Apply Broadly
There are as many different paths to a great legal career as there are law students, and you want to give yourself the opportunity to explore as many as you are able. Many people tend to focus their job search on large law firms. While many jobs may be available with large law firms, there are numerous other places to practice law. Apply broadly!
Big Law: Working at a large firm will give you the opportunity to gain experience in a variety of practice areas, as most firms either allow their summer associates to rotate through various departments or to take a variety of assignments from various practice areas. Since most large law firms have had longstanding summer associate programs, these programs tend to be well organized. Systems are in place to ensure that students receive a mix of assignments, timely feedback, and an opportunity to meet a large number of partners and associates and quite often include other formalized training workshops. Summer associates with large law firms are paid.
Small/Mid-Sized Firms: Because you may be the only (or one of few) summer associates at the firm, you will generally have more opportunities to work closely with the attorneys and staff within the firm. The mentor/mentee relationship formed with the attorneys can be very beneficial to your career, especially if you plan to practice in that geographic area following graduation. Even if the firm is not looking to expand, those relationships can help you make inroads in the legal community and may open doors at other employers.
Public Interest: Public service legal work offers a wide range of opportunities that are fulfilling on both a professional and a personal level. Summer internships with public interest organizations provide you with the opportunity to build substantive legal skills and to work on intellectually complex and fascinating matters, while honing your legal research and writing skills. In addition, you will be able to help people and organizations who might not otherwise have access to representation. Students accepting public interest placement may also be eligible for the WULAW Summer Public Interest Program. You will learn more about the stipend program in early spring. A list of national funding resources can also be found at www.psjd.org/.
Public interest representation takes many forms: trial and appellate litigation before courts and administrative agencies, serving as in-house counsel for non-profits, writing amicus briefs, assisting in the client intake process, transactional work, legislative advocacy, developing public policy, community organizing, alternative dispute resolution, and managing non-profits. The specific activities you undertake may vary depending upon the organization you select. We encourage you to choose a subject area or client group important to you. In that context, you may provide direct legal assistance to individuals who need help with benefits, family law, or housing issues. Or, you may focus on an issue of public policy and spend your time on in-depth research and drafting reports or position papers for the organization.
In-House: An in-house lawyer is an attorney who is employed by a business and provides legal advice that impacts the business, its executives and employees. In-house legal departments vary in size and structure. Attorneys in larger in-house legal departments tend to be specialists in a particular substantive area of law, while lawyers in smaller in-house legal departments usually are generalists, handling matters in many areas. The typical legal department is headed by a general counsel, who functions as a liaison between top management and the legal department. Often the general counsel serves as an executive of the business. Depending upon the size of the legal department, there may be a deputy or assistant general counsel who, in addition to practicing law, manages the administrative work of the department and delegates projects. Large legal departments generally have staff attorneys, sometimes called corporate counsel, associate counsel or junior counsel.
It is difficult to obtain an attorney position in an in-house legal department directly out of law school. Most in-house legal departments prefer to hire lawyers with at least a few years of practical experience. Most in-house legal departments do not have the resources available to train entry-level attorneys and need lawyers who can “hit the ground running.” In addition, a major role of many in-house counsels is to manage the work of outside counsel, and being in a supervisory position requires experience.
Corporate legal departments often take summer interns, though these positions seldom lead to permanent employment. A position in-house as a 1L can provide excellent experience across a broad range of areas.