Undergraduate Law Opportunities: A Comprehensive Guide
For undergraduate students considering a future in law, exploring opportunities to gain firsthand knowledge and professional experience is invaluable. This article provides a comprehensive overview of avenues available to undergraduates, emphasizing practical experience and skill development. While law schools don't mandate prior legal employment, the experiences gained from these opportunities can offer personal advantages and clarify career goals.
Experiential Learning
Law Firms
Many law firms offer internships that provide assistance with legal research and administrative tasks. These internships also offer exposure to different practice areas. Working as a paralegal may be demanding and high-pressure, but there are few comparable ways to get paid while engaging in legal work firsthand. Paralegal work can burnish your resume and give you key insights into how legal offices differ in their culture, challenges, pace and expectations. It can also help you clarify and better articulate your goals after law school. If you can’t find a position at a firm that specializes in a legal field that appeals to you, look to the kind of day-to-day legal work that best suits your interests and lifestyle. Working in a legal office can give you firsthand experience of what it’s like to work in a law office, whether that’s in Big Law, at a boutique law firm or at a solo practice. While you might gain wide exposure at a larger firm, you might be able to take on greater responsibilities in a smaller office. Either way, look for opportunities to work with clients - like intake or taking notes on depositions - to gain practical experience assisting the people you hope to serve as a lawyer. This can give you a leg up if you aim to join a legal clinic in law school.
Government Agencies
The Department of Justice, district attorney’s offices, public defender’s offices, and other local, state, or federal agencies can provide valuable experience. From Capitol Hill to your own city hall, government offices may offer entry-level jobs with high turnover, where it is easy to find steady work for a year or two. Such work may involve multiple relevant skills, like communication, problem solving and serving others.
Corporate Legal Departments
Large corporations with in-house legal teams sometimes offer internships for pre-law students. These internships provide insight into corporate law and compliance.
Courts and Judicial Chambers
Interning with a court or a judge’s chambers can provide hands-on experience in the legal system.
Read also: Undergraduate Research at CU
Legal Aid Societies and Nonprofit Legal Organizations
Local legal aid organizations provide legal services to individuals who cannot afford representation. Legal nonprofits and public interest organizations offer internships for pre-law students to work on public policy issues. The Pre-Law Project is a program under JEP that is committed to providing all USC students interested in law careers with real legal experiences. The goal is to provide these opportunities so that students can explore the field of law before ever making the decision to apply to law school. By partnering with public interest law firms and civil rights organizations, students are able to secure law-related internships of a variety of commitment levels.
ACLU Internships
The ACLU offers year-round remote and hybrid internship opportunities. Interns engage with the issues and the people at the forefront of today’s most impactful civil liberties and civil rights fights and victories. They contribute to meaningful work in one of the ACLU departments while developing substantive skills and professional experience. The ACLU provides mentorship from ACLU employees on a range of topics through trainings and on-the-job learning. Interns receive a stipend for a full-time 10-week internship or a part-time 12-week internship.
Alternative Avenues for Skill Development
Research or Policy Analyst
Whether you work at a think tank, nonprofit, public office or for a professor, a research position can hone two critical legal skills: analytical reasoning and writing. Even better, contributing to published work will stand out on your resume or in responses to interview questions. If you didn't have a chance to write a thesis or major paper in college, a research position may help you show similar capabilities. Some schools, like Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, even ask directly about substantial written works you have produced. Also note that research work can result in a strong recommendation letter, since your supervisor will be able to vouch directly for the quality of your written work.
Teaching or Tutoring
Working as a teacher or tutor not only builds academic skills like planning and communication, it can also put you in a position of authority at a young age. Commanding a classroom may be intimidating at first, but it grants confidence and sensitivity to others’ needs. The challenges of reaching students, particularly those who are underserved, can also make for a great personal statement.
