<p>So I'm a high school senior who wants to hopefully go to Law school. I'm going to Rutgers University for my undergraduate and plan to double major in Philosophy and Criminal Justice (not for law school per say, but because they interest me). I've also maybe wanted to dabble in East Asian Languages and Area Studies (minor for fun, or just with spare elective credits). I know that I have a lot of time left before that but my sisters boyfriends dad is a partner in a very small firm. (3 partners and like a few legal aids, secretaries, etc...) I have a opportunity to work an internship possibly, but how well would it even affect my grad school application? (if I were to do it for 3 or 4 summers).</p>
<p>I think it potentially could help you a lot, because you will be in a better position in your law school essays to explain the specifics of why you want to go to law school. I'm not sure it's necessary to intern for 3 or 4 summers though.</p>
<p>i would encourage you to view this not simply an issue of whether this will improve your law school application chances, but rather as an opportunity to learn more about what it means to be a lawyer to help you decide whether you in fact really want to fill out those law school applications in 3-4 years.
you would get to see not only this firm, but firms they might deal with, as well hear war stories about other practices these lawyers might have experience with.
try it for one summer and see how that goes -- you have time to decide what to do with other summers.</p>
<p>I was actually offered a position as an UG intern (working closely w/ lawyers, but not really important, tough work) at Baker Botts (would not rather specify which location) for a pretty decent salary (~700-900/wk) as a full-time, summer employee. They actually have a program for college students interested in law. I decided to decline the offer. I spoke with the hiring partner of BB, and of several other large firms in the area, and they convinced me that, not only would the job provide very little insight into being a laywer, I could, and probably would, **** off one of the other partners. The law community is only so big- if you **** one person off, he might go and tell A, who would tell B, and thus, your rep is ruined.</p>
<p>Basically, its not the greatest idea because the opportunity cost of you ****ing somebody off in the firm is high, which will inversely affect your chances to be hired by that firm in the near future. You might learn a bit about what lawyers do, but since you'll probably be hired by a Big firm, you'll only really get the corporate law side of what lawyers actually do. I might be wrong, but this is what I've been told by several partners at respectable V50 firms.</p>
<p>I think working for a law firm is a good way to get a sense of whether you want to practice law. I worked for a law firm part-time during the year I took off from school between college and law school.</p>
<p>One bit of advice: one doesn't really "dabble" in an Asian language. I took three years of an Asian laguage in college, and they were hands down the most difficult, time-demanding courses I ever took at any level, undergraduate or law school.</p>
<p>"I could, and probably would, **** off one of the other partners"</p>
<p>?? The hiring partner at Baker Botts thought that you'd probably p*** a partner off if you worked there, to the point that he'd spread it all over town? If you can't make it through a summer of simple tasks without making that kind of enemies, you probably aren't cut out for a big firm. I think that it's well within the abilities of most hard-working college students to survive a summer job without destroying their reputation in the legal community.</p>
<p>Well I doubt I will **** of one of the partners. I've met one of them and he loves me as a person. Secondly the firm is really small so I doubt they are all out to get me and tell everyone that I ****ed them off (especially since I'm straight out of high school). I definitely want to do it just because I want to know what law is like. </p>
<p>As for the whole dabble in Asian Language thing, I know that they are time consuming but I plan to self study it in my spare time (Japanese) because it interests me a lot. Plus a friend of mine is fluent in Japanese and he said he will help me over the summer. That way I won't totally be lost when I take the classes. Plus the East Asian Language and Area Studies field also includes history, politics, art, and other related fields hence the Area Studies portion.</p>
<p>I didn't mean that I'd **** one of them off for sure, but it was definetly a possibility. Also, I expressed strong interest to find a FT job w/ them after I went to Law School. Just giving advice that was given to me by those in the know. Maybe they were wrong, and maybe I'm wrong, but just giving my .02.</p>
<p>It's also fairly difficult to find a job at a Law Firm. I cold-emailed a ton of firms looking for something to do, but they really don't want a short term-committment (I.e. Summer break)</p>
<p>As an initial matter, law schools won't be impressed (though it won't hurt). It's possible that it might help with writing law school application essays, but only at the margins. It also might be somewhat useful in deciding whether you want to be a lawyer, but just sort of hanging around a law office is not necessarily that instructive. In deciding whether you want to be a lawyer, I would find 10 lawyers, of varying ages, and seek to have a fairly extensive sit down talk with each. Ask for details about what they specifically like and dislike about their careers.</p>