2014-2015 Clerkship Application Thread - OP Updated 04/19/13 Forum

[Anonymous User]

i have a 3.9 at hys and mega extracurriculars (except no LR). i applied to 65 judges (all district) in the biggest markets and some smaller markets where i have ties. WHY AREN'T I GETTING ANY CALLS??? WTF???

Apply to more judges. I applied to around 300 and only got 5 interviews = less than 2% interview success. It's gonna be hard to succeed if you severely limit by location.

[Anonymous User]

one of my recommenders has a 75 judge limit - she won't send out any more letters. i say 65 because ten had already hired by the time final apps went out, but the it was past the recommender's deadline for adding more judges.

[Anonymous User]

3. Maybe what comes off as a sense of entitlement here showed through in your applications.

what the fuck is the point of working your ass off to go HYS and then working your ass off to get good grades and extracurrics if it doesn't get you anything?

[Arbiter213]

3. Maybe what comes off as a sense of entitlement here showed through in your applications.

what the fuck is the point of working your ass off to go HYS and then working your ass off to get good grades and extracurrics if it doesn't get you anything?

Good work is its own reward.

[Anonymous User]

i have a 3.9 at hys and mega extracurriculars (except no LR). i applied to 65 judges (all district) in the biggest markets and some smaller markets where i have ties. WHY AREN'T I GETTING ANY CALLS??? WTF???

How can you have a 3.9 at a school (either H, Y or S) that only uses an honors/pass/low pass grading system?

[A. Nony Mouse]

3. Maybe what comes off as a sense of entitlement here showed through in your applications.

what the fuck is the point of working your ass off to go HYS and then working your ass off to get good grades and extracurrics if it doesn't get you anything?

Yes, I feel terribly sorry for someone with good grades and a Harvard JD.

How can you have a 3.9 at a school (either H, Y or S) that only uses an honors/pass/low pass grading system?

I know, I asked this too. There's apparently a conversion system. It's not 3.9/4.0.

[msridiculous447]

3. Maybe what comes off as a sense of entitlement here showed through in your applications.

what the fuck is the point of working your ass off to go HYS and then working your ass off to get good grades and extracurrics if it doesn't get you anything?

A person with good grades and a Harvard JD doesn't have ANYTHING!!!!

[Detrox]

3. Maybe what comes off as a sense of entitlement here showed through in your applications.

what the fuck is the point of working your ass off to go HYS and then working your ass off to get good grades and extracurrics if it doesn't get you anything?

Clerkships are not an entitlement. They are a privilege that generally involve a close working relationship with a judge, co-clerks, and staff. I can see NO reason based on your three posts here why judges aren't lining up to invite you to interview...

[bk1]

3. Maybe what comes off as a sense of entitlement here showed through in your applications.

what the fuck is the point of working your ass off to go HYS and then working your ass off to get good grades and extracurrics if it doesn't get you anything?

lol

one of my recommenders has a 75 judge limit - she won't send out any more letters. i say 65 because ten had already hired by the time final apps went out, but the it was past the recommender's deadline for adding more judges.

Then don't use that recommender for future apps but send them anyway.

[Anonymous User]

Clerkships are not an entitlement.

Tell that to a lot people that post on these boards...hell, tell it to some of the judges themselves who only hire from the top schools!

As to the Harvard grad/student, I have no empathy for you. Welcome to the reality of what people from the vast majority of law schools have experienced as they went through either the employment or clerkship process. Sucks doesn't it - that no one will take a chance on you? I'm sure you can fall back on whatever cushy firm job you have in reserve (unless your ego screwed that one up for you too) unlike some of us who are looking at Breadline Breadline & Unemployment as our firm of choice.

[Anonymous User]

some of us don't have cushy firm jobs to fall back on because we didn't sell out. it shouldn't be so goddamn hard to get job doing something not evil

[Anonymous User]

Clerkships are not an entitlement.

Tell that to a lot people that post on these boards...hell, tell it to some of the judges themselves who only hire from the top schools!

