralegal is not as sharp as you think. Firms use the terms differently and oftentimes interchangeably.