Judicial Internship Manual
PDF versionInterning in the chambers of a judge can be an interesting and rewarding summer job for a first-year law student. This memorandum explains what a judicial internship is and describes the process for obtaining one.
I. What is a judicial intern?
A judicial internship is an unpaid summer position in which a law student acts as a quasi-law clerk to a judge. Judges use interns in different ways, but many assign them tasks similar to those that their law clerks perform. As an intern, it is likely that you will attend judicial proceedings, hone your legal research and writing skills by crafting bench memos or even drafts of opinions, and have the opportunity to discuss legal issues with the judge and his law clerks. At the end of the summer, you probably will have authored a piece of legal writing that you can use as a writing sample (with the judge’s permission) as you apply for other jobs. You may be able to use the judge as a reference in future job searches. Additionally, you will be able to see firsthand what a judicial law clerk does, and may be able to use your experience as a judicial intern to obtain one of these prestigious appointments.
II. To whom should I apply?
As a judicial internship usually is uncompensated, you may want to begin your job search with judges located in a place where you can live for free — perhaps your hometown. Do keep in mind, however, that interning in a new city may be a great way to establish ties and credibility in a market where you wish to apply next year or for permanent employment. The short term financial hit may be worth it for an investment in your future job prospects.
A federal district court (the trial level court in the federal system) is an excellent place to work for a summer. A typical federal district judge may have a few hundred cases on his or her docket. Most district judges have their clerks do some or all of the following things: talk with attorneys about case status; attend status and settlement meetings with the attorneys; attend hearings and trials; conduct legal research; prepare research memoranda for the judge; and write rough drafts of opinions and orders. As an intern, you are likely to participate in many of these activities. You will have the opportunity to see how real cases are managed; how motions are argued and decided; and how jury trials are lost and won. When trials heat up, you are in the thick of things that attorneys often view only from the outside (if at all) — motions, jury selection, evidence, the works.
Federal courts of appeals often do not take interns. However, if you are able to find a federal appellate judge willing to hire you, this also can offer an interesting summer experience. The lives of appellate court clerks, and by extension, the interns, are usually less hustle-bustle and more cloistered than the lives of those working in district courts. Appellate court clerks and interns typically read briefs, do extensive legal research, write memoranda to the judge about upcoming cases, attend oral arguments, and write rough drafts of opinions. You will not see trials as an intern for a U.S. Court of Appeals, but you may have the opportunity to watch appellate oral arguments.
State courts of appeals often take one or more interns. If you are interested in an appellate experience but do not have a federal court of appeals opportunity in your geographic area, state supreme courts and courts of appeals are often great places to look for an internship. Many state appellate court judges have graduated from the summer judges’ program here at Virginia, and these judges are generally of a high quality.
State trial court internships are ideal for students who are interested in practicing law in a particular community, and in particular students who may be interested in prosecution or public defense work. In addition, in some states, criminal, family law, and other categories of cases are handled only in certain courts, which can be an excellent learning ground for students interested in those areas of law.
III. How Do I Apply?
You should think about sending out applications in December or January of your first year. In an ideal world, you will send out letters to judges in your hometown in mid-December so that you can set up interviews when you are home over winter break. There is no need to add another burden to your load during finals; it is generally sufficient to write to judges over the winter break, after your first semester exams have ended.
You should send the judge a cover letter, a copy of your resume, and a writing sample, if you have one (all described more fully below). If your undergraduate transcript is one of your strong points (a GPA of 3.75 or higher), include it too.
1. The cover letter is almost always short and sweet, but please be sure that it contains no mistakes of any kind. Some judges look at the cover letter as a mini-writing sample, so you might want to include a sentence or two about why you would be good for the job, although this is not strictly necessary. You want to state in your cover letter that you do not yet have a law school transcript, but that you will provide one when it is available.
2. Writing sample. If you have a writing sample, you should enclose it with your cover letter and resume. Do not worry if you do not have a legal writing sample ready when you send out your applications — it is perfectly fine to send out an application prior to exams, and then to fix up your writing sample afterwards to bring along with you to the interview.
