H v. T10 for appellate lit Forum

[timbs4339]

Most states have a small office of appellate prosecutors and a small office of appellate defenders. These jobs normally go to people who clerked (often for the state supreme court) and then worked as for the DA or PD for at least 5-10 years doing trials. Going to Harvard won't give OP a much greater chance at this goal.

Most states also have a small civil appellate group in their AG's office. These attorneys normally clerked (often for the state supreme court) and then worked for 5-10 years in a trial section of the AG's office. They might farm out really big cases to law firms (especially cases that go to SCOTUS) but most cases will be handled by the AG's office. Again, Harvard won't give OP a much better chance if this is the goal.

This isn't necessarily true for New York. Although a SSC clerkship helps, but you can be hired right into the appeals bureau of the NY County DA office with a few years of general lit biglaw experience, and you can get a job with the institutional defender services right out of law school. NYC may be unqiue though because of the massive number of criminal appeals concentrated in the city that requires relatively large offices of appellate PD's or DAs to move very quickly through cases.

Source: friends who did this.

[UnicornHunter]

I honestly don't know the answer here but if we assume for a second that biglaw/DC/federal appellate lit is out of reach for non SCOTUS clerks, aren't there plenty of state court appellate lawyers all over? It seems like if OP really was just boned up about the appellate process (s)he could just find whoever specializes in appeals in, like, Anchorage, and just work for that dude.

Yea, but nobody believes that OP's actually interested in doing appellate lit, it's the PREFTIGE of a white shoe DC shop that OP wants.

[Shaggier1]

OP, unlike most in this thread I don't fault you are all for having goals as a 0L. Sure, those goals might change but even if they do they may help you focus in the meantime (i.e., if you know you want the goals you mention, you have to crush 1L, and then some). One of the hardest parts about 1L is keeping your eye on the ball and one of the hardest parts about that is having a specific ball to keep your eye on. I certainly wish I had entered law school with more concrete goals.

Anyway, that being said, it is very hard to appreciate, as a 0L, just how wonderful graduating with no debt could be. Do not take the prospect of 175K lightly. It becomes a rather serious constraint on so many of your professional (and personal) decisions.

If I was in your shoes, I would take the Mordecai, do my absolute best during 1L, and try to put other pieces in place for a 4th Circuit or other clerkship.