Five Things You Should Learn During a Law School Internship

Law school (as well as the law school internship) is a multi-faceted endeavor, meant to give you the skills you will need to start out as an attorney, as well as to pass the state bar exam. If you are attending an online law school like California Desert Trial Academy College of Law, the goal is also to train to you specialize in trial law, allowing for an even more intensive education. Before you start your first year, you may have some trepidation about the rigorous schedule ahead, especially if you have heard terrifying tales about that treacherous first year of law school; however, if you are prepared to work hard, attend all your classes, do the reading, and be organized about your studying, you are on the right track and should find the environment a positive one.

The law school internship is another detail you may be worried about before even getting settled into your first year. It is an extremely valuable experience for most, and usually occurs not until at least after the summer of your first year of law school. Here are five things you should learn from your internship, which may or may not be paid:

1. How a law firm works – if you have never spent any time in a law firm, you may be exhausted after the first few days, but no matter what capacity you work in, most likely you will get a very good glimpse at how law offices function. Most successful offices work at full steam ahead all day and sometimes into the evenings too.
2. Administrative skills – chances are, you will be doing entry-level work, and this may also involve meeting with clients. If you have prior administrative experience, that could be a plus for getting you in the door for a desired internship. You may find yourself filing, as well as getting trained on the company software system for managing clients, meeting with clients, and more.
3. Where your specific interests lie – After working in a law firm, and perhaps for several summers in a row—and perhaps winter vacations too—you will get a feel for what type of specialties you enjoy and what areas of law you do not want to spend the rest of your years practicing.
4. Research skills – You may be given projects that consist of copious amounts of reading and legal writing and are extremely time-consuming. Research tasks will most likely be a center focus of your internship.
5. Communication skills – this is one of the most important aspects of working in a law firm, and no matter what capacity you work in, your communications skills should be broadened significantly as you work on projects for one or more paralegals and attorneys, attend meetings where a status is expected on each client and/or project, speak with clients, and more.

Our mission at CDTA College of Law is to educate, train, and develop extraordinary legal advocates. Your legal education will be comprised of bar-tested academic subjects, skills training, and values reinforcement. Upon completion of your four-year course of study you will be fully qualified to take and pass the California Bar examination. Call us today at (760) 342-0900 or find out more online here.