Law Internships

[misagreenville]

I desperately need some advice.

I am a 1L trying to get a job with a firm for the summer. I realize that most firms don't hire 1Ls but I've found several that recruit 1Ls. I've sent out my resume and cover to several firms in my area...but because I am new at this; I'm not sure how the process works from there. I heard that the interview process is different from a traditional job interview. Can anyone give me some feedback on how the interview process works? What kind of questions do interviewers typically ask? Is there a standard G.P.A. requirement you must have before a firm will even consider your application? Is the G.P.A. the only tool firms use to determine if you are qualified or does work experience and a strong writing sample hold just as much weight?

Please help!!

[SKEEphistAKAte]

I am in the same boat. I'm a 1L at Florida State. My mentor gave me a book entitled "Guerrilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams". It is pretty helpful. It's available on Amazon. Hope this helps.

Feel Free to pm me or email me.

ETA: I am planning on applying for a few fellowships for the summer. Most firms want top 10-20%. I know that with fellowships, the stipend is not a lot of money, but at least as a 1L you are making some money, gaining some legal experience, and it will count towards your pro bono requirement. So, you may want to look into fellowships also.

[misagreenville]

Thanks for the tip!! I will contact you.

[ladygreek]

You also might look into your local ACLU (if there is one.) They sometimes have fellowships available. They also have unpaid internships, which can give you some experience that may be helpful in securing future paid internships or a job elsewhere.

[Phasad1913]

This info was helpful for me too. What do you guys know about other resources for locating internship/job opportunities for 1L's such as websites, etc.?

For 2 and 3Ls on GC, what types of jobs, if any, did you all have during your 1st summer?

[rho4life]

Another idea to consider is splitting your summer between a volunteer job that provides great legal experience and a job that pays your bills. I spent my first summer workign at Any Mountain [a west coast outdoor store], and working as a student assitant at my law school. for 1L's, grades, and unfortunately connections are two of the most important things in getting a job at a great firm. Since you cant change who your daddy is, make sure that you NETWORK. Get involved with your local Charles Houston Bar Association. Also, try to take off a little bit of time at the end of the summer, ie a week or two, for vacation, so you'll be well rested for the intense first semester of second year. Most importantly focus on your grades during your first year, b/c that's how decisions are made for 2L summer jobs, which lead to permanent job offers. Good Luck!

[SKEEphistAKAte]

If you are looking for names/addresses/websites of specific firms you can search on www.martindale.com

[Exquisite5]

Hey, I think I can help out here.

I am a 2L and I worked at a law firm last summer. Actually, I had my choice of two- I chose Troutman Sanders LLP in ATL, so I know they hire 1Ls (actually quite a few 1LS, I think there were like 15 in my class). The other I got an offer from was Ice Miller in Indianapolis. They have a program where you split your summer with Eli Lilly's OGC, so if you are interested in one day going in house it's a great program.

I can honestly say the one thing that matters the MOST when it comes to getting a summer associate position (not just working at uncle's law office) is grades. Unfortunately, this most often means you must have rocked it first semester 1L year because by the time you interview for jobs after your 1L year you will only have one semester of grades.

I didn't read any books or anything so I can't vouch for them. I do know however that if you have good grades the job is yours to lose. You just need to be personable and honest in your interview. If you want to be a litigator let them see that you have a backbone- if you want to do transactional work, stress attention to detail. Well, ATD is important in all legal work, but particualr important there.

I hope this helps. Remember, use your office of career services- that is how I got my s.a. position- no Dec. 1 mailouts or anything, half the time those don't get read by recruiters anyway because they want students from the schools they interview at.

If your grades aren't stellat, please don't count yourself out. Drop resumes wherever you can and just dazzle them in your interview. If you don't get a summer associate position then try for public interest work- I know the Delaware AG's office hires 1LS.

PM if you like.

[misagreenville]

Okay...so what constitutes good law school grades for a 1L the first semester? 3.0? 3.2? All B's? At what point will the firms look at your application and not consider it? If you have any Cs or B-s are you not considered a viable candidate?

