Anticipating my Summer Internship at Vermont Natural Resources Council

When I first started my internship search, there were a few criteria I was looking for. Of course, a part of me felt that I would be grateful for any internship in this economy, and this feeling was bolstered by the stories of a few 2L friends for whom nothing had panned out their first summer. But I also felt it was important to be focused in my search, and seek out meaningful work so that I could further the goals that had brought me to law school to begin with. 

My first priority was to find an organization that worked on environmental issues. The environment has long been my passion, and really the only topic I could see instilling enough drive in me to enter a legal career. I have spoken to a few people who say it was always their dream to become a lawyer, but for me that has not been the case. My dream has always been to help the environment, and it's through that dream that I found the law. Another priority was to stay in Vermont and start to build connections in the state in which I hope to settle. Lastly, I was looking to feel a connection to the mission of the organization, and to its other employees. 

Externship Etiquette

I might not be a networking expert, or a love guru, but with my fair share of jobs and internships I can safely say I am a wiz at workplace interactions.  I’ve worked in offices with as little as 3 employees to as many as 1000, and in environments that range from legal, to private, to non-profit.

This week I had a scare that maybe I was too comfortable with my skills.  I received a calendar invitation for a “Professionalism Meeting" with a few of my supervisors.  My paranoid mind started to race: Was my dress too short last week?  Should I be staying later than 5pm?  Was my smile taken as flirting?

Of course, the meeting was about a project that my supervisor wanted me to work on and had nothing to do with my dress.  It got me thinking, others might need help with some of the stuff that I am used to from so many experiences, and I should share with my fellow Ms. JDers.  Here are some tips, but please add more in the comments if you have something to share!

The Hustle

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

One of the trademarks of 1L year is the inevitable mass cover-letter mail out.  Most 1L’s are aware of the scared December 1st “deadline”, but are glossy-eyed and think this will actually result in landing a job before grades come out.  Most of the employers that "require" a December 1 mailout are the one's that only hire students in the top 10% of the class... and 1L's will quickly learn that the top 10% is ACTUALLY only the top 10% of students. So the process continues...

Between mailing out cover letters for judges, public interest jobs, Spring OCI, and corporate jobs, job applications have taken over my second semester.  In this process, I have truly internalized the lessons that Career Services tried to impart in the fall-- with a few caveats.  Here they go:

Searching for Internships: How to Maximize Advice from Others

I am currently in my 1L year and contemplating what types of internships to apply for this summer.  I am a bit older than your average law student (over the age of 30) and applied to law school to enhance the political and policy skill sets I have developed through my work experience.  I have secured a judicial internship for the first six weeks of the summer, but I am struggling with my decision about what to do after that.  On the one hand, I think gaining additional legal experience is the best choice, and on the other, I feel like I should do something more policy-related to maintain my foothold in that arena. 

In my search for clarity, I have had “brainstorming” discussions with several people – my mentor, practicing attorneys I trust and respect, and contacts I made during my time working at the state legislature.  Each meeting has yielded at least one helpful suggestion, but hindsight has shown me that I did not tap into each person’s experience and insight as effectively as I could have.  It wasn’t until my fourth conversation that I had a good idea of what questions would best help me to move forward in my decision-making process rather than yield just another piece of good advice that I wasn’t sure how to utilize.

Big Time Small Town: In Defense of Clerkships

As I write this, my successor law clerk is training at the desk beside my own desk, learning independently but with me still present to answer her questions.  I am training the new law clerk for two weeks before departing for private practice.  A lot of people think of a clerkship as simply a ‘feather in the cap’ and look at a clerkship only for its value on a resume. But a clerkship is so much more, especially for anyone interested in litigation. I clerk in a rural, state-level circuit court – the trial court level in this state. I applied to this clerkship and several other similar positions based on both the location and my desire to see a trial court in action. I have not been disappointed, and wanted to share the daily experiences of my own clerkship for those who are interested. 

As a clerk, I am responsible for reviewing and preparing notes for the judge to use on the bench on each week’s docket – the cases that will appear in court.  There is both a criminal and a civil docket, and each month we have a rotation of retired judges who sit and hear cases that our primary judge is recused from, or simply take on an additional docket. 

