Applying for Clerkships
Greetings 2Ls. I've received a few emails about applying for clerkships, and I figured this subject would make a good Nuts & Boalts thread as we move through the semester. Expect to see the subject reprised. To start, I'll share my thoughts on a few preliminary issues in searching for a clerkship.
1. Who are my recommenders?
You need two to three recommenders to apply for a clerkship (some judges only want two, in reality, you need three for the judges who want the third). Some will want a recommendation from your summer employment to gague your work product (e.g., Matz, C.D.Cal.), but the default is that these are faculty recommenders.
So what makes a good recommender? The ideal recommender will write you a glowing letter. More importantly, the ideal recommender will go to bat for you and call judges they know (or have the courage to cold call some judges to put in a good word). The hardest part of the clerkship process is getting your resume from the pile of 800 applicants into the pile of 10-15 people being interviewed. Think about it: the first cut has an almost 1% selectivity rate, the second round's rate is about 25-50%. Hopefully, your faculty recommenders know some judges (class mates, friends, spoke on a panel together, clerked together, anything).
Putting aside this important consideration, you want faculty recommenders that know you and like you (so that they're willing to put their credibility on the line, see above). It's getting a little late in the game for the 2Ls, but things you can do: work as a research assistant, go to office hours and ask questions, or find some other way to work closely with faculty. Doing well in a professor's class is good, but every faculty member hands out a handful of HHs and a bunch of Hs every year. You want to stand out more than that.
Deadline for answering this question: you need to discuss recommendations by the end of the semester. That is, you should have picked, approached, and agreed with 3 faculty members by May.
2. What classes should I be taking?
A federal judge needs clerks who can help manage their docket. Ideally, your course work should at least partially reflect the federal docket. Musts: Evidence, Civil Procedure II, Federal Courts (3L year). These are courses judges asked me about.
Other courts will have additional specialized requirements. Obviously, bankruptcy is helpful to work as a clerk in a bankruptcy court. Some districts will require (or practically require) familiarity with complex federal laws. For example, you'll need at least Intro to IP, and likely Patent Law, to clerk in Delaware (federal court; Corporations, etc. for state court). IP is also valuable for all the major cities (C.D.Cal., S.D.N.Y., N.D.Cal., etc.). Securities dominates the docket in a number of big cities too, especially S.D.N.Y. I don't know, but I imagine Immigration is a must for clerking in S.D.Cal. If you want to clerk for the D.C. Circuit, or D.D.C., you should take Administrative Law.
These are off the top of my head, but there are more. Of course, these tie into the next question -
Deadline for answering this decision: ongoing.
3. Where should I apply for clerkships?
This is a life choice. But it helps to know upfront where you want to clerk in case you want to tailor your work appropriately. It also affects your odds. Clerkships in Hawaii, LA, SF, NY, etc. are much more popular than clerkships in Fargo, Reno, Wheeling, and Fairbanks, and the chances of successfully getting a clerkship obviously increase as demand goes down.
Deadline for answering this question: applications are due in August, but you should be thinking about this throughout.
Ok, "The Berlin Airlift" is on. I will post again at some later point on the next question,
4. What type of clerkship should I do?
2Ls (and 1Ls), best of luck, and please let me know if this is helpful. If you have questions on the process, the 3Ls at N&B are happy to help.
1. Who are my recommenders?
You need two to three recommenders to apply for a clerkship (some judges only want two, in reality, you need three for the judges who want the third). Some will want a recommendation from your summer employment to gague your work product (e.g., Matz, C.D.Cal.), but the default is that these are faculty recommenders.
So what makes a good recommender? The ideal recommender will write you a glowing letter. More importantly, the ideal recommender will go to bat for you and call judges they know (or have the courage to cold call some judges to put in a good word). The hardest part of the clerkship process is getting your resume from the pile of 800 applicants into the pile of 10-15 people being interviewed. Think about it: the first cut has an almost 1% selectivity rate, the second round's rate is about 25-50%. Hopefully, your faculty recommenders know some judges (class mates, friends, spoke on a panel together, clerked together, anything).