I e-mailed my career services advisor these questions but she did not respond.

[SummerChild]

Originally posted by misagreenville
I desperately need some advice.

I am a 1L trying to get a job with a firm for the summer. I realize that most firms don't hire 1Ls but I've found several that recruit 1Ls. I've sent out my resume and cover to several firms in my area...but because I am new at this; I'm not sure how the process works from there. I heard that the interview process is different from a traditional job interview. Can anyone give me some feedback on how the interview process works? What kind of questions do interviewers typically ask? Is there a standard G.P.A. requirement you must have before a firm will even consider your application? Is the G.P.A. the only tool firms use to determine if you are qualified or does work experience and a strong writing sample hold just as much weight?

Please help!!

ETA: *Soror* Misagreenville

Misagreenville (and anyone else seeking advice),
You should seek out answers to these questions from your Career Services center. (Coming from a person who got firm offers as a 1L two years ago when the market was in pretty much the same condition as now) yes, firms hire 1Ls so don't believe the hype...you've just go to work that much harder to get in. Try working contacts (your school alumni association, attorneys or HR reps that you know, if you are African-American and involved with Black Law Students Association, tap the alumni network for BLSA as well). This will supplement your quest and is better than just sending letters only. Also, don't believe the hype about not contacting the firm. After a week, follow-up with a phone call - don't speak to a voicemail, speak to a live person in HR if possible.

The interview process works as such: usually you will have a 20-30 minute interview on campus and a follow-up day or half-day interview at the firm. Just study the firm, some of the recent cases that the firm has litigated, the areas of practice,, the area that you want to practice and be able to answer the question of why you'd like to work for *that* firm. An answer directed to something that sets the firm apart from others should suffice. For instance, if the firm has objectives/cred that is aligned with your personal way of doing things that works, if the firm has a nice pro bono program that you'd like to take advantage of to supplement your experience should you come there as a full-time associate after law school that should suffice. IMPORTANT NOTE: you MUST have personal or familial ties to a city before a firm will give you an offer. Be prepared to answer the question of why you want to work in a particular city **AND THE RIGHT ANSWER IS THAT YOU ARE FROM THE CITY AND WANT TO RETURN HOME, YOUR FIANCE LIVES IN THE CITY AND YOU WANT TO RE-LOCATE THERE AFTER LAWSCHOOL OR YOUR FAMILY HAS MOVED THERE. THE INCORRECT ANSWER IS THAT YOU LIKE THE CITY, ARE SINGLE AND UNATTACHED SO WHY NOT. REPEAT: THAT IS THE WROOOOONG ANSWER, DON'T SAY IT.



Things that firms use to decide:

Firms generally use gpa as a bar to get into the interview and after that it's really all about how you get along with the people that you interview with... no kidding. The interviews are not hard, they will not ask you about the rule against perpetuities generally or no other real substantive questions. It's usually a shooting the breeze kind of interview, with a few questions to see if you know anything about the firm and maybe a question or two as to why you chose to go to lawschool and what's you'd like to do with your JD. Whether you get along iwth the people at the firm will be what is called "whether you fit into the firm culture." You can also use the idea that you feel that you would fit into the firm culture as a reason for choosing a particular lawfirm (supplemented by the work that they do). But try to figure out what the firm culture is if you use that line - just look at the info at the firm's website to find out if they are the kind of people who value pro bono, workaholics who work 24-7 or what and go with it. Just be cheerful, smile and be on point with your responses and confident and you'll do fine.

Your writing sample will only be the icing on the cake to make sure that you are not completely out of it - AFTER they pretty much want to make you an offer. Get it reviewed by your writing instructor and fix any errors and amend the sample according to the feedback from your instructor - use something that you got a decent grade on and that shows your Bluebooking skills. If you don't have anything that you got a decent grade on, go to your writing instructor and ask the instructor to mark it up, understand the changes and why you should have presented your work that way, modify the text and use the modified sample as your writing sample. We all got our samples reviewed and modified them accordingly so this is ok.