Community Work
Law is a service profession, so law schools appreciate applicants with demonstrated ability to serve others. Whether through a civic or faith-based organization, assisting vulnerable populations can help you identify the causes that resonate with your values. Such jobs tend to be exhausting and poorly compensated, which is why they make for great entry-level work. And since such organizations are often understaffed, there can be room for personal growth and taking initiative. Applicants interested in careers in social justice may particularly benefit from grassroots experience before starting law school.
Read also: A Guide to Undergraduate Research
Startup Environment
If you have a background in science or engineering, or if you’re interested in the financial or business side of law, consider a smaller firm. Joining an untested venture is the kind of risk that makes the most sense when you’re young, independent and mobile. Growing businesses often confront legal and compliance issues that show how rules and markets interact in the real world. There’s also a good chance you can get a strong recommendation letter from a supervisor who can speak compellingly about your work.
Political and Advocacy Campaigns
Political and advocacy campaigns can also provide exciting opportunities to take on substantial responsibilities, like training volunteers or coordinating events. Don’t be afraid to show your political views on your application, as long as you come across as open-minded and able to engage with others with differing perspectives. Note that electoral campaigns are often at their busiest in the summer and fall, which leaves very little time if you plan to apply by November for your best odds. So, try to get the LSAT, essays and recommendation letters out of the way ahead of time.
Maximizing Undergraduate Involvement
Involvement is a broad term that includes activities that allow you to engage with the DePaul and local Chicago communities. Many skills gained through active involvement can enhance your readiness for law school and a legal career. It’s crucial to demonstrate depth rather than breadth in your activities. Avoid simply joining numerous organizations.
The Importance of Work Experience Before Law School
Most law school applicants work for at least one year before law school. Avoid a long gap in your resume. While some aspiring lawyers still join law school straight from college, most applicants are now starting after one year or more in the workforce. A little full-time work experience can help applicants in many ways, from having more time to study for the LSAT and prepare their applications to developing the professional skills that law schools increasingly seek in incoming students. It’s better to do any work at all, even on a part-time or unpaid basis, than to have long gaps in your resume. While it's understandable that job searching may take time, any gap of longer than a few months on your resume should be explained with a resume addendum.
Pathway Programs
Pathway programs to law school are designed to help undergraduate students from a variety of backgrounds prepare for and gain admission to law school.
Read also: Comprehensive UROP Guide
Chapman and Cutler LLP Opportunities
Chapman actively works to mitigate some of the barriers to entry to the legal profession. They volunteer for and financially support organizations that help middle and high school students from underserved communities succeed, and they provide scholarships and paid internships that encourage high school students, college students, and recent graduates to pursue a legal career. Chapman offers two different summer internship programs designed for college students who want to gain hands-on, real-world experience in finance law or law firm administration. In honor of their former partner and first African-American mayor of Atlanta, the late Maynard H. Jackson Jr., Chapman and Cutler LLP offers a scholarship.
Finding Opportunities
Searching for opportunities? No matter where you’re at, we are here to help you. Search for volunteer opportunities related to your areas of interest via VolunteerMatch. A simple Google search can also be very effective in finding the right opportunity for you! Love writing? Bookmark this page and visit often!
Important Considerations
- No Requirement for Legal Internships: Law schools do not require applicants to have prior legal employment, nor do they typically favor those with legal internships. If you choose to pursue a legal internship, it should be for the personal advantages it offers, rather than the mistaken belief that it will improve your chances of admission to law school.
- Limited Availability for Undergraduates: For undergraduates, available internships are typically found at government agencies and nonprofits. Some corporate legal departments offer formal internship programs, however these are extremely limited and spots are held for current law students. Small law firms or legal clinics occasionally hire undergraduates as interns, typically favoring those with existing connections to the firm.
- Clerical Tasks: If you secure a legal internship, don’t expect to engage heavily in legal research. Undergraduate interns usually perform clerical tasks, though there are exceptions.
- Transferable Skills: Any internship will provide you with transferable skills and experiences that law schools are interested in.
- Diversity of Backgrounds: Law schools prefer to admit applicants with diverse backgrounds rather than a class of students with similar experiences. They encourage you to pursue the activities that genuinely interest you and to make the most of those experiences.
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