Advice for a 1L summer

[werls21]

Hello everybody, I am seeking advice for what to do this summer... Here is a quick background- I attend John Marshall (T4 in Chicago) and am #10 out of 331 (top 3%) in my class.  My dilemma is that I would love to study abroad considering it is probably one of my last chances for a long time to travel for an extended amount of time.  The problem is that I do not have much work experience.  I came right out of undergrad and my resume frankly is a little skimpy.  I am interested in pursuing a big firm summer associate position for next summer but I am unsure of what to do now.  Would it be big firm suicide to study abroad for the summer?  If so, what do you think the best summer job that I should go after- federal judge clerkship/ big firm 1L position/ smaller firm position??? Another option I was considering is working and then taking off the last couple of weeks of the summer to travel... would a firm be ok with this??  Thanks so much everyone for your help- any advise/ plans are appriciated!

[verbal]

I have no experience with this so it is just an opinion. You did very well this semester. you might want to go ahead and take advantage of it by applying with a bunch of high paying firms in chicago and seeing if u can get an in somewhere. How cool would it be to lock up a job before you even get another semesters grades.

[GA-fan]

Not a direct correlate, but I'm top 5% at a T1 and can't even get firms to bite, so you may want to at least put a deposit down on the study abroad to cover your bases.

[Lucero]

I think your best move is trying to get a firm job and then taking off abroad for a couple of weeks at the end of summer. Most large firms require a minimum of 8-9 weeks from 1Ls which still leaves you a nice chunk of vacation, while its doubtful a small firm would have a problem with you leaving a couple of weeks early. 1L summer is NOT crucial for getting that cush 2L job, so as long as you have some legal experience to plug in to your resume so as not to raise any red flags, you should be good to go.

[wakaranai]

I think you should focus your energy on smaller firms, judges, and public interest jobs. LIke GA-fan said, even in T1, people have a hard time getting firms to bite without connections and this late in the game, many larger firms have already filled up the few (if any) 1L slots they have. The other jobs probably won't have big programs like larger firms, so you'll have more flexibility with dates and probably be able to travel at the end.

[jacy85]

IMO, you need to get a job for at least half the summer, regardless of whether its with a judge, firm, or something else legal.  You're coming from John Marshall, which is going to put you at a disadvantage with many of the big firms right off the bat, especially considering the other schools in the Chicago area.  Add to this the fact that you may be relatively young (which really isn't that big of a deal) combined with the fact that you don't really have any work experience (which is a big deal), and you may have a difficult time landing a big firm gig for 2L summer.

Most 1L summer positions will be ok with taking a few weeks off at the end of the summer before school.  I had a good 3 or so weeks before starting 2L (and I didn't ask for extra time, it was just when the internship ended).  Hell, my 2L summer associate position ends at the end of July/first week of August this summer (our choice when to leave), and that's for people who aren't splitting.

Essentially, you really just need some legal experience on your resume, and a study abroad program isn't going to do it. 

[eatdrinkbemerry]

Any chance you were in frat? This will help you get a BIGLAW job. I'm guessing you will have far better job opportunities than rex grossman.

[4yearPLAN]

I'm at a T3 school in the midwest and top 2 percent and have had trouble just getting an interview with a large firm (not to mention medium size firms).  If I were you I would apply to as many medium to small size firms you can.  Look for a small firm that you have an interest in and save the high powered big law job for next summer.

[LawLady]

to the OP: are you interested in International Law or do you intend to pursue a practice in another country?  If not, studying abroad when you have no practical skills may not be a good idea.  There are plenty of things you can do for 1L summer that will give you experience.  Does your school have clinics that you can get into?  What about a judicial internship?