Putting aside this important consideration, you want faculty recommenders that know you and like you (so that they're willing to put their credibility on the line, see above). It's getting a little late in the game for the 2Ls, but things you can do: work as a research assistant, go to office hours and ask questions, or find some other way to work closely with faculty. Doing well in a professor's class is good, but every faculty member hands out a handful of HHs and a bunch of Hs every year. You want to stand out more than that.
Deadline for answering this question: you need to discuss recommendations by the end of the semester. That is, you should have picked, approached, and agreed with 3 faculty members by May.
2. What classes should I be taking?
A federal judge needs clerks who can help manage their docket. Ideally, your course work should at least partially reflect the federal docket. Musts: Evidence, Civil Procedure II, Federal Courts (3L year). These are courses judges asked me about.
Other courts will have additional specialized requirements. Obviously, bankruptcy is helpful to work as a clerk in a bankruptcy court. Some districts will require (or practically require) familiarity with complex federal laws. For example, you'll need at least Intro to IP, and likely Patent Law, to clerk in Delaware (federal court; Corporations, etc. for state court). IP is also valuable for all the major cities (C.D.Cal., S.D.N.Y., N.D.Cal., etc.). Securities dominates the docket in a number of big cities too, especially S.D.N.Y. I don't know, but I imagine Immigration is a must for clerking in S.D.Cal. If you want to clerk for the D.C. Circuit, or D.D.C., you should take Administrative Law.
These are off the top of my head, but there are more. Of course, these tie into the next question -
Deadline for answering this decision: ongoing.
3. Where should I apply for clerkships?
This is a life choice. But it helps to know upfront where you want to clerk in case you want to tailor your work appropriately. It also affects your odds. Clerkships in Hawaii, LA, SF, NY, etc. are much more popular than clerkships in Fargo, Reno, Wheeling, and Fairbanks, and the chances of successfully getting a clerkship obviously increase as demand goes down.
Deadline for answering this question: applications are due in August, but you should be thinking about this throughout.
Ok, "The Berlin Airlift" is on. I will post again at some later point on the next question,
4. What type of clerkship should I do?
2Ls (and 1Ls), best of luck, and please let me know if this is helpful. If you have questions on the process, the 3Ls at N&B are happy to help.
Labels: Kevin Smith
posted by Tom Fletcher at 7:35 PM
23 Comments:
Happy New Year!
Here's things I figured out this year that I wish someone had just told me:
1. Don't freak out if you haven't taken all the classes Tom suggests. They are valid suggestions, but there's no perfect collecion of classes that will score you a clerkship.
2. Despite (1), take Administrative Law if you plan to apply to the DC Circuit. (I didn't want to apply to the DC Circuit, but it frightened me that it seemed everyone else knew this "rule.")
3. Personalize the cover letter to each judge--its a drag, but the ones I didn't tailor yielded nothing. The ones I tailored called me for interviews.
4. You don't have to clerk right after graduation. More and more people are waiting a year or two after graduation to clerk. Many judges appreciate a clerk with some experience and you make a significantly higher government salary.
5. Keep (4) in mind if you are not successful scoring a clerkship this fall. Try again.
6. Boalt profs are generally willing to write recommendations. If you don't know profs well, in addition to Tom's suggestions, you can make an appointment to chat with one of your professors before the end of the semester--they can get to know you and your strengths/goals/etc. that way.
7. A third recommendation from an employer works--just make sure its glowing.
One more piece of advice. Working as an RA for a professor is a GREAT way to get a good rec letter. Also, a prof you have RA'd for will be more likely to be willing to call your judges for you.
Some follow up questions:
1) Is it bad to get a letter of recommendation from a) a clinical professor, b) a well-regarded but visiting professor, or c) a visiting instructor who is also a well-respected practicing attorney?
