I'm not sure firms (or anyone) really cares about which circuit someone clerks on. If a firm regularly files in certain districts, then clerking on that COA would probably be relevant. Likewise, a firm that does a ton of administrative litigation might like DC more. Otherwise, I don't really see why a firm would care which Circuit someone clerks on (self-selection probably drives more of a coastal bias, to the extent one exists). And, honestly, I've never heard of anyone other than law students trying to engage in a ranking of circuits. For the vast majority of people, the best clerkship is one that provides the best learning experience/quality of life rather than marginal prestige differences between circuits.

I would add the caveat that the district of a district court clerkship is probably more important. There is something to be said about the experience that is gained in SDNY/EDNY/NDCA/EDVA versus a random district.

Hi clerks; thanks for taking the time to do this!

I'm at GW, looking to apply for federal clerkships, and I'm wondering if it would be better to be a Dean's Fellow (who are attached to our LRW program) or to take an internship with a federal agency. Because of time constraints, I don't think I'll have time to do both. I'm thinking that the LRW position will look better, since it'd be teaching research and writing. But I could be wrong. Thoughts?

UT isn't particularly strong on the 10th. It's mostly top schools with a healthy share of local oddballs (e.g. briscoe's preference for the top kids at KU). And the more desirable areas in the 10th (such as Denver) are basically all T6ers these days.

How much does the degree to which your school's prestige matters differ from region to region? I'm a 0L from a midwestern city (that I suspect most would not want to live in if they didn't have roots there) and just out of curiosity, I looked at where the recent clerks for the federal judges based in my hometown went to school. I was surprised to discover that the majority of them were from local TTTs. Is this unusual?

Not that uncommon for TTT grads at the top of their class to land clerkships with local federal judges. Ties to the area are very important...

I know for a fact that UT landed clerkships with Hartz, Ebel and Gorsuch for next year; that's not quantity, I guess, but it is quality.

Apologies if this is somewhere in this thread; I didn't find it.

My school's clerkship advisers insist we should add as much information to our resumes as we can, and that they should be two pages. This seems odd to me: Why would the format for clerkships really be that different from resumes sent to firms? Can any of you give me your insight?

Honestly, sounds like a clueless clerkship adviser...

I'm not sure that this would matter all that much for clerking. The more important question, especially since clerking is only a stepping stone, is which would be better for you in the long run. Are you interested in working for that agency or doing the sort of work that the agency does? If yes, then take the internship with the federal agency.

Yeah, I remember this. I think the message was not so much that clerkship resumes should be two pages as much as it is that there's no real problem if they are. I've found this to be true though I'm not sure why. I do think you'd be fine using the firm resume too (if there really isn't much you've left out that might in someway appeal to a judge).

Yeah... you and I are/were at the same school, I think. I'm kinda hoping someone else will chime in. I don't think it will matter that much, but I just don't trust the staff's advice when it comes to clerkships, given our mediocre placement.

I hear these guys have pretty good placement:

Of course, that is the 2008 version--so four years ago.

I have an interview lined up with a D.Ct. judge. How do I prepare for it? He is relatively new to the bench so there isn't much info about him online.

What sort of doors would an ED PA clerkship open up as far as large firms in Philadelphia and NYC?

How long should applicants wait in between off-plan cycles? That is, how long until it's unlikely that a round of judges won't get back to me, making it safe to apply to a new batch?

Just got a bunch of tax and other forms to fill out from my art III judge's secretary. she also sent me a brochure about employee benefits.
for some reason i thought health insurance was completely covered- but it looks like we have to pay 25% of the premium? any idea how much this will be?

There are no "cycles"; off-Plan judges hire when they hire. Unless you are in the rare position of having your pick of judges--e.g. you want to wait on Judge Kozinski before applying to other Ninth Circuit judges--you shouldn't be waiting around. Fire off applications to anyone you'd be willing to work for, and take the interviews you get.

Applying to a D.Ct. judge that I have somewhat of a connection with (both geographically and know someone clerking for him this term). Appropriate to say that his chambers is my first choice for a clerkship, or is that trying to hard?

Trying too hard. Statements like "first choice" just are not part of the clerkship app vocabulary.

In 2011, I paid around $50 per pay period (biweekly) for the Basic option Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The 2012 rates can be found here:

http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/rates/ ... fs2012.pdf

It all depends on what plan you pick.

Kirsten Solberg disagrees with you, FWIW.

Thanks, GTL!

Since I have been working all week with my faculty adviser on this, I have to ask: how much does a cover letter, letter of recommendation, etc., matter? I get the impression that, much like admission to law school, it's pretty much a numbers game.

True, false, in-between?

Rather than "first choice," you might note that you would accept an offer if made.

In-between. A good recommendation from someone a particular judge knows and respects can make up to some extent for a numbers deficiency.