08 · Career & Recruiting

Summer Internships

Your summer job is where law school starts turning into a career. The hard part is that the three big paths run on completely different clocks. Biglaw recruits painfully early, courts and agencies have their own fixed deadlines, and public interest hiring is mostly rolling. This guide is here to help you pick a lane, hit the deadlines, and not get left behind because nobody told you when to apply.

Summer is where the abstract stuff you are learning becomes a real resume and real references. The catch is timing. The three main paths do not share a calendar. Biglaw moves first and fast, government has hard cutoffs in the early fall, and public interest quietly fills its spots while you wait. If you remember one thing from this page, make it this: do not assume every job runs on your school's schedule.

The three paths at a glance

Private

Biglaw and firms

Paid summer associate jobs at large firms. The money is the draw, and the timeline is brutal. Applications now open in the fall, and the process is mostly direct, not on-campus interviews.

Public

Courts and government

Judicial internships and agency work like the Department of Justice. Often unpaid or modestly paid, but they teach you more about how law actually works than almost anything else, and they build references.

Mission

Public interest

Legal aid, nonprofits, and advocacy groups. Hiring is mostly rolling, the work is hands-on, and the main challenge is usually funding, which is where summer grants come in.

How the three timelines compare

Path	When to apply	How you apply	Pay
Biglaw (2L summer)	Fall of 1L through early spring; some portals open as early as late September	Mostly direct applications now; some on-campus interviews	Paid, and paid well
Biglaw (1L summer)	Applications generally open December 1; decisions in February and March	Direct applications and diversity programs	Paid
Judicial internship	Federal judges often look starting December and January; state judges run later, into spring	Apply directly to chambers, usually by mail or email	Usually unpaid; use a school grant
Government (e.g. DOJ SLIP)	Early, with the main DOJ deadline in early September	Online application through the agency	SLIP is paid; many agency roles are volunteer
Public interest	Rolling, often October through spring; career fairs in the winter	Direct applications and public interest job fairs	Often unpaid; funded by grants

The one rule that saves people

The biggest mistake students make is assuming every job runs on their school's calendar. It does not. Make a single list of every deadline that matters to you, sort it by date, and work backward from the earliest one. The students who get good jobs are usually the ones who started early, not the ones with the best grades. There is a tracker built into the last tab of this page so you can do exactly that.

Get your materials ready before you apply anywhere

Almost every application asks for the same things. Build them once, polish them, and keep them ready so a deadline never catches you off guard.

A clean, one-page resume. The resume guide covers the format firms and judges expect.
A cover letter you can tailor quickly to each employer. The cover letter guide walks through the structure.
A writing sample, usually five to ten pages. A legal memo or brief from your legal writing class works well, and you can trim a longer piece down.
Your law school transcript, official or unofficial depending on what they ask for.
A short reference list of professors or employers who would speak well of you. Ask them before you list them.