Legal internships provide on-the-job experiences and insights into the myriad directions a legal career can take, and it’s important for law students to intern during the summers of each of the first two years of law school. Private law firms differ in the way they recruit, as do public service and government employers. Below, the Career Services Office at Vanderbilt tracks the timing and preferences of them all.
Internships with Private Practice Employers
Law firms in different states recruit on different timelines, notes Associate Director Nick Alexiou. Law firms in Texas, for instance, begin recruiting law students in October for the summer following their first year of law. Most other private law firms, if they hire at all after one year of law school, begin recruiting in December or later.
With the aim of students and law firms getting acquainted with each other, Vanderbilt organizes “Fall Mingle” in October and invites representatives from law firms to campus to meet first year (1L) students in person. Students select legal markets in which they have interest, and firms in those legal markets receive resumes ahead of time. The event is highly successful in making early connections, observes Michelle Parsons, Associate Director.
Regardless of early recruitment timelines, law firms normally do not make offers for 1L internships until they have first semester grades. However, “students reaching out early is a statement of their serious interest and therefore matters,” Rachel Kohler, Associate Director, added.
In general, applications for private practice internships are open from October to January of students’ first year, with interviews occurring in December through February. Interviews have evolved to be entirely virtual, both screener interviews and callback interviews, noted Elizabeth Workman, Assistant Dean. To prepare, students participate in a Mock Interview Program with practicing attorneys from firms around the country. In addition, students can receive extensive preparation tips from their counselors and student mentors.
Internship programs differ from school to school. Vanderbilt is among a group of schools where 50% of the 1L interview slots are selected by the firms themselves and 50% are selected by lottery according to how students have ranked their preferences. “Experience shows us that a significant number of offers go to students who were not originally selected,” added Dean Workman.
Internships after two years of law school are more common than after one year of law school, and portals for internships after two years of law school open as early as May. To help prepare for those, a “Spring Mingle” is held in March and again connects employers and students. As recruiting timelines for private employers creep earlier and earlier, Vanderbilt offers two organized employment opportunities for students with two years of law school:
- Regional Job Fairs target New York, DC, Chicago and Dallas and Houston. New York and Texas have moved to June interviews, and to date the other cities are holding July interviews. Again, all interviews are virtual.
- VIP (the Virtual Interview Program has replacing On-Campus Interviews) is held in July. Participating firms select 70% of their interviews, and the remaining schedule is filled by lottery.
While these internships are extremely competitive, law firms of all sizes actively seek Vanderbilt students as part of their summer programs. These internships develop important legal skills for 2Ls, and they usually lead to permanent employment.
Public interest internships
Public service summer internships are critical in preparing public interest and government practice-focused students for their legal careers. For students focused on firm practice, public service internships can help students determine practice areas of interest, as well as provide important legal experience. There are hundreds of opportunities for public service after one year of law school, from legal aid societies, to in-court experiences like a public defender or district attorney, to judicial internships with a judge. The Vanderbilt Career Counselors assist students in applying to internships of interest. Students may choose to receive credit or a stipend for their summer internships.
Each spring, the Public Interest Office holds a Government and Public Interest Day, where students learn about the work of various government agencies and legal aid organizations and explore internship and pro bono opportunities.
Diversity scholarships
Law firms continue to work toward increasing their workplace diversity; many have established diversity scholarships for law students pursuing internships which are forwarded to those first-year students who would like to receive them.
To learn more about Career Services at Vanderbilt Law, click here.
