Top Law Schools

apologies if this is premature, but does anyone have a sense of what the fiscal outlook is for the Honors program in 2015-2016? I am planning to apply in the fall and wanted to hear any anecdotal observations or predictions as to the FY 2016 budget.

I think this inquiry is really premature. Predictions as to the FY 2016 budget is an issue of its own, but HP hires will also depend on the number of hires before the end of the 2015 fiscal year in each of the components. Until the HP numbers are up around July or so, making any predictions are a stretch at best.

That said, there are some components that will generally hire at least one, and those are usually the clerkship positions that are not permanent. The number of EOIR - OCIJ hires have differed in past years by vast amounts but they'll most definitely hire for clerks. I'm inclined to believe that DEA will be the same. Nonetheless, if you're trying to gauge your chances based on hiring numbers, I'd say a better bet is to try to get a summer or semester volunteer position in a component of interest to try to make yourself marketable if they do hire.