Fifteen Questions
- What’s the over/under on Dean Edley’s remaining time at Boalt? What is the relationship between that number and Obama's vote percentage in the New Hampshire primary?
- Is it wise for
- Two weeks into the semester, which classes are the biggest hits and the biggest disappointments?
- Can we fast-forward through the women’s draw of the US Open? Between the early-round blow-outs, Sharapova’s shrieking like she’s giving birth every time she hits a forehand, and their unidimensional matches, why take up valuable TV time with the women’s matches when we could be watching Boys 16’s qualifying?
- Who will cause more grief for the tree-sitters this Saturday:
- Is there a chance the University could actually lose this stadium renovation trial in September? And what does the plaintiffs’ case represent more of: a) the NIMBYism of wealthy white homeowners b) fringe anti-modern environmentalism c) a mayoral shakedown for money?
- Will there be any clerkships left by the time all the alums are done being hired?
- By the way, why does Boalt do so poorly in clerkship placement anyway?
- What major renovation is left to do, and what’s the best improvement so far?
- Why does the Registrar’s office get so much grief? They’ve been nothing but nice and helpful to me for three years running now.
- Is MoFo ever going to schedule my callback interview? The OCIP interviewer called in September to congratulate me and promised the recruiter would get in touch soon to schedule something. That was in September of 2006. I still haven’t heard anything.
- Which firm promises to have the most stringent and ridiculous hiring requirements? Keker, Munger, Irell, Quinn, Gibson, Simpson, Cravath, or Williams & Connolly?
- Which firm promises to have the best schwag, chum, or freebies?
- Has Hillary wrapped this thing up?
- How much joy can one take from the GOP scandals without becoming a bad person?
Labels: DE, Law School, Legal Culture, Rabid Conservatives
posted by Earl Warren at 2:48 PM
20 Comments:
8 - how about a % of student body or % of students applying for clerkship stats. That the Harvard Law factory pushing out 600 grads a year has more clerks than any other school doesn't mean a thing when compared with other schools' lesser grad numbers.
Boalt placing only 13, though, is trifling.
As far as renovations, the downstairs bathrooms by the main lecture halls are sooo much nicer. But the rolling chairs in the lecture halls are nice, and the rooms in general look a lot better, so it is a tough call.
As for firms w/toughest requirements, I sure hope it's not W&C, because I interviewed with them earlier and the guy seemed really nice.
I thought it was spraypaint as well, but when I spit on it and rubbed it with my shoe it went away - it might just be chalk after all.
That being said, who do "UC BERKELEY'S #1 LAW FRAT" really hope to attract by that kind of chalking?
I think pre-law associations are worse than worthless.
Boalt places low in the percentage of people who clerk too. I think it's just that none of the faculty seem to encourage it at all.
The downstairs bathrooms are nice, although I must say I'm starting to get a complex about the paper towel dispenser evidently not recognizing me and therefore not providing paper towels.
the registrar is supremely unhelpful. maybe you've just never tried to do something out of the ordinary? i had a question this week, and the answer i got, i kid you not, was "you could ask the new student services person. but she's new so she won't know."
I can think of a million reasons why Boalt students have a hard time obtaining clerkships.
1. Little to no faculty or school support. Goodwin Liu, the alleged faculty clerkship coordinator, does practically nothing. Same with the career office. Other schools introduce their students to judges at events and call up judges to tell them about their students.
2. Boalt's clerkship application process is poorly run. I've heard countless tales of the career office losing recommendation letters, not getting them processed in time (admittedly in part because faculty won't submit them in time), and so on.
3. The career office doesn't have anyone who specializes in clerkship applications, and gives remarkably inaccurate and unsound advice.
4. Boalt provides class rank for clerkships, whereas many other top schools do not (e.g., Harvard, Georgetown, Northwestern). This allows judges to screen Boalt applications for rank.
3:50, if you'd visited the site, you'd have seen the % of student body statistics readily available for you.
LFA, right you are. That's a much better stat and paints Boalt in a somewhat better light (really, what's the difference between Columbia's 5.8% and Boalt's 4.9%, an extra 3 clerks?).
However, I'd still like to see, and I'm not sure if this is even available, stats on number of clerks / number of students submitting clerkship apps. That would give a much better idea of how successful applicants from different schools are.
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EW - ouch @ the Tennessee jab.
We Tennesseans do generally wear shoes and shirts to sporting events. They might come off later, though, after a few rounds of post-victory Jack Daniels.
If my shirt comes off at the end of it all, the tree sitters are sure to be aggravated. ;-P
Maybe Ksusha would be so kind as to tell us a) where the Tennessee women will be after the game and b) what magic words a California boy might be able to say to get them interested...at least in a second drink.
The Tennessee are likely to be found in any of the following locations:
1) whereever the Tennessee football players are
2) at the closest watering hole
3) glued to the TV, if there's another SEC football game still on after ours
The "magic words" are any of the following:
1) Go Vols
2) Orange is my favorite color
3) Can you teach me the words to Rocky Top?
4) I know all the words to Rocky Top
5) Cal/PAC-10 sucks
6) Can I buy you a Jack Daniels?
"I'm going to be a lawyer" will probably work too.
According to a June 2007 letter from Prof. Liu to the faculty, Boalt's numbers are much higher. Federal Appellate Clerkships numbered 23 in the 2006 application cycle (some of these people were alumni, tho, and not members of the class of 07). Add to that another 26 District Court Clerkships. Finally, 4 state court clerkships (ct of appeals or supreme court).
