Internships
The Office of Legislative Counsel hires Graduate Student Assistants to work as summer interns in the Legal Division and, on occasion, in other departments in the office.
In the Legal Division, six to eight law students are typically selected to serve internships each summer - ordinarily in the summer preceding their last year of law school. Each intern is assigned a mentor, and is given the opportunity to draft legislation, work on legal opinions, attend committee hearings and floor sessions of the Legislature, and otherwise be provided an exposure to the legal work of the office and the legislative environment. Because we are a state civil service agency, we can make offers of employment for our attorney classifications only pursuant to the open civil service examination we conduct each fall; however, service as an intern does provide an applicant with an understanding of the position that is useful in that examination process.
The application process for our intern positions in the Legal Division begins with our annual request that the career services offices of law schools throughout California collect a resume and cover letter from each interested student, to be forwarded to OLC by a specific date in September (resumes may also be sent directly by the applicant to the OLC Human Resources Office at 925 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95814). Interviews are conducted in October with selected applicants at central locations in Sacramento, San Francisco, and either Los Angeles or San Diego, and we make offers for intern positions within a couple of weeks thereafter.
Internship Compensation
The salary an intern may earn as a Graduate Student Assistant depends upon the number of semester units the student has successfully completed. Generally the student is initially hired at Range A, and is moved to Range B or C, as applicable, when evidence (copy of college transcript) of completed coursework is provided to the Human Resources Office. Graduate Student Assistants are paid once a month, based on the number of hours worked during the preceding month. Salary earned at initial hire is the first amount shown. Increases are earned at 5-percent increments based on time-in-grade and successful performance. The salaries and criteria for those ranges are:
- Range C: $11.62 - $12.65
To qualify for Range C, the student ordinarily must provide evidence of successful completion of two academic years of graduate work (48 semester units) or the equivalent of two academic years (56 semester units) in a recognized law school.
- Range B: $11.20 - $12.09
To qualify for Range B, the student must provide evidence of the successful completion of one year of graduate work (24 semester units) or one academic year (28 semester units) in a recognized law school.
- Range A: $10.38 - $11.20
To qualify for Range A, the student must provide evidence of having been accepted for enrollment, or of acceptability for enrollment, in a college or university as a graduate student.
Note: Salaries quoted are effective as of 11/01/09