As to the Harvard grad/student, I have no empathy for you. Welcome to the reality of what people from the vast majority of law schools have experienced as they went through either the employment or clerkship process. Sucks doesn't it - that no one will take a chance on you? I'm sure you can fall back on whatever cushy firm job you have in reserve (unless your ego screwed that one up for you too) unlike some of us who are looking at Breadline Breadline & Unemployment as our firm of choice.

some of us weren't stupid enough to go to law school outside of the t20 in this market.

User has been warned.

[forza]

some of us weren't stupid enough to go to law school outside of the t20 in this market.

This is just karma doing what it does best: not rewarding a fucking douchebag with an AIII clerkship.

[msridiculous447]

Clerkships are not an entitlement.

Tell that to a lot people that post on these boards...hell, tell it to some of the judges themselves who only hire from the top schools!

As to the Harvard grad/student, I have no empathy for you. Welcome to the reality of what people from the vast majority of law schools have experienced as they went through either the employment or clerkship process. Sucks doesn't it - that no one will take a chance on you? I'm sure you can fall back on whatever cushy firm job you have in reserve (unless your ego screwed that one up for you too) unlike some of us who are looking at Breadline Breadline & Unemployment as our firm of choice.

some of us weren't stupid enough to go to law school outside of the t20 in this market.

Since when is everyone in the T20 getting a great job these days? Top grades at a T20 is hardly a guarantee of anything lately.

[Anonymous User]

Garcia - SDTX closed per OSCAR

[Anonymous User]

Something tells me the vasy majority of judges have not been as quick with reviewing applications as we think they "should." Federal judges are busy as hell and I am sure the vast majority feel that they will find capable judicial clerks on whatever timeline they choose. It's likely that they are especially busy right now, as July 4th is right around the corner and I am sure they are trying to tie up last minute loose ends on their docket before they can enjoy their "long" weekend off. At least this is what I am telling myself.

In the end, even if you or I don't get a clerkship, it's not the end of the world. Clerkships are some of the most highly desirable and sought after positions in the legal community; you are literally competing with hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants. You may think you are an especially special snowflake (and I am sure we all do), but that's just it - everyone is fuckin' impressive.

So folks: relax. Easier said than done - I know - but give it a shot.

[Anonymous User]

Something tells me the vasy majority of judges have not been as quick with reviewing applications as we think they "should." Federal judges are busy as hell and I am sure the vast majority feel that they will find capable judicial clerks on whatever timeline they choose. It's likely that they are especially busy right now, as July 4th is right around the corner and I am sure they are trying to tie up last minute loose ends on their docket before they can enjoy their "long" weekend off. At least this is what I am telling myself.

In the end, even if you or I don't get a clerkship, it's not the end of the world. Clerkships are some of the most highly desirable and sought after positions in the legal community; you are literally competing with hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants. You may think you are an especially special snowflake (and I am sure we all do), but that's just it - everyone is fuckin' impressive.

So folks: relax. Easier said than done - I know - but give it a shot.

This should be taken to heart. As an alum who's applying again after striking out with solid stats as a rising 3L, I can attest to the fact that the majority of calls went out on the plan date last year but that was when judges had a full week to review applications before being "permitted" to schedule interviews. Given the relative silence on the board as compared to last year, I'm guessing calls will trickle in over the next few days.

Even if you don't happen to be a lucky call recipient (or even worse, get an interview or more but cannot land the offer), don't fret as many judges explicitly only consider alums so you should have better luck next year.

[Anonymous User]

Something tells me the vasy majority of judges have not been as quick with reviewing applications as we think they "should." Federal judges are busy as hell and I am sure the vast majority feel that they will find capable judicial clerks on whatever timeline they choose. It's likely that they are especially busy right now, as July 4th is right around the corner and I am sure they are trying to tie up last minute loose ends on their docket before they can enjoy their "long" weekend off. At least this is what I am telling myself.

