So I've made up my mind and will, later this year, be applying to LLM programs starting in the fall of 2010. The problem is, I'm not entirely sure what to do until then. I'm currently clerking for a judge in the US, but the clerkship ends in a few months and (obviously) the market for lawyers is horrible. Are there any particular jobs/internships in or related to competition law that I could do in the meanwhile? I'd prefer to use this recession as a time to gather relevant experience, rather than doing temp work or something of that nature.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

I hope this helps you:

http://info.mlex.com/media/616/mlex_competition_law_intern_nov_2008.pdf

http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/internprofiles.html

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/internships.htm

I must say that Im currently doing an internship at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria. Just began last May 4 and it will last until September 4, 2009. Afterwards Im going to UCL to do my LLM. Just like you,,,I also wanted to spend my time in something positive before my LLM studies so I decided to apply and got the opportunity to be there. Im not sure if the UN is that much related to the field you like but it might be worth giving it a try.

Also go through the other links I posted and if you have any further questions just ask!

Good luck in whatever you decide! :)

PUCCA,

Thanks for the links. I will check them out.

I'm actually more interested in comaprative law (e.g. EU) than international law (e.g. UN). But I'm also trying to keep my options open at this point, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to consider something with the UN.

Thanks again!

Yes i just wanted to to try to help you and keep your options open :)

Good luck!!

I don't know what information is on the links that Pucca gave you, but here are some more. The European institutions offer internships, usually referred to as stages. Links for:-
http://ec.europa.eu/stages/index_en.htm (Commission)
http://curia.europa.eu/en/instit/presentationfr/index_emplois_stag.htm (ECJ)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=147&language=EN (EP)
I suspect all fiercely competitive. Even if not bang on point for competition law, the experience of working in an EU institution is very valuable.
Also the Euractiv website advertises a lot of jobs including internships - though some of those do look a little like office junior, you might get lucky.

I don't know if the national authorities have internships as well - may be worth asking?

Any ideas for a North American?