by Marina Sarmiento Feehan, Assistant Director, Office of Career PlanningIn April 2009, the Office of Career Planning hosted a panel presentation called “How to Succeed as a Summer Law Clerk” and for those of you that missed it, we summarize most of the advice here. Whether you are working for a law firm, a legal non-profit or the government, here are some tips to help you have a successful summer as gleaned from the employers who spoke at the panel.
First of all, what does success mean? When the economy was thriving, it meant getting an offer of permanent employment after graduation from your legal employer. In these trying times, all sectors of the legal economy are impacted and an offer of employment, while a commendable goal, may not be attainable. Law firms are cutting entire summer associate classes and some have decided not to recruit incoming attorneys; other firms are shortening the summer from 12 weeks to ten or eight weeks. Government agencies that may have recruited through their summer program in the past may not be able to extend offers in advance because of budget concerns or hiring freezes. Given this backdrop, law students will have less time to shine and prove themselves and even with a stellar performance, there may not be a position for them in the end.
Thus, rethink your measure of success by setting these goals to supplement the overall goal of receiving a job offer:
• Leave the summer with an impressive writing sample, preferably two – a legal research memorandum and a persuasive brief such as a motion or memoranda of points and authorities.
• Obtain strong recommendations from your employers.
• Establish a network.
• Learn about the business of law in addition to the practice of law.
SUMMER LAW CLERK TIPS: 1. ASSIGNMENTS: Never walk into a supervisor’s office without a pen and a pad of paper. Take copious notes of each assignment and ask as many questions as you need to clarify the assignment. Ask for an example of the work product your supervisor is seeking. Find out how much time your supervisor wants you to spend on the assignment and the due date. Then turn it in ON TIME or better yet, early. If for some reason you are unable to turn it in by the deadline, do not wait until the night before to let your supervisor know; communicate well in advance. Also, get out of your office - do not limit your communications to partners and associates to email. For example, if you have questions regarding an assignment, email to set up a time to discuss them, but ask the questions in person.
2. WORK PRODUCT: Treat each draft you submit as a final version, even if your supervisor requests a “summary” or “draft.” This means each submission has been proofread, includes accurate citations, and is free of all errors. Do not rely solely on spell check and grammar check on your computer. Print it out and read it aloud; have a secretary proofread it for you. Make sure it is perfect before you turn it in. Don’t give employer cause to give you a poor performance review out by turning in shoddy work product. Lastly, make sure even your emails are perfect. A government employer once told me that while they thought the student they interviewed was a great candidate, they were not going to offer her a position because her “Thank You” email contained spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. Attention to detail is an important lawyering skill and even emails are scrutinized.
3. CLARIFY EXPECTATIONS: If you are working at a firm, you probably will not be held to the same billable hour requirement that is expected of associates. However, you should ask about the number of billable hours per day and the number of completed assignments throughout the summer that the firm expects from summer associates. For other employers, find out the typical hours of business and work those hours or more if necessary.
4. SOCIALIZE: You may want to target a few senior level attorneys/partners whose practice areas interest you and invite them to lunch. Bring along one or two summer law clerks if you don’t want to carry the entire burden of conversation. When the check comes, you (and probably the other clerks) should offer to pay since you are the inviter, but if the attorneys insist on paying, let them. Alternatively, don’t be surprised if they don’t offer or allow you to pay. Either situation can happen. However, never compromise work for an employer social event. If there is a deadline the next day, make sure you finish the job before you party with the other summer law clerks.
5. SEEK FEEDBACK: Some employers will provide you with a mid-summer review of your work performance. If you have made efforts to solicit feedback on each of your assignments, this review should not contain surprises. If your review has constructive criticisms, however, take the time to make sure that your future work does not suffer from the same mistakes. If your employer does not conduct a mid-summer or end-of-summer review, make sure to solicit feedback on your assignments so that you know what you need to learn and improve.
6. DRESS CODE: As one of our public interest employers explained, “I thought our office was laid back and casual. We have attorneys coming in dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and Birkenstocks. But we had a law clerk that set the bar even lower. I was shocked that this was even possible but he came in with ripped shorts, a tank top and flip flops.” Even if you are working in a casual atmosphere, dress for the future you. In the future, you will be an attorney. Dress like one now. This doesn’t mean you need to show up in a suit each day – it means observe the dress code at work and wear clothing that shows you respect yourself, your job and your employer.
7. BE PROFESSIONAL: Your words, your actions, and your emails need to exude professionalism. Think twice before dating another summer law clerk, your secretary, an associate or a partner. This could be seen as a lack of good judgment on your part and the last thing you need is to be accused of sexual harassment for hitting on a fellow law clerk at the office party. Just because the firm attorneys are drinking all around you, and a few are clearly drunk, doesn’t mean you need to be drinking also. As a legal recruiting manager of a major San Francisco firm told me, her firm did not give an offer to only one person last summer because he got drunk at a social event. The partners conducting his review felt he exercised poor judgment. Why? Because the partners did not want to gamble on a person who could potentially embarrass the firm in front of a client.
For an excellent blog on professionalism, see “How to Make People Think You Don’t Deserve Your College Degree,” at: http://www.careerealism.com/how-to-look-like-you-lied-about-your-degree-aka-how-look-unprofessional-at-work/
8. PRACTICE CONFIDENTIALITY: Remember that ethics class you took that talked about attorney-client privilege and work product? Anything you work on is covered by attorney-client privilege and it is confidential information. That’s why you need to monitor your conversations. This is a small legal community: do not reveal facts about client or cases in an elevator, at a restaurant or on the bus. You never know who is listening. Most of all don’t make the mistake one non-USF law student made by blogging an attorney’s jury selection strategy at trial, thus causing a huge problem by releasing confidential information on the internet. Exercise prudence and think before you tweet or text.
9. DON’T BE A GUNNER: Yes, the job market is tight and there are not enough jobs to go around. However, this does not mean you should pull out all stops to make yourself look good to beat out the other law clerks. Employers hate “gunners.” You know the type, that person in your class that insists on raising his hand and blurts out the answer just to hear himself talk, even if he doesn’t know the answer because he thinks he’s smarter than everyone else. Yes, that person, the one that makes you roll your eyes every time you hear him talk. The practice of law is not about competitiveness with your co-workers, it’s about being able to work as part of a team and being enjoyable to work with and be around. Being personable will get you further than being cut-throat.
10. LASTLY, BUILD YOUR SKILLS: Never forget that you are at your summer job to work and to learn about the practice of law. You are there to build your skills and there are some essential skills that a law student needs to learn: (1) research; (2) writing; (3) oral and written communication; (4) advocacy / negotiation; (5) analysis / problem solving; and (6) attention to detail. Find ways to build upon or learn these skills. Attend everything you can – depositions, settlement conferences, motion hearings, trials. Participate in trainings, not just by attending, but by raising your hand when asked for volunteers. If you are curious about transactional work, see if you can get an assignment in that practice area. If there is not enough work, see if there are pro bono matters you can work on to build your skills.
In conclusion, we know this will be an unusual summer and offers will not be easy to come by, even if you do a terrific job. The employer may only have enough funding for one attorney position yet five summer law clerks are vying for that one position. This does not mean you give up or slack off because the chances look slim. Remember that you are working on your skills and building your legal reputation for years to come. Employers will remember stars, even if they were not able to hire you at that time.
We wish you the best of luck in your summer position and if you are still searching, our office is open during the summer to assist you. Please contact us at lawcareer@usfca.edu or (415) 422-6757 to set up an appointment.
