Finding Legal Internships as an Undergraduate Student

Submitted by lopsidedmonkey9 t3_zy9p1t in washingtondc

I'm a junior at George Mason University studying political science. My GPA is near perfect, my resume has been looked over and polished by many (pre-law advisor, success coach, professors, etc.), and I'm very good at writing and generally speaking to people. That said, I've had no luck finding any internships over the past two summers while I've been in college. Am I doing something wrong? I feel like I've put my all into the applications and I've submitted all of them on time. How else can I find internships at law firms as an undergraduate? It seems like the vast majority of the ones in DC and NoVA only hire law school students. Are there any firms that I should reach out to in particular? I'm starting to worry that I'm too far into my college journey to not have had an internship yet. I don't want that to take away from the rest of my law school application when the time comes...

0

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

bubbabubba345 t1_j24kqst wrote

Do you intend to work at like, big law firms? I don’t know for sure, but most big law firms want legal interns or law clerks while they’re in law school, so not undergrads.

To be honest, everything in DC is insanely competitive especially for summer internships because people come to DC in the summer JUST to intern here. Maybe try applying for legal/non legal (but in legal setting) internships at non profits during the semester?

18

lopsidedmonkey9 OP t1_j24lryk wrote

Honestly, I’m looking for anything that’s law-related at this point. I just want to get some experience and do something productive over the summer, maybe make some money too. I understand the competitive nature of DC internships, but it’s starting to feel like everyone has an internship at one place or another except for me:(

0

MilesLetum t1_j24p45w wrote

If your goal is to go to law school, you really don’t need anything on the resume at all tbh. Law school admissions are 95% LSAT + GPA. You can basically predict and track acceptances/waitlists/rejections based on those two data points alone. Hopefully your pre-law advisor has talked to you about this process.

13

dataminimizer t1_j24ntcx wrote

See if you can find something akin to a paralegal at a law firm. Also look at local law enforcement agencies, which may give summer internships to undergrads. But generally, to find a legal internship/law clerk position, you need to be a law student.

That said, you don’t need legal experience at all to get into law school.

7

Toadvine29 t1_j24q29j wrote

Maybe try local politics, state legislatures, state agencies. Internships that work on writing, regardless of whether they're strictly law-related would be good.

That said, I wouldn't worry about doing something specifically law related. There are lots of areas of law, and lawyers usually end up specializing in something. So, think about what topics you are interested in and care about. Someone who wants to be an environmental lawyer, for example, would benefit from having an environmental internship (even if it isn't law-related) and it would make them look more interesting on law school applications. There are lawyers in the music industry, there are patent lawyers, medical malpractice lawyers; lawyers who specialize in plants, and the sea, and construction, and space, etc. Plenty of people get into law school and are successful despite (or because of) having engaged in things that did not have "law" on them.

5

MartinTheMartian1 t1_j24xgi9 wrote

It’s not super common for big law firms to offer internships for college students. There are diversity programs if you qualify, or sometimes internships in non-legal facing departments (e.g., marketing, recruiting, etc.) but that’s really it. They just don’t have enough of the type of work where a college intern would be helpful. I would recommend looking at legal ngos, think tanks, etc. Government is another good option in this city.

You don’t need a legal internship to be a good candidate for law school though.

4

marylandmax t1_j25aadp wrote

Law firms generally don't have a reason to have undergrad interns. I'd recommend interning places that employ lawyers or just that will give you legal/writing experience while in undergrad (tons of those in DC!)

I also recommend working as a paralegal or in some other role where you are directly working for lawyers before law school. It will give you a much better sense of what lawyers do and if it's the job for you. Highly recommend working before law school!

But in short, don't stress about finding an internship at a law firm--that's not usual or expected.

Source: am a lawyer, have worked at three DC law firms

4

shootermcd43 t1_j25ndm3 wrote

Get that GPA and confidence up, you can do it

3

Eau_de_poisson t1_j24s6ku wrote

Have you tried federal government agencies? It doesn’t even have to be the DOJ or anything, but just an agency that does any sort of regulatory job would have a bunch of lawyers in a legislative, enforcement, or oversight role.

2

mosay13 t1_j259vnx wrote

Its not common for law firms to hire non-law students (unless your in some type of project assistant program), but you could try at some local direct-legal services programs (Legal Aid, Whitman Walker, Bread for the City, etc.).

2

NU2L t1_j261we1 wrote

As some others have said, trying to find a paralegal or legal Secretary type job is going to be your best bet. I was exposed to law in undergrad by working as a (sort of) paralegal/secretary for a small firm. I don’t have any contacts but I’m always happy to talk about law/law school if you ever want to PM.

1

swc27 t1_j28f0q7 wrote

Judges often hire summer interns. Try DC Superior.

0

leagle89 t1_j2a0s2f wrote

Those interns are almost always law students -- there's not really enough work in most judges' chambers that a college student can do.

1