Writing samples should generally be no more than 10-15 pages in length. A memo from a legal writing class is generally a good choice. It is important that the writing be as flawless as possible, and that it be your own work.
3. Resume. You can use essentially the same resume format that you used to apply for jobs with firms or public service employers. However, writing is an important part of most internships and something that judges care about a great deal. For this reason, you should emphasize any writing experience that you have.
IV. Interviews
Interviews may include one session with the judge and another session with one or more of the judge’s current law clerks. To prepare for the interview, you should read some of the opinions that the judge has written; you should have a sense of the judge’s basic style and outlook. You also should know the basics: when the judge went on the bench, who appointed him or her, and other biographical information that (for federal judges) is presented in the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary. It is often helpful to talk to someone who has previously clerked for the judge or a practitioner in the jurisdiction, so that you can have a better sense of the judge and what the interview will be like.
In addition to learning about the judge, you should give some thought to what you will say about yourself. You should, of course, be prepared to talk about anything on your resume, the substance of your writing sample or any other publications, and any course you have taken in law school. Usually judges or clerks will seek some legal topic on which to engage you in a substantive conversation — a class, a recent Supreme Court opinion, or the like. It is important that you be willing and eager to engage in a substantive conversation about law when invited to do so in an interview. The appropriate response to a question about how you liked a particular course is not some remark about whether the professor was “good” or “funny,” but rather some statement that is suggestive of what you might have learned in the course. Most judges do not expect you to have exhaustive substantive knowledge of any area, but they do expect you to be able to use analytical skills to conduct an intelligent conversation about legal issues.
You should also be prepared to answer some basic questions (“Why did you go to law school?” “Why do you want this job?”), and to ask some intelligent ones in return. Think of things to ask the judge, and also things to ask his clerks. Some obvious ones:
- What sorts of things do you have your interns do?
- Would I have the opportunity to watch courtroom proceedings?
- Would I have the opportunity to write rough drafts of opinions?
Dress as you would for a law firm interview. Bring extra copies of your resume, writing sample, and transcript (if available) with you. Also have a list of references, in case the judge asks for them. This list should include the reference’s name, address, and phone number. Be sure to ask for permission to use someone as a reference, and to give out that person’s phone number, before including him/her on your list.
V. After the Interview.
Be sure to send thank-you notes to the judge and anyone else who interviewed you. You should send these notes within a day or two of completing the interview.
If you accept an offer to intern, your decision is final. It is extremely bad form for you to renege on the acceptance. If you accept an offer to be an intern, you should withdraw your pending applications with other judges. For chambers that have not been in touch with you, the standard procedure is simply to write a letter withdrawing your application. For judges with whom you have interviewed (or with whom you are scheduled to interview) but who have not yet gotten back to you with their decisions, you must immediately call their chambers, say how honored you were to have been considered, but report that you must withdraw your applications because you have accepted another offer.
VI. Research Resources
The following materials have been developed for UVA students and are found at www.law.virginia.edu/clerkships:
1. List of judges who graduated from the University of Virginia. This list includes not only judges who obtained their JD from UVA, but also those judges who received their LLM in the summer program for judges.
2. List of judges who have hired UVA students as judicial interns.
3. Lists of judges who have hired UVA students as clerks. Judges who have hired UVA clerks in the past may be inclined to hire UVA students as interns.
The following published materials may also be useful and can be found in the reference room of the library:
1. The Almanac of the Federal Judiciary provides biographies and lawyers’ evaluations of federal judges. This is often the best source for getting a quick overview of a judge, but keep in mind that any single source has its inevitable biases.
2. The Judicial YellowBook: Federal and State Court Judges, published twice a year, provides a comprehensive listing of federal and state appellate court judges. The directory includes a brief biography of each judge, as well as the names of current clerks.
3. Want's Federal-State Court Directory. This is the best place to go for lists of judges and their addresses nationwide. It is the only place that lists the names and addresses of state court judges and administrative law judges. Mistakes have been known to appear in it; if possible, try to double check its information.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact judicialclerkships@virginia.edu.