Firms also love it if you have any work experience b/c it shows that you might have some increased level of maturity so put it down. Also, if you are involved in any clubs that are related to your legal or community service interest (and if you are not currently involved, join and put it down).


Hope this helps.
SC

[SummerChild]

Skee wee Soror,
If you have time, see my post to Misgreenville.
Also, if it comes down to a lawfirm and the fellowship, go with the firm b/c you can always do a fellowship (by splitting your second summer pro bono and firm) and when it comes time to compete for jobs as a 2L, you will be heads and shoulders above people who did not work at firms their 1L summer. This will in turn position you to get offers as a 2L and then give you loads of options to choose from (even if you interview as a 3L, which I chose to do and actually ended up accepting an offer from a firm that I only interviewed with as a 3L, did not work for).
SC

Originally posted by SKEEphistAKAte
I am in the same boat. I'm a 1L at Florida State. My mentor gave me a book entitled "Guerrilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams". It is pretty helpful. It's available on Amazon. Hope this helps.

Feel Free to pm me or email me.

ETA: I am planning on applying for a few fellowships for the summer. Most firms want top 10-20%. I know that with fellowships, the stipend is not a lot of money, but at least as a 1L you are making some money, gaining some legal experience, and it will count towards your pro bono requirement. So, you may want to look into fellowships also.

[SummerChild]

Phasad,
One of the most important things that you can do (in addition to looking on sites, etc.) is to work your NETWORK wrt resources. Your sorority, for example, will be one of the most important resources that you will work in this quest. It's often about who you know when all other things are equal.

SC

Originally posted by Phasad1913
This info was helpful for me too. What do you guys know about other resources for locating internship/job opportunities for 1L's such as websites, etc.?

For 2 and 3Ls on GC, what types of jobs, if any, did you all have during your 1st summer?

[SummerChild]

Soror Misagreenville,
I know that it is hard and nerve wrecking but don't worry about whether "good grades" is a 3.0 or a 3.2 or all B's. You are STILL going to apply for the job and you are STILL going to get it.

So stop worrying and push forward before all of those jobs are gone Soror!
SC

Originally posted by misagreenville
Okay...so what constitutes good law school grades for a 1L the first semester? 3.0? 3.2? All B's? At what point will the firms look at your application and not consider it? If you have any Cs or B-s are you not considered a viable candidate?

I e-mailed my career services advisor these questions but she did not respond.

[Exquisite5]

IMHO I would venture that "good grades" means being in the top 10% of your class. That is the best information I can give because grades, the curve and grade inflation are different at every school. I suggest finding out what is required to graduate with honors at your law school and if you have at least that after the first semester you are likely in the top 10% even though ranking likely hasn't occured yet.

At Howard we only have three grades after first semester because two of our 1L courses are yearlong, therefore even one C is enough to make your grades "not good." However, if you get five grades after first semester than 1 C probably isn't such an issue. Most people at Howard I know who got summer associate positions after the first year had straight A's, mostly 92 average and above. To provide reference, at Howard the 1L average is supposed to be an 81-83, so a 92 average is probably top 5%, but that is Howard.

Also, let me be clear the positions I am talking about are those secured through on campus interviewing through the Office of Career Services. I know people with grades all over the board who still got paid positions in law firms over the summer. Many were in smaller to middle sized firms that didn't have formal sumemr associate programs, but they still got experience.

I hope that provided some light and a point of reference.

However, I agree with Soror SummerChild- don' t worry about good v. bad grades. The job that is yours is waiting for you and has your name on it. You are uniquely designed for a certain position and God has specially prepared it for you.

[misagreenville]

Thanks Sorors!! You are absolutely right...I shouldn't stress and the perfect spot for ME will come. I'll keep you posted on how things went...again thanks for your advice. I feeling more confident about the process now.