Cold-emailing for internships as an undergrad Forum

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effervescence18

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Cold-emailing for internships as an undergrad

Post by effervescence18 » Sun Nov 05, 2017 10:31 pm

I'm a sophomore planning to apply to law school in a few years. I've been a Legal Intern at a small law firm for the past few months and I really enjoy my work. I would like to gain insight into some other practice areas, so I've been preparing to apply for summer internships at other law firms.

I would be targeting small/medium sized firms, many of which don't have formal programs for law students, in hopes that these firms will be more willing to offer an internship to an undergrad.

My current plan is to simply email firms at their general info@, careers@, or recruiting@ email, asking if there are any internship opportunities for undergrads. Is this method unlikely to work well? Any advice?
Last edited by effervescence18 on Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Broncsfan

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Re: Cold-emailing for internships as an undergrad

Post by Broncsfan » Sun Nov 05, 2017 10:35 pm

If you want to see how you would like criminal law, internships with public defenders offices are a blast as an undergrad. You most likely will help out the investigators.

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UVA2B

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Re: Cold-emailing for internships as an undergrad

Post by UVA2B » Sun Nov 05, 2017 10:36 pm

Only one way to find out...

Seriously though, you'll have varied success more than likely. Some won't want to take on an unpaid intern, while others might. You should focus on the type of law that interests you and try to find firms that practice in that area so you can experience an area of law that could potentially interest you long-term.

This profession is very much about networking. So start networking and see where you can find yourself.

LawSchoolAlum

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Re: Cold-emailing for internships as an undergrad

Post by LawSchoolAlum » Sun Nov 19, 2017 1:40 pm

I'd go with paper letters. It's a lot harder to just discard a paper letter than delete an email. And if the letter sits on someone's desk, you're more likely to get a response. In law school I mass mailed a bunch of judges and got a federal court externship that way.

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