How to Land a Law Firm Internship: A Step-by-Step Blueprint
A Primer on Law Firm Internships
An internship within a law firm provides a distinct opportunity for law students to gain an inside look at how a firm operates, acclimating to the culture and the structure of a legal office. At the same time, an internship can deliver an unparalleled chance for law students to develop relationships with experienced lawyers and other industry professionals, helping to lay the groundwork for a successful career in the legal field.
A law firm internship can take many forms, but its core focus is to give students useful information about the industry while providing immersive, on-the-job training. Depending on a firm’s needs and the time available to interns, the level of assistance a student is able to provide, and the current state of the legal industry, firms may expect interns to assist in a variety of tasks, including:
A law firm internship could last as short as a few weeks of temporary work or as long as several years , with some students leveraging previous internship experience to satisfy the "actual work" requirement for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam. One of the most common points of career advancement for law school graduates is a move from an internship toward a junior associate position after passing the bar exam. In addition, not all law firm internships are unpaid — some pay minimum wage or even provide a stipend to cover commuting and other related expenses.
Law firm internships deliver significant benefits that can form the basis for a rewarding career in the legal profession. More than anything, they provide students with critical experience in a real-world role, enabling them to determine which position within a law firm they best suit through a process of elimination. Despite the issue of competition among interns, the interactions that take place beyond formal job duties can help interns develop vital career paths and lifelong mentors. Firms and schools alike view internships as solid evidence of an applicant’s commitment to their chosen industry.
Choosing the Correct Law Firm for Your Internship
Once you’ve set your goal for a law firm internship, it’s time to do your homework. It’s worth doing some research into what each law firm specializes in, its structure and how long it’s been established.
Some law firms are niche practices, working in a specific area of the law. Some may concentrate on personal injury or matrimonial law, while others dabble across various sectors. Some will deal solely with corporate clients while others have a wide range of private individuals and companies on their books.
Do an online search to find out about active law firms in your area or where you want your career to progress. Look on law firm websites – they’ll have a section about ‘who we are’ or ‘what we do.’ You can also use general law firm directories like FindLaw and Directory of Legal Professionals, as well as more specialist sources such as those listed below.
You can also do some research into the firm’s history and how long they’ve been established. Newer companies may be more unstable and less successful. Of course, there’s no harm in working for a fresh new startup but you should know beforehand what its achievements have been so far and how you might fit into the picture. If you find overall feedback from former employees and clients positive, it’s likely you’ll have a good experience too.
It can also be worthwhile checking out reviews on sites like LawFuel, Legal Cheek and the The National Law Review. These can give you insight into the experiences of previous interns and whether they’d recommend the firm to a colleague.
Having a good idea of the firm’s culture is essential before you apply for an internship. For example, if you value a collaborative atmosphere, you might want to avoid a firm where staff tend to work in isolation.
The size and structure of the company can also make a difference to your experience as it affects the responsibilities you’ll be given and the relationships with senior staff you’ll get to forge. A smaller firm may be more flexible and personal than a larger practice, where getting noticed might take a little longer. You might even find that larger companies don’t take on interns at all.
Size of firm aside, you should have a look at the staff itself. What is the gender balance like? Are there many people of color employed? Do they also employ people with disabilities? These aspects are not only important from a company culture point of view but also from an equality and diversity standpoint.
After you’ve researched and shortlisted your dream law firms, you should check the application process and whether there are any prerequisites before applying.