In the end, even if you or I don't get a clerkship, it's not the end of the world. Clerkships are some of the most highly desirable and sought after positions in the legal community; you are literally competing with hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants. You may think you are an especially special snowflake (and I am sure we all do), but that's just it - everyone is fuckin' impressive.

So folks: relax. Easier said than done - I know - but give it a shot.

^ This ... from a judge I know personally - he and clerks are tackling apps and calls when they get back from vacation. I know he's currently at the beach. FYI in the Southeast.

[Anonymous User]

Something tells me the vasy majority of judges have not been as quick with reviewing applications as we think they "should." Federal judges are busy as hell and I am sure the vast majority feel that they will find capable judicial clerks on whatever timeline they choose. It's likely that they are especially busy right now, as July 4th is right around the corner and I am sure they are trying to tie up last minute loose ends on their docket before they can enjoy their "long" weekend off. At least this is what I am telling myself.

In the end, even if you or I don't get a clerkship, it's not the end of the world. Clerkships are some of the most highly desirable and sought after positions in the legal community; you are literally competing with hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants. You may think you are an especially special snowflake (and I am sure we all do), but that's just it - everyone is fuckin' impressive.

So folks: relax. Easier said than done - I know - but give it a shot.

^ This ... from a judge I know personally - he and clerks are tackling apps and calls when they get back from vacation. I know he's currently at the beach. FYI in the Southeast.

Great point. Assuming most judges have several hundred apps to sift through, if they actually adhered to OSCAR, then I am guessing there will be more movement post 4th of July. If I were a JA, clerk, or a judge, I would not want to have to review all these apps right before a holiday.

Also, although job applicants think job applications are the most important thing in the world, every employer I have ever known considers filling job postings and reviewing resumes to be the BOTTOM of their priority list, regardless of how badly they need to fill the position.

Also, to disgruntled HYS student: I hope you are trolling the boards and not actually being serious. If so, good troll, you got everyone riled up. If not, I feel sorry for you because with that attitude, life will be tough moving forward.

[Myself]

.

[Anonymous User]

District court judges have much busier dockets to manage than do circuit court judges, rising 3L apps were only released this past Friday, and the Fourth of July means court business slows to a crawl this week. I would not be surprised if many district court judges haven't even begun looking at applications.

Source: I'm a current clerk for a district court judge in a major East Coast market.

[Anonymous User]

Furman and Koeltl (both SDNY) are done. Furman until 2016, Koeltl until 2015.

[Anonymous User]

Current district court clerk here (within the 9th Circuit). I'll put the process this way, from my perspective.

First, judges and their clerks are human. To those in this thread (and elsewhere) who think that it's our responsibility to get in touch with you the moment OSCAR applications are released on the plan date or we get your paper application, tough. We've got a lot of work, we don't necessarily have much time to do it, and the applicant pool is deep. So even if a judge doesn't get his or her "first choice" interviewee because someone else swooped her up, there's always someone else. Just please appreciate that there are many of us who aren't happy with the destruction of the on-plan system and the way it worked out this year, and we're doing the best we can under the circumstances. Those include the 4th of July holiday, people not necessarily being able to fly out on a moment's notice to interview, firms having issues with this, etc. And it's better for you (and us) that we take the time to read the applications and actually get a sense of who we want to interview. Just because you're Top 5% at HYS doesn't mean you're the best fit for the judge.

Second, if you're limiting yourself to big markets, well, there's a lot of people who apply there. It's not easy. The whole experience is humbling and frustrating. I applied to 100+ judges all over the place, and got one interview. I got lucky. Many didn't.

Third, if you do interview -- congratulations. Do your research. Get to know what the judge's docket is like, what cases the judge has had that may be more high profile, why you want to clerk for that judge. It's quite frustrating to meet someone who looks great on paper but just talks generically about why she wants a clerkship, rather than why she wants to clerk for my judge.

[buddingjd]

Pallmeyer, N.D. Ill., filled per OSCAR

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if St. Eve (N.D. Ill) has started calling?