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A part of this question stems from ignorance, so forgive me...

It seems pretty clear that summer associate positions are great ways to get your foot in the door of a firm that could hire you after graduation. While my goal is not to work in a firm, I know that getting several years until your belt there is generally the way that attorneys build a reputation before going in-house, etc.

If there are General Counsel internships at the places I would hope to work someday (that would probably never hire someone fresh out of law school), would it be more prudent to do that or to aim for a firm SA? The connections and experience would be valuable, but it probably would be less immediately applicable than working at a firm...

Of course, there is more than one summer during law school, but I wouldn't want to plan them out in a way that would leave me out to dry when the hiring period came around.

Any suggestions?

1L SA positions are exceptionally rare, even for people at elite schools. As far as in house internships, there are a decent number of them, but not many. It's very rare to get something that pays 1L summer. Most people intern for a judge or a local DAs office.

ImNoScar wrote:1L SA positions are exceptionally rare, even for people at elite schools. As far as in house internships, there are a decent number of them, but not many. It's very rare to get something that pays 1L summer. Most people intern for a judge or a local DAs office.

Thanks for the response! So with that in mind, if we talk about 2L summer, would it be more prudent to take an internship in-house or an SA position?