Why a Law Resume Will Help Your Career
You’ve done the extra research and taken the necessary steps to learn more about your law school’s recruiting process. Now, it’s time to put together a stellar resume that showcases your best self, your relevant experiences, and your most marketable skills. As you know, there are many tools available to assist you in this process. For example, the Career Planning Office will almost surely have resources available that can help you complete a polished and professional legal resume. However, this is partially an art that you will need to fine-tune on your own as you’ve got to ask yourself… what makes you stand out? Also, many law students tend not to have much legal work experience to add to their resume. While this may be true, it doesn’t mean that your resume should be void of law-related accomplishments. Be sure to include any relevant academic coursework and law-related work, even if it is only derived from your law school classes. When constructing your law resume, you should always include some of the same sections as a typical resume. Some of the most basic sections of your law resume should include the following: Education In the education section, your law school information is primary and should come first and then followed by your undergraduate and even post-graduate institution. If you have graduated from law school, you will list the degree first (but a current law student will never list the law school and undergraduate school in the correct order). It is also very important to include your GPA and how it relates to your class standing. And if you don’t know how your school calculates this, ask for clarification from a law career services advisor at your school. If you had the opportunity to serve on a law journal, moot court, or other relevant group, then this is the place to highlight this accomplishment. This is another area that you need to make sure is presented in the correct order. If you were the editor-in-chief of your law schools journal, then this section will read as follows: SAMPLE LAW SCHOOL JOURNAL Leadership The leadership or involvement section is the place to highlight your leadership, community service, professional organizations and relevant academic achievements. Many law school students do not believe they have these qualities but this is simply not true. Even if you "served" on committees and other "unimportant" groups you should still list these areas of leadership. In fact, even if you held a leadership position in your undergraduate degree program you should still list these groups on your law resume. Making the connection between previous leadership roles in your bachelor degree program and your law school studies is very important. It shows potential hiring firms that you are committed to leadership and service. If during your education you participated in clinical work, clinical externships, legal internships, and other similar areas, you may also list these efforts during this section of a strong legal resume. Be sure to include what you studied and whether any scholarship or awards were presented to you due to such efforts. Experience Another important area of your law resume is the experience section. I recommend that law students begin building this section as soon as their legal studies begin so you will not forget your responsibilities and duties later on. Your experience section should include your employment and legal experience. Be sure to use action words (see below) in each experience and be specific when describing your previous employment history. It is always preferred to highlight relevant work experience while not repeating the same experience. For example, it would be acceptable to include an entry in your resume that stated: Law Clerk, Smith & Jones LLP. Not acceptable is: Law Clerk, Smith & Jones LLP and Law Clerk, Smith & Jones LLP. However, if you have worked for several law firms during your course of study you may want to eliminate some of the older positions unless they are extraordinary. These tip-offs could be anything from a high-profile firm to important duties that far exceeded your peers. Some of these may be good to include at this point in your education as most law students will focus on their most current internships and positions leaving the earlier experience off their resumes.
Tips for Writing a Winning Cover Letter
When securing an internship, your cover letter is just as important as your resume. It’s your opportunity to explain your passion for law and your aptitude to learn from the lawyers of the firm you’re applying to. Assuming you have, or will have, a strong resume, your carefully worded cover letter can make the difference between being selected for an in-person interview or not. At the heart of a good cover letter is a thoughtful discussion of your entry-level law-related experience that relates directly to the tasks you’ll be assigned during the internship and what you hope to gain from the experience. Tracey Hawkins, who is an Executive Fellow with the National Center for State Courts and has served as a legal recruiter in the Nashville, Tennessee area, strongly encourages law students to invest the time necessary to draft cover letters that are unique and compelling.
Denying the importance of the cover letter and sending the same standard form letter to dozens (or hundreds) of firms will not only prevent you from standing out and could actually be damaging to your overall cause. It’s confirmed that when recruiters scan cover letters it is for specific phrases and words they view as having strong correlation to the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in an entry-level position. As such, if you’re interested in a few specific practice areas and have prior work experience and classes in these areas, your letter should be tailored to reflect those details. When writing your cover letter, be sure to evaluate the particular description of the position you’re applying for, to determine if there are any key phrases or specific words that stand out. Even if you don’t have specific experience in these areas, use common terms in your cover letter that relate to the position. This shows the recruiter that you have an understanding of what the job entails and that you have taken the time to research the firm and the position you’re seeking.
How to Tap Into Your Legal Network
Another powerful way for getting law firm internships is to connect via a personal meeting or through social media with legal professionals. Your professors and law school administrators will be invaluable resources for networking connections as well. For example, let’s say you’re attending a law school in San Francisco but you want to do an internship in Harrisburg, PA. The first thing you should do is consult the Career Development Office at your law school. Every law school will have one of these offices and they are very keen on helping students land internships so use them as a resource. Then use the Internet to search out "legal associations," "bar associations" and "lawyer associations" (plus the target city or state) and see which ones might make good connections. You should also find on these association websites detailed information on how to join and Member Directories. This is an excellent way to learn about internship opportunities before they are advertised and gives you the opportunity to make a "pre-connection , " setting up a positive connection between you and the employer before the internship offer is made (or advertised).
In addition to connecting with your closest to home legal associations through the methods above, consider expanding your horizon to several other legal associations as well. For example, go ahead and join the California Bar Association even if you are physically located on the opposite side of the US and then, using the Member Directory, reach out to lawyers in Northern California. Be polite, explain your situation and invite them to respond with any internship opportunities that might be coming up in their firms. You can do this with dozens of legal associations throughout the US and this will give you access to lawyers with influence in all the major cities in the country.
How to Ace the Law Firm Interview
Job interviews are not only opportunities to demonstrate why you’d make a great law intern, but also about "fit." If you’re going to spend 10 weeks of your summer working for a firm, it’s critical that the firm’s attorneys, employees and other summer associates feel comfortable with you. In addition, wise employers want to make sure you’ll be happy at their firm. There’s little sense in hiring three law interns who come across as standoffish because they’ll be less likely to enjoy their work and more likely to leave. So keep the firm’s culture in mind when answering questions during your law internship interview.
