pls help!

[justsurviving]

Hi everyone!!!

I was wondering if someone could give me some insights on this. I am currently going to be spending my first-year summer at a legal aid clinic in the criminal law division. I have a small interest in criminal law and wanted to explore it to see if I'd be interested in it. However, I also don't know this for sure. I think I may be interested in wills and estates AND labour as well?! But again not sure lol.

I was wondering if someone could give me their insights on how firms will look at this in the 2L recruit? Am i completely out of the game for all the "business law, labour and litigations firms" because I spent my summer doing criminal law work? Anything would be much appreciated - thank you: )

- a very nervous 1L.

[piranesi]

You won't be! If anything, I think it will be a plus. I know people who have had similar summer jobs and gone on to work in similar settings. (disclaimer -- I am not one of those people, so hopefully others who know more can chime in -- but I think that this is something to celebrate, not stress about. Congrats!)

[chaboywb]

What you do in your 1L summer has little to no bearing on recruit success, except that an interesting 1L summer position may give you good talking points for interviews. I would say that working in a legal aid clinic qualifies as interesting and will give you experiences that you can draw from to highlight your skillset (being dependable, meeting deadlines, working with various personalities, etc.). Be happy and try to enjoy the work.

[FlyingFish]

I did crim all through law school. Now I work at a firm that does business law, real estate and wills. Won’t really matter. 

[Jaggers]

Criminal law is litigation. The firms will love it.

[ZineZ]

35 minutes ago, Jaggers said:

Criminal law is litigation. The firms will love it.

And it's substantive legal experience in 1L summer. It's not necessarily needed to succeed, but it certainly won't hurt OP's chances. 

[Phaedrus]

16 hours ago, ZineZ said:

And it's substantive legal experience in 1L summer. It's not necessarily needed to succeed, but it certainly won't hurt OP's chances. 

And it exposes you to dealing with difficult clients and difficult opposing counsel. Don't underestimate the value of that experience.