The National Women's Law Center is looking for fall interns!

Looking for a fall 2012 internship? The National Women's Law Center has a number of openings for law students and undergraduate students alike. Our current internship openings include positions for law students as well as positions for undergraduate students/recent graduates in Child Care, Communications, Development, Outreach, and Online Outreach. Full information on all of our internship can be found here: http://www.nwlc.org/jobs-pro-bono-opportunities-fellowships-and-internships   

To apply for an internship with NWLC, please send a cover letter indicating what program area you are interested in and how many hours per week you can intern to humanresources@nwlc.org. A full application includes a cover letter, resume, transcript, a 5-10 page writing sample, and contact information for three references.

We hope to hear from you!

Thanks,
The NWLC Team

NAWL-PRUDENTIAL 2012 Summer Internship Program

The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) is pleased to partner with Prudential Financial, Inc. (Prudential) to provide a meaningful summer internship opportunity to a highly-motivated, first-year law school student. Through this partnership, NAWL will select a student to join the 2012 Summer Law Intern Class at Prudential for an 11-week internship at one of Prudential’s offices in Newark, New Jersey; Dallas, TX;  San Francisco, CA; or Shelton, CT. A stipend of approximately $8,500 will be provided to the intern for the length of the internship.

About NAWL and Prudential:

Founded over 100 years ago, NAWL is the leading voluntary organization devoted to the interests of women lawyers and women’s legal rights. NAWL has members in all 50 states and engages in numerous programs and activities to advance its mission. More information can be found at www.nawl.org.

Best Friends at the Bar: First Year Law Students Listen Up-Sometimes You Need To Follow The No Money

Editor's Note:  Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on April 28, 2011.

I know how tough it is for first year law students these days when it comes to finding summer employment.  Paying positions are not likely to be plentiful for students after only one year of law school in this economy, and unpaid internships are really the only practical possibilities for most of you.  I know that your law school career counselors have given you good advice on the value of internships, but let me put in a few words of my own because I have been on the management side.

First of all, the summer after your first year of law school has to stand for something these days.  You want to have as much law-related experience on your resume as possible by the time you are looking for jobs after graduation.  The days of taking off for Europe or Central America to chill after the first year of law school are over.  Sorry.  You really need to be more resourceful to impress those future employers who you are going to be asking to pay for your services.

However, that puts you in a job squeeze because there also are a scarcity of intern jobs.  But, here’s a possible source of internships that I want you to know about:  Local Government Internships.

Apply to be Ms. JD's DC-Based Conference Intern

Ms. JD is looking for an enthusiastic, DC-based individual to lead the planning, organizing, and executing of Ms. JD's Fifth Annual Conference on Women and the Law on a part-time basis. The conference will be held on October 5-6, 2012, at Washington College of Law at American University.

Ms. JD's Annual Conference is a key deliverable of Ms. JD's mission because it provides an opportunity for Ms. JD's community to gather together, to learn actionable skills, and to network amongst one another thus building connections between women in the legal profession. Moreover, the conference is among Ms. JD's most visible programs. The Conference Intern works closely with Ms. JD's Executive Board, National Women's Law Student Organization (NWLSO) Leaders, and key stakeholders at the host school and partnership organizations to collaborate on each of the tasks related to the conference.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Practical Training v. Classroom Training

Last month I read an interesting article in The New York Times discussing the lack of practical skills training in law schools. I come from a school that heavily promotes practical training by encouraging pro bono work and requiring externship experience so it was a nice change to see an article about an issue that my school tackles head on,  especially after all the recent negative media around law school tuition and the lack of jobs in the legal market.

By the end of our legal education, we will have mastered the art of time management, often juggling more activities and commitments than we can count on both hands. Considering how time-strapped students are, some of us find ourselves in a bind of deciding whether to focus time on improving grades or towards receiving practical training in the field.  I wanted to share this article, because I am a huge proponent of practical training and believe that the benefits you reap are immeasurable.   In my mind the most effective way to learn is through hands-on experience and actually applying the theories that you have learned in the classroom.  We can learn about 403 and hearsay objections in the classroom all we want, but until we see them in use, we won’t  really learn what they are about.