I'm guessing the website relies on self-reporting or public info. As a current clerk & Boalt alum, I don't think I'm included in their tally.
It turns out Boalt might not be too shabby at all; shame that nobody knows it.
That's part of the problem, 4:06PM. Boalt is not very organized about clerkships, and don't keep track of where our graduates are clerking. If Boalt did a better job of tracking this info, then applicants such as myself could contact current clerks like you and get the inside scoop on judges, hiring, etc.!
Ooh, I love a questionnaire!
1. Who cares about NH? Look to the Faux Florida Primary.
2. What worries me is if that is Berkeley's "#1 LAW FRAT" what is #2 and what felony are they currently committing?
3. n/a, sadly, although I'm sure I could guess
4. Fastforward right into College Football. With Capital Letters. JoePa has at least another season in him!
5. I liked the quote from a Tennessee person that Tennessee fans would help out w/ the chain saws if it came to expanding their own stadium. IT'S NOT A NATURAL HABITAT IT'S LANDSCAPING. God.
5a. They don't need to be reminded to take off that red shirt.
6. Of course.
6a. a. b. doesn't have enough money to buy their flannel anymore, let alone good legal representation.
7., 8. Sounds like someone is bitter. Hold your horses until the 11th. Plus, you forgot to complain about all the judges who don't follow the rules and have already hired 3Ls.
9. Wait til you spend a summer sitting in Booth. Then ask what major renovation needs to be done. And I must visit soon so I can sit in my chairs.
10. I also had nothing but non-memorable to pleasant experiences with the registrar's office. I also never went in when there was anyone else there b/c I hate waiting in lines. Maybe the lack of an audience makes them perform like normal people.
11. They heard you post on this blog, you heartless conservative.
12. You're kidding, right?
13. My S&C 1G memory stick is pretty sweet, although Bingham had really good food.
14. Not according to the August 6 New Yorker.
15. I think we have a couple more scandals to go before entering the danger zone.
Some selective answers/guesses:
1. I'd bet that Edley will leave three months into the next Democratic administration.
2. While spray-paint isn't the correct medium, you have to congratulate those young tykes for having exemplary handwriting.
...
6. UCB should just announce a plan to cut down every tree on the lot regardless of whether the building goes up or not. Personally, I'm sick of fringe Berkeley residents corruptly abusing the instruments of local government to get their way (a la the ice-rink). And some people just like the excuse to protest and sit up in a tree. I think we should have stuck with starving them out.
9. We should stop renovating and build a new Boalt Hall elsewhere on campus. Expanding this building is just making it worse. If Stanford can get $60 million from two alumni to build a new law school, why can't we? (After all, we have more alumni that are wealthy.)
10. I agree--the Registrar's office has always been very, very nice to me.
11. I'm still waiting for Cadwalader to get back to me re a 1L job, so I'm with you.
12. The selectivity leader this year will be Wachtell. First time interviewing at Boalt, and maybe their last.
13. McDermott is the market leader for swag.
14. Yes, she has. Though Edwards will surprise in the primaries.
15. I don't take any pleasure with the Craig scenario. Dude got arrested for tapping his feet in bathroom. Hasn't they guy ever heard about getting a lawyer before you plead guilty?
The "law clerk addict" site is worse than worthless. Just take a look at the individual judges and circuits - the reporting rate is abysmal. According to the site, Judge Pooler has one law clerk, and many other second circuit judges have two (hint: they all have four). For many judges, none are listed. It is a complete joke, and it is frustrating that anyone takes it even remotely seriously.
For an accurate percentage to compare schools, look at the LSAC data, which gives a percentage of the graduating class that clerks (though it does not distinguish at which level). On that basis, Boalt does as well as its peers, although certainly not as well as schools like Yale.
re: #13 - schwag. I don't want to interview with these firms. I'd just like some schwag. It'd be nice if I didn't have to pretend to be interested. Any tips?
#3: I'm really enjoying Civ Pro II with Bundy. That guy can teach.
Registrar: that is weird that they are nice to some people. For 3 years they have been either flat out surly or passive agressive mean to me. I actually got an eye roll from one of them last week when I asked a question that I guess she found ridiculous.
Apart from being entirely unproductive, 9/2 12:22 AM, your comments are incorrect. First, if you would like to improve the reporting rate, feel free to comment on the site. I always accept constructive criticism and positive feedback, not broad-based attacks that the information is "worse than worthless."
Second, I've compiled nearly 500 federal clerks solely from word-of-mouth contacts in the first year of the project. I've already compiled 50 from this year alone.
Third, while some circuits are largely incomplete, others, including the prestigious DC Circuit, are almost entirely complete.
Fourth, the "(hint: they all have four)" is inaccurate. Some have none, some have one, some have two, many have three, and many have four.
Fifth, if you seek an "accurate percentage," you're right, LSAC provides that. But you seek a percentage of court of appeals clerkships, which distinguishes a particular type of sought-after clerkship from others, then that's what my site is for. And if you're curious where a particular judge has hired, then you can visit there, too.
I agree with the previous poster that it's really hard to tell how successfull Boalt is in the clerkship market without knowing how many people actually apply. However, with that being said, I would venture to guess that the reason the percentage isn't higher than what it is (although, relative to comparable schools, it is fairly high), is because, like OCIP, a mass majority of the applicants have their heart set on staying in California. That results in a lot of Boalt v. Boalt competition, which unfortunately results in less Boalt clerks overall.
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