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February 26, 2005

2L Summer Job Update

Thanks to everyone who threw in their two or twenty cents in response to my question about the 2L summer job. You all gave me a lot to think about and I was able to make the decision feeling confident I'd considered nearly all angles. The decision? I took the job with the PD office where I worked last summer. Although in an ideal world I would be able to get experience with a different PD's office this summer, I think this was the right choice for several reasons:
  1. I know the office and the people and they know me so I can hit the ground running and get more experience and responsibility, hopefully making it into court representing misdemeanor defendents on my own all the sooner.
  2. It's getting a bit late to be looking for summer jobs around here and the GW summer stipend deadline is approaching, so it seemed better to take a job where I knew I'd get good experience rather than holding out for a hypothetical job I might not even get and which might not give me the same level of experience even if I did get it.
  3. While I almost certainly could have found another good PD job somewhere for the summer, I live with my girlfriend and my dog and I'd really rather not leave them for the summer, not to mention the added expense and hassle of doing so.
  4. I'm currently in a civil law clinic and plan to take at least one crimlaw clinic next fall, plus I've been working for a civil law nonprofit for the past six months, so I'll end up with lots of diverse experience, despite working in the same office for two summers.
  5. The next several weeks are going to be busy enough; it will be nice to be relieved of the worry of whether I'm going to have a good job this summer.
There are probably other things I'm forgetting, but that's the gist of it. The decision was complicated a bit by a really great interview with excellent people at the crimlaw policy nonprofit, as well as by a callback from another crimlaw policy place with which I also interviewed a couple of weeks ago. In the end, I realized that, while I do hope someday to work on the policy aspect of criminal justice, right now I feel compelled to work directly with people and do what I can on that level. Again, I thank everyone for helping me consider the options here, which special thanks to Blonde Justice and Arbitrary and Capricious who generously shared their first-hand perspectives. I'll definitely keep you posted on whether this turns out to be the right decision...

Posted February 26, 2005 02:32 PM | 2L law school


Woo Hoo! I won! How much do I win?

Nah, just kidding, I'm just glad to see you found a good decision that you're happy with. I'm sure you'll have another great summer.

Posted by: blonde justice at February 26, 2005 10:10 PM

You should've mentioned the dog from the start; not leaving your dog is always a valid reason for staying! Have a productive summer, and give us thinly-veiled reports from the courtroom.

Posted by: Skelly at February 27, 2005 12:24 AM

Yeah, I agree with Skelly. The dog and the girlfriend are important things to consider. Summer subletting is such a hassle anyway. Good luck with the summer experience, i'm sure it will go a long way to making you more attractive to future PD employers, whether it is this office or another. Make sure you take a clinic!

Posted by: Three Generations at February 27, 2005 11:31 AM

It looks like you thought about it long and hard, and it looks like it's definitely the right decision for you. I'm sure you'll have a great summer.

Posted by: monica at March 1, 2005 01:48 PM

I bet you'll have no regrets. Congrats on your decision!

Posted by: womanofthelaw at March 2, 2005 09:03 PM

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