2) How chatty should cover letters be? Is it OK to discuss your reasons for wanting to be in a particular location that you have no major geographic ties to?
re: Cover letters.
Views differ. My approach, which I now regret, was to take the CDO's strong advice and write extremely brief, almost cursory, letters. My results were disappointing. If I had it to do over, I would take Puneet's advice (see above) to heart. It is certainly, in my view, appropriate to explain a geographical preference. NB: I'm assuming you're asking about detail, tailoring, and length, not about informality, which is obviously inappropriate.
I think this is illustrative of a more general point, which is that by this point in your life you have a sense of how to assemble successful job/school applications. Clerkships are hard to get, but they are not fundamentally different from other jobs. Do what makes sense to you. Don't unreservedly take advice from me, Tom, Puneet, or Terry Galligan.
Also: bear this reality in mind. The number of available clerkships is steadily declining, for two reasons. First, a greater number of judges (especially district court judges) are employing at least one permanent clerk. Second, more judges have begun to hire people who already have a couple of years of experience.
By all means, apply. Put together the best possible applications. N&B 3Ls are only some of the people more than happy to help you however we can. But don't feel that a clerkship straight out of law school is the only way to go. I got over my own heartbreak about four or five days ago.
Should people with "mixed grades" even bother applying for a clerkship that isn't in South Dakota? Has anyone heard of someone with say, 60 - 70% H's getting a clerkship in CA or NY?
What about us with 30% H/HHs... should we even bother applying in South Dakota?
I'll agree with Isaac on the steady decline in available spots. Puneet mentioned the fact you can apply with a few years of experience and be richer for doing so. They're both right on.
Re: cover letters. I don't have any good insight. I'll defer to Isaac and Puneet.
Re: grades. It depends more on rank than individual grades (most judges can't make heads or tails of Hs and Ps). According to the CDO, Boalt students from the middle of the class on up can get clerkships somewhere. Some judges will list a cutoff on their job posting, claiming they only want the top quarter, top 20%, top 10%. One judge in Virginia only wants the top 5%. You'll want to poke around and see what they're looking for. But think of grades as a cutoff, with your recommendations and experience being what secures the job. Re: rank, Dean Ortiz will tell you your rank either now or in the coming months (I don't remember when it happened). You can use the school's academic rules to help establish a guess though. Order of the Coif has historically gone to those with a GPA between 3.4-3.6 and above. So there's your average 10% line. (GPA being the weighted average of your units and the grades you got in them; 2 for a P, 3 for an H, and 5 for an HH).
No offense Tom, but any sentence that starts with "According to CDO" is not likely to yield accurate or reliable advice.
with apologies that this question is not particularly relevant to clerkships, i was wondering whether or not going to these 1L cocktail parties hosted by firms is relevant at all to fall ocip. will they help us get a job when we apply in the fall or are they more for the firm's benefit?
totally stupid question - do you have to take (or is it in any case better if you take) the bar of the place where you clerk, even if it's federal court?
For those of us who are 3L's now, but might clerk down the road, does anyone know if we will be told our final class rank?
Will class rank still be relevant if one applies for a clerkship a year or two out of school?
6:31 #1 - probably only helpful in getting a job if you develop a relationship with an attorney. Helpful for ocip in figuring out what the people at a particular firm are like. Helpful to the firms because now you are aware of them. Best aspect of cocktail party = free food and free starbucks cards.
6:31 #2 - I don't think you have to be admitted to the local bar to be a clerk.
FYI, while many judges list high cut-offs for class rank, it may not apply. Even if the judge is serious about it, we go to Boalt folks. Many of these judges understand top half at Boalt is a pretty good accomplishment.
Some thoughts from a 3L clerking for an appellate judge east of the Mississippi next year:
1) Start working on a judge list EARLY. There are nasty judges out there that you don't want to work for. Do your homework and screen. Helpful resources for screening include 3Ls with judge lists, professors, friends from other schools, and friends who have already graduated and are clerking.
