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Well the title basically explains it all. I went to an admitted students event this week, had a great conversation with a professor, emailed them the following morning as a follow up and was asked if I wanted a 0L summer research assistant position. I am nervous, but accepted the position. I know I am at a disadvantage bc I have no formal legal experience yet, so I would love advice on how to approach research and the position

Your going to need to learn how to use a legal research program of which I'd recommend Westlaw Next -- as it's the best and most user friendly program out there. Also, you're going to need to learn how to put your research into a format that your professor can use. Just do your best to learn these skills and be efficient -- the professor knows you have no prior experience and if they hire a 0L they surely know it's as much for your own benefit as it is for theirs if not more. This will give you a good leg up in your legal writing and research class.

You shouldn't have accepted it. You're gonna be doing work that will get you nowhere and not benefit your career while doing it during your last free summer of your life. Sorry buddy but best decision I made as an OL was relaxing and traveling.

goldeneye wrote:You shouldn't have accepted it. You're gonna be doing work that will get you nowhere and not benefit your career while doing it during your last free summer of your life. Sorry buddy but best decision I made as an OL was relaxing and traveling.

You sound entitled. Not everyone gets the chance to "travel," and hell, I would have accepted one of those. That's a solid letter of recommendation for 1L OCI that most other people won't have.

If he wants to do that with his summer, he's welcome to.

Scotusnerd wrote:

goldeneye wrote:You shouldn't have accepted it. You're gonna be doing work that will get you nowhere and not benefit your career while doing it during your last free summer of your life. Sorry buddy but best decision I made as an OL was relaxing and traveling.

You sound entitled. Not everyone gets the chance to "travel," and hell, I would have accepted one of those. That's a solid letter of recommendation for 1L OCI that most other people won't have.

If he wants to do that with his summer, he's welcome to.

lor for 1l oci? who asks for this?

mephistopheles wrote:lor for 1l oci? who asks for this?

Uh...a fair number of them? We had to produce them for like five or six of the jobs.

And even without the LoR, it's still someone who can make phone calls and get you summer jobs.

goldeneye wrote:You shouldn't have accepted it. You're gonna be doing work that will get you nowhere and not benefit your career while doing it during your last free summer of your life. Sorry buddy but best decision I made as an OL was relaxing and traveling.

This is such crap -- you talk as if he has either the option of traveling/relaxing or taking the RA position, but in reality he'll probably be working ten hours a week as a research assistant and not traveling either way.

A faculty member who will be a mentor and possibly pull strings for you can be a great asset. I've tutored, TA'd, and been a research assistant, and I enjoyed all of it and made great connections with professors. Just make sure to ask questions when you don't understand, rather than spend time going down the wrong path. I would ask if you'll be working with a law student (who can help with most things you don't understand or know how to do), but most of all, just be diligent and positive about the tasks and the subject matter.

Sounds like a cool position. Developing good relationships with professors will be helpful for LOR down the line if you need to transfer or apply for clerkships. Plus it's just helpful to get used to analyzing legal writing, which is boring and awful and unique.

Thank you for the input! I'm excited to work hard and begin learning. I thought it would be idiotic to pass up a unique opportunity like this. I don't have the luxury
Of being able to my work and travel. I have an internship at a law form tht will take up the remainder of my time. Does anyone know any good links or books to read before I begin regarding legal research ?

zoomzoom88 wrote:Thank you for the input! I'm excited to work hard and begin learning. I thought it would be idiotic to pass up a unique opportunity like this. I don't have the luxury
Of being able to my work and travel. I have an internship at a law form tht will take up the remainder of my time. Does anyone know any good links or books to read before I begin regarding legal research ?

Slow down when ya type.

Ask at the law firm. They might even hook you up with some stuff.

Probably just need the Bluebook.

Okay by travel I mean seee friends. I just think doing nothing or have a remedial job not one that requires exertion is better.

And a 1L oci rec actually exists? I can't imagine it would make a difference. It's all about grades anyways

goldeneye wrote:Okay by travel I mean seee friends. I just think doing nothing or have a remedial job not one that requires exertion is better.

And a 1L oci rec actually exists? I can't imagine it would make a difference. It's all about grades anyways

I applied for 3 jobs my 1L year which needed an LOR. Others needed references. That can be very hard to do as a 1L.

It sounds like a good thing to do just because it won't be many hours as someone said before (plus you get to do the work at home or at your own leisure), you'll be making a good connection for internships/summer jobs, and you'll familiarize yourself with the bluebook format which should allow you to concentrate more on your actual legal writing for your legal writing class as opposed to citations/research. You will also have the RA experience and not have to waste your time later because you probably won't want to, and shouldn't want to, do it again (I think actual internships during law school are better than RAing). IMO, this is probably the one instance where benefits outweigh any costs for 0L WE.

do you even have access to westlaw or lexis yet?

f0bolous wrote:do you even have access to westlaw or lexis yet?

books, duh

f0bolous wrote:do you even have access to westlaw or lexis yet?

Reminds me of this:

haha not yet... the professor said she would sort all of that out for me.

grats on the job. sounds way better than working retail or something (what i did). and if you get to still hang out with your friends and family, all the better. i don't see why some people are scoffing at taking this job. i'd do it.

goldeneye wrote:Okay by travel I mean seee friends. I just think doing nothing or have a remedial job not one that requires exertion is better.

And a 1L oci rec actually exists? I can't imagine it would make a difference. It's all about grades anyways

OP, don't listen to this guy. I can't explain how beneficial paralegloling has been for me. It might not make a difference in getting a job after law school, but the experience has been amazing. I'm definitely an advocate for getting ANY sort of legal experience prior to going to law school. If anything it shows that you aren't a clueless 0L that just jumped into law school because that seemed like the only option. Also, I don't know about you, but working brainless dead end jobs drive me absolutely insane.

Good job on getting the research position OP!

thank you! honestly I could not be more excited about law school and just want to get my hands on as much as possible. and I agree - I would rather do something that is going to hone my research/ critical thinking skills (even if its challenging), than be bored mindlessly numb.

Ill let you know how it goes!