GP|Solo Law Student

Small Firm – Big Experience

By Dawn Richards

Maybe you’re not quite ready to give up your entire summer. Maybe you’re enrolled in a few summer classes to get those extra credits for early graduation. Whatever your situation, there is no substitute for the experience you will gain in working for a small firm. By small, I don’t mean thirty to fifty attorneys, but, rather, less than ten. In particular, I mean a firm where one attorney is on maternity leave and the remaining four attorneys are covering her workload. Or, a firm where 2 or 3 members are tied up with public defender work, preventing them from carrying a private caseload.

There isn’t much money in this type of experience for law students. In fact, if you’re looking for money you’re probably not going to get the opportunity. But many attorneys feel the need to mentor young, aspiring attorneys and law students. Their desire to educate is your windfall. Offering your services to a small firm will get your foot in the door, give you an opportunity to be exposed to almost any type of law (and usually more than one) and, in the end, you’ll have a great reference for future employment opportunities.

Don’t get lost in a big firm where your filing and document review skills get taken abused. Offer your voluntary assistance to a small firm and find yourself in the middle of a divorce one week and a tax controversy the next. Whether upon graduation you desire to open your own firm, work for a small firm, or look to the larger employers, the small firm is the best setting to get exposed to diversity in the law. The experience will lead to more decisiveness about the areas of law you want to practice. One of the first questions a potential employer asks in the first interview is “What areas of the law are you interested in?” After working or volunteering for a small firm, you will be prepared with an answer, appear confident and have some solid rationale for your choices.

In offering free services you may find yourself completing schedules, summarizing documents, researching or archiving documents in the courthouse basement, but these minor tasks are a small price to pay for the exposure you’ll gain. A tour around the local courthouse with introductions to the prothonotary, recorder of deeds and the county clerk is priceless. Smalls firms don’t have the resources to hire associates and someone has to do the grunt work. Easing the burden of an overworked partner gives him some relief and gives you some experience. If for no other reason than to get a good reference, your time can be very valuable to someone in need.

Dawn Richards is a 3rd year law student at Temple University in Philadelphia. She plans to practice Health Law in PA upon graduation.

Copyright 2008