Clerkship Odds Forum

[Anonymous User]

2L, top 10% at Brooklyn Law School. Moot court "national team" competitor, but no journal or law review. Most of my work experience is in PI, but I'm considering a pivot as I become increasingly worried about money. Yes,I should have considered this earlier.

My question is whether you've heard of students in my situation swinging some kind of magistrate clerkship and ending up ok. I'm very worried that I've pigeon holed myself into strictly PI work. Honest opinions on my options for switching paths are appreciated.

[BeeTeeZ]

2L, top 10% at Brooklyn Law School. Moot court "national team" competitor, but no journal or law review. Most of my work experience is in PI, but I'm considering a pivot as I become increasingly worried about money. Yes,I should have considered this earlier.

My question is whether you've heard of students in my situation swinging some kind of magistrate clerkship and ending up ok. I'm very worried that I've pigeon holed myself into strictly PI work. Honest opinions on my options for switching paths are appreciated.

Just to clarify for others with more first-hand experience, are you asking whether your PI background would preclude you from landing a magistrate clerkship, whether your PI background would preclude you from landing a private sector role following a magistrate clerkship, or both?

[Kdunshee]

2L, top 10% at Brooklyn Law School. Moot court "national team" competitor, but no journal or law review. Most of my work experience is in PI, but I'm considering a pivot as I become increasingly worried about money. Yes,I should have considered this earlier.

My question is whether you've heard of students in my situation swinging some kind of magistrate clerkship and ending up ok. I'm very worried that I've pigeon holed myself into strictly PI work. Honest opinions on my options for switching paths are appreciated.

Just to clarify for others with more first-hand experience, are you asking whether your PI background would preclude you from landing a magistrate clerkship, whether your PI background would preclude you from landing a private sector role following a magistrate clerkship, or both?

Thanks for clarifying. I'm asking whether my PI background, along with the fact that I'm at a T2 with no journal experience, precludes me from landing a clerkship. However, if you'd care to comment on the broader spectrum of opportunities you feel may be available to me, I'm all ears.

[Anonymous User]

2L, top 10% at Brooklyn Law School. Moot court "national team" competitor, but no journal or law review. Most of my work experience is in PI, but I'm considering a pivot as I become increasingly worried about money. Yes,I should have considered this earlier.

My question is whether you've heard of students in my situation swinging some kind of magistrate clerkship and ending up ok. I'm very worried that I've pigeon holed myself into strictly PI work. Honest opinions on my options for switching paths are appreciated.

Just to clarify for others with more first-hand experience, are you asking whether your PI background would preclude you from landing a magistrate clerkship, whether your PI background would preclude you from landing a private sector role following a magistrate clerkship, or both?

Thanks for clarifying. I'm asking whether my PI background, along with the fact that I'm at a T2 school with no law review or secondary journal experience, precludes me from landing a clerkship. However, if you'd care to comment on the broader spectrum of possibilities you feel may be available to me, I'm all ears.

[BeeTeeZ]

2L, top 10% at Brooklyn Law School. Moot court "national team" competitor, but no journal or law review. Most of my work experience is in PI, but I'm considering a pivot as I become increasingly worried about money. Yes,I should have considered this earlier.

My question is whether you've heard of students in my situation swinging some kind of magistrate clerkship and ending up ok. I'm very worried that I've pigeon holed myself into strictly PI work. Honest opinions on my options for switching paths are appreciated.

Just to clarify for others with more first-hand experience, are you asking whether your PI background would preclude you from landing a magistrate clerkship, whether your PI background would preclude you from landing a private sector role following a magistrate clerkship, or both?

Thanks for clarifying. I'm asking whether my PI background, along with the fact that I'm at a T2 school with no law review or secondary journal experience, precludes me from landing a clerkship. However, if you'd care to comment on the broader spectrum of possibilities you feel may be available to me, I'm all ears.

Since judges are public servants it would be strange for a judge to see your PI background as a negative. Many clerks I have met have no interest in entering (or returning to) the private sector. I can't speak to much more than that with regard to your PI concern.

As far as your lack of journal experience, while judges like to see that on a resume, not all judges require their clerks to have journal experience. Journal experience is valued by judges insofar as it is a proxy for your writing ability; however, unlike almost every other "employer," judges will actually read your writing sample, so you can demonstrate your writing ability that way. Your lack of journal experience will not in itself preclude you from landing a clerkship.

Graduating from a T2 won't preclude you from landing a clerkship either. I have no idea whether top 10% from a T2 is sufficiently "top of your class" enough for a particular judge, but landing even a federal clerkship from a T2 is possible. Multiple graduates from T3's are federal clerks in my state.

[Anonymous User]

Your chances are not very high. Being from a T2 and not being on a journal are not total application killers. But, given that you are from a T2 and not on a journal, you really need to be in the top 5 people in your class not just top 10%. And, what really hurts your application further is that you are at a T2 school in a state where federal clerkships are very competitive. Most individuals who get clerkships from a T2 school do so from schools in less competitive districts where judges in the area have a relationship with the T2 school and try to take students from the school. SDNY is not one of those places. Thus, unless you have strong ties to a flyover type area, you're odds of landing a federal clerkship are very low.

[Kdunshee]

. .

[Anonymous User]

Your chances are not very high. Being from a T2 and not being on a journal are not total application killers. But, given that you are from a T2 and not on a journal, you really need to be in the top 5 people in your class not just top 10%. And, what really hurts your application further is that you are at a T2 school in a state where federal clerkships are very competitive. Most individuals who get clerkships from a T2 school do so from schools in less competitive districts where judges in the area have a relationship with the T2 school and try to take students from the school. SDNY is not one of those places. Thus, unless you have strong ties to a flyover type area, you're odds of landing a federal clerkship are very low.

This sounds right to me. I'm at a T2, top 5%, LR, Moot Court, National Moot Court team. I got a fed d. ct. clerkship, but the only interviews I got out of 70 apps were with judges who had ties to my school (alum, or ties to the geographic area.) It was definitely an uphill struggle. I would talk to your career services/professors about judges your school might have a connection with (outside of incredibly tough EDNY/SDNY) as that was where I had the most success. I also accepted a position not for straight out of law school which I am very excited about (so flexibility in timing helped too.) Good luck!