I have a few questions for all of you lawyer folks on the boards.
I'm trying to get a job at one of the local law offices (some kind of low-level position so that I can gather experience, ultimately I plan to go to law school) and I've only ever had jobs at restaurants before now so I don't really know what said offices would be looking for in an applicant. What kind of things do they want to see on a resume? What kind of questions will they ask an applicant? What positions are available that don't require a high school diploma (I'm still under 18 and haven't graduated so this will be my first real job)? What low-level positions would be best for someone wanting to get experience with the legal system with a goal of becoming a lawyer? Anything else I should know/ask?
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Hmmm...this one is really tough. The problem is that, for the most part, there is a steep learning curve for law firm support positions. It costs money to train someone to do the work and once they invest the money in that training, they don't want that person to leave. As a teen, you are part of a transitory labor pool and the cost of training you may not be something they can recoup and therefore may not be something they are interested in doing. Plus, you probably have limited availability due to school commitments and those pesky child labor laws. Therefore, your best bet is any backdoor connections you may have (e.g., parents, family friends, etc). A law firm employing you at your age is more a benefit to you than it is a benefit to them, and that makes negotiating such a job difficult without some sort of inside track.
Cynical, yes, but mostly true.
That being said, it can't hurt to try. The most important thing you can do to convey that you would be good at working at a law firm is to have good attention to detail. Your cover letter and resume must be 100% perfect - no grammar or punctuation mistakes, no spelling errors, no incorrect margins. The content of the resume will be difficult at your level, but good grades, writing based achievements, and anything that shows good organizational and analytical skills would be a plus.
As for positions, you'd probably be best served looking at entry level word processing, filing, or the mailroom. They aren't glamorous jobs, but if you can be relied upon and do good work, you will get noticed. Legal secretaries are somewhat specialized and it's typically not an entry level job that allows for high turnover.
Lawyers rely upon support staff to do those tasks which they can handle and which don't make sense for them to perform themselves. They ususally do things like the first drafts of non-legal correspondence, such as cover letters. If you can get your foot in the door, the ability to produce work that is absolutely free of grammar and spelling mistakes will make you a valuable asset. Once lawyers realize the extent to which they can rely on your work, they will give you more to do and more complex tasks.
The most frequent tasks I give to support staff are incorporating my hand mark-ups into a document on the system, drafting cover letters, and creating closing binders for my transactions. The more they understand the substance of each item, the better they can do their job. The more I can rely on them to get the little details correct (e.g., spelling and punctuation) the more I can get comfortable with relying on them and giving them more complex assignments and the more they learn.
The truth is, there's not much you can learn about the law from working at a law firm as a non-lawyer unless you can rise to the level of being a paralegal. Being a paralegal requires that you either have appropriate education or have been a very good legal secretary for a number of years. What you really want to learn is the basics of office culture, proper behavior, and how to operate in that environment. Therefore any office job is basically the equivalent at your level for preparing you to be a lawyer.
I hope that helps. Keep in mind that I work at a very large law firm and practice transactional law (i.e., I do not go to court and I never will go to court). The other attorneys on these boards who work in smaller practice or for the government will probably have a different perspective.
I'd be looking to get hired by a smaller firm (that's all there is in this neck of the woods) so maybe things would be different there. Thanks for your response.