Here are some law firm interview tips to help you ace your interview and get the law firm internship you want.
Dress for a job interview, not a law school class. Nothing says you aren’t ready to move on from law school than showing up at a law firm interview in jeans. Be sure that you select clothes that fit you well and that you feel comfortable wearing. On the flip side, dressing in an overly stuffy way may make you less approachable or give the impression that you are overdressing because you know you aren’t qualified for the job. Whatever you wear, you want to exude confidence. Also, if the firm is a conservative law firm, try not to choose clothes that are trendy. You might not get a second chance and you don’t want to lose out on a great law firm internship because you showed up in business casual clothes that were too trendy for the firm or overly conservative for the firm.
Be yourself. A lot of times, this might be hard to do but practice making small talk before your interview and review interview questions you might be asked. You can practice on friends and family members. Prepare answers to common law firm interview questions and practice saying them in a natural way. You can also come up with your own list of law internship interview questions. You should be able to answer them in a non-rushed, not overly rehearsed way. Not rehearsing for the interview can make you appear unprepared while overly rehearsing might seem fake, so practice being yourself before the interview. Do not treat your law firm internship interview like law school exam or clinic presentation.
Leave room for questions. Toward the end of the interview, the interviewer will probably ask you whether you have questions. If you haven’t prepared any questions in advance, you can look like you just want to leave. So even if you don’t have any questions, prepare some so you don’t look frantic or uninterested. Questions can range from asking whether there will be any group activities or outings planned for summer associates to whether summer associates are expected to participate in community service activities associated with the firm. Having questions can show that you did your research on the firm. Plus, you want to know whether you’re likely to get along with your coworkers or how you might progress through the company. And, if it’s appropriate, ask about the group (i.e., corporate, litigation, administrative law) in which you might work.
Using Internships to Your Advantage
It is not unusual throughout a summer law firm internship for firms to offer several types of assignments, some fun (e.g. work for the firm’s pro-bono legal clinic) and some less so (e.g. drafting a report or an initial intake of a potential client). The assignments are designed to achieve two objectives: keep the interns busy; and provide them with a variety of experiences. Make no mistake, these assignments represent an opportunity for the hard working intern – one who is keenly aware and highly engaged in their initial law firm assignments. Whether it is the drafting of an informative article that will be published online, or the opportunity to meet and interview a former Supreme Court Justice, the summer legal internship program of most large and many small law firms is designed to provide interns with experiences that will advance their careers. Grab hold.
If you are offered an assignment that seems mundane or beneath your capabilities, a missed opportunity may be lurking. There is no doubt that law firm internships are designed for the benefit of the firm; however, your future career is at stake. Keeping this in mind, approach assignments as an opportunity to perform at your best. If there is a task that leaves you stumped, discreetly seek guidance and direction from your supervisor. Inform them that you are wholly committed to the task. This simple word – commitment – can yield a power-packed dividend as you long to be an attorney.
At several well-respected law firms, I have participated in the 2nd round interview process for law firm internships. With no fewer than four interviewers (all partners or senior associates), it became clear to me that the firm was more than willing to take the time to get the right fit. Here is what I learned: they enjoy the courts, deep conversations, and working with sharp minds. Make no mistake about what I am about to say: law firm interviewers want to see you interact. Engage them in thoughtful conversation; ask them about their career paths; and ask them what they love about their present position. By doing so , you may learn far more than they do about you. The goal is not to make them proud; rather the goal is to let them articulate their passion, allowing you to assess their fit for you.
In my experience, the most well-respected attorneys are not boasting or looking down their proverbial noses at you. Rather, they are quite humble (for the most part), friendly, and eager to have young talent come on board and make a good fit. If you pick up any type of arrogance or weirdness during an interview, this is probably not the firm for you!
Arising out of a summer law school internship, there are many opportunities, both unique and shared. For example, both of the below examples are for 2nd round interviews, specifically: my first civil rights-related interview (the DOJ); and my first environmental law-related interview (an environmental health organization focused on low-income and minority communities). The DOJ was impressed with the fact that I integrated career development coursework (my mentor’s extra tips) into my summer law school internship experience, while the environmental health group was impressed by my pro-bono support of a low-income minority HIV group. Bright people need bright people.
Wherever you land, make sure to stay present to the moment. Grasp hold of each project assignment and run with it with gusto! Then take note of what’s going on around you. Often, you will learn about *the firm to which you are interviewing/being interviewed/unionize* by the way that the other interns are treated by their assigned law office; and what they think and feel about their internships. How strict is the dress code? Do they put in a full 8-hour day? Do they clock out when the work is done, or do they "leave when the last person leaves"? Are they very social with their supervisor and each other? All of these questions matter. Make no mistake.