Ask Judge for Fewer Work Hours???

[ExpLo]

I'm a 2L.  I very recently (3 days ago) landed an internship position with a local circuit court judge.  I am very excited about the opportunity but he has me scheduled for 17 hours a week.  Normally that isn't much of an outside workload for a 2L, but I am also currently working on a law review article for publication and had just been offered a spot on the trial advocacy team.  I can handle writing the article and working the 17 hours a week, but there's no way I would be able to do trial advocacy.  I am thinking about asking him to cut my hours down to around 8 hours a week, but do you think that's a good idea?  Would I offend him?       

[Ninja1]

I'd stay with the 17 for the judge and dump the trial advocacy.

[vap]

If you want to work fewer hours, then ask.  But, objectively speaking, 8 hours seems pretty low.  Maybe try for 12 or 15.

Just curious, when you say "local circuit judge," are you referring to a U.S. circuit judge or a state/county judge (some states refer to their local/state trial-level judges as "circuit judge").

[one4theteam]

I second dumping trial advocacy.  Yes, its a resume boost.  But not really.  Most employers will not care that much about it, because if its anything like the majority of trial advocacy programs out there selection is not grade sensitive at all.   

I was amazed at how many people asked me what I did for my judge during OCI.  Not one asked me about trial advocacy.  You're better of developing a body of substantive knowledge and experience that shows you can effectively handle real world issues and problems.

Besides, you have law review anyway.

As an aside, I have found advocacy types to be the most obnoxious in law school.  A good number of them suffer from chronic verbal diarrhea and just will not shut up, irrespective of how little sense they actually make.

Just my two cents...

[Naked Promise]

I also want to know if this is a US Circuit Court judge or a local trial judge. Although either way I would probably say dump trial ad. You'll probably learn more about advocacy in the internship anyway, whether it's a COA or local trial judge. Plus if you do well, you can get a recommendation from a judge (which is always a good thing to have) and you might be able to use his connections to get a job/clerkship.

[Talk Is Cheap]

I also want to know if this is a US Circuit Court judge or a local trial judge. Although either way I would probably say dump trial ad. You'll probably learn more about advocacy in the internship anyway, whether it's a COA or local trial judge. Plus if you do well, you can get a recommendation from a judge (which is always a good thing to have) and you might be able to use his connections to get a job/clerkship.

This.