2) Writing samples take a lot of time to get right. Spend some time this semester, if Spring of 2L year, getting something together, or else start right after finals. Ask a prof which section of your paper to use. Get advice about a memo/brief or term paper. General rule: appellate judges like papers, district judges like briefs/memos. If you have nothing right now, work this summer to get something that you can use. Some judges want two writing samples, so a spare can be valuable.
3) Geography. If you're not in the top 5% of your class, the likelihood of getting a clerkship in SF, DC, or NY is incredibly slim. Even lots of folks in the top 5% have a hard time getting those. I can think of someone in the third year class who got more than 10 interviews, with none of them in these cities. Don't be a geography snob--it's only a year. Besides, you're going to be working hard enough that your ability to enjoy the nightlife anywhere is limited. More positively, consider this a chance to try somewhere new for a limited time.
4) Bar. Judges don't require it.
5) Rank. It still matters when you are a bit out of school, though perhaps not as much as when applying in school.
6) Connections. If you know ANYONE who knows a judge, suck up to them now. Family friends, family of friends, all of these are valid sources of connections, which is what will get you a job.
7) Recs. You should ask a professor, without sounding like an entitled brat, if they can write you a positive rec. They should be able to tell you if this is possible. If the answer is no, feel grateful you learned this before sending out a negative letter. Write thank you notes when you are finished with the process. it's the right thing to do.
Some judges expect that you will take the bar before you start your clerkship. Again, it depends on the judge.
It's beginning to sound like unless you're 1) in the top 5% of the class or 2) have a connection, your chances of obtaining a federal clerkship are slim to none.
1:00: I think your biggest problem in getting a clerkship will be your lack of reading comprehension.
3:13 PM, perhaps I'm overly pessimistic, but all the info I've gotten comports with 1:00PM's views. Look at what's been written in this thread:
"The hardest part of the clerkship process is getting your resume from the pile of 800 applicants into the pile of 10-15 people being interviewed. Think about it: the first cut has an almost 1% selectivity rate, the second round's rate is about 25-50%. Hopefully, your faculty recommenders know some judges (class mates, friends, spoke on a panel together, clerked together, anything)."
"The number of available clerkships is steadily declining, for two reasons...."
"But think of grades as a cutoff, with your recommendations and experience being what secures the job..."
"If you're not in the top 5% of your class, the likelihood of getting a clerkship in SF, DC, or NY is incredibly slim. Even lots of folks in the top 5% have a hard time getting those."
"Connections. If you know ANYONE who knows a judge, suck up to them now. Family friends, family of friends, all of these are valid sources of connections, which is what will get you a job."
The message should be to persevere, not to despair.
Without connections or (understatement alert) top 5% grades, and with decent recommendations and ok job experience, I got 2 interviews and a job. Granted, it could have easily not worked out at all. But I played my numbers, sent out 130 apps, and got lucky.
Let's say I won't be in an extremely competitive market... or anywhere near a coastline. But I knew that was the game and it worked out. So stop whining and decide whether you're too afraid of failure to even begin.
Does it look bad to have a LOR from a professor whose class you received an H in (as opposed to an HH, obviously), assuming you have other connections to the professor (e.g. was a RA for her) and the professor is willing to write you a great recommendation?
Also, if I'm taking a seminar with a professor this semester who I am hoping will eventually be a recommender, is it best to wait until after I receive my grade from them or should I start talking with them about the clerkship application process now?
despair 2ls, despair! for most 3ls participating in the clerkship rat race the process is nerve-wracking and unsuccessful... not to mention VERY expensive!
anyway, for those of you who will ignore this warning my take on the LOR is that it matters little who it is from (prof, attorney, clinical director) or what grade you did or did not get with them. it matters that the recommender know you well and be able to prove this with glowing and lengthly prose in the letter.
good luck (it is necessary).
Regarding the expense and flying, how many interviews did most people go on, what period were you flying? Anyone got total bills here? (I need to figure out how much to save from summer employment).
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