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

[Anonymous User]

Question. Had an interview a little over three weeks ago and was told I'd hear back pretty quickly, within three weeks or so.

1) If I had a prof call on my behalf the day of the interview and chambers hasn't gotten back to them, is that the death knell?

2) Do rejections typically come by phone or snail mail? (I moved recently, so I'd miss the letter if it came.)

3) If snail mail, when would it be kosher to call chambers for a status update?

Thanks folks.

You can call after the designated waiting period has passed. IME, rejections usually don't come at all. You just never hear.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Question. Had an interview a little over three weeks ago and was told I'd hear back pretty quickly, within three weeks or so.

1) If I had a prof call on my behalf the day of the interview and chambers hasn't gotten back to them, is that the death knell?

2) Do rejections typically come by phone or snail mail? (I moved recently, so I'd miss the letter if it came.)

3) If snail mail, when would it be kosher to call chambers for a status update?

Thanks folks.

You can call after the designated waiting period has passed. IME, rejections usually don't come at all. You just never hear.

I often got paper rejections. However, I haven't had any rejections after an interview (that sounds braggy - I haven't had many interviews!), so don't know if that's different. Also, why will your mail not be forwarded?

[Anonymous User]

I often got paper rejections. However, I haven't had any rejections after an interview (that sounds braggy - I haven't had many interviews!), so don't know if that's different. Also, why will your mail not be forwarded?

Working on getting it forwarded; thanks for the tips guys.

[Anonymous User]

Rejections following an interview generally come by mail (sometimes email). Many judges don't send rejections though for applicants that didn't interview. If they do it can come in the form of an email or letter.

[Anonymous User]

anyone hear of any D.Mass interviews for rising 3Ls? Specifically Judges Wolf and Young? any offers?

anyone hear of Rakoff scheduling June 28 interviews yet (2015 and beyond)?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have any info on Srinivasan's hiring status for 2013-14 or 2014-15?

[harmonep07]

School range: TTT (was TT in the 80s until this year)
Rank: 1/3~~
LR?:Yes, Notes and Comments Editor
Published?:No
Recs: 3, I guess pretty strong
2L/3L/Alum?: rising 3L
Where applying?: all over the place (167 apps), only a few CoA (just for kicks)

[Anonymous User]

School range: TTT (was TT in the 80s until this year)
Rank: 1/3~~
LR?:Yes, Notes and Comments Editor
Published?:No
Recs: 3, I guess pretty strong
2L/3L/Alum?: rising 3L
Where applying?: all over the place (167 apps), only a few CoA (just for kicks)

0% chance. Sorry to be harsh, but T14 top 1/3 are not getting AIII clerkships these days.

[A. Nony Mouse]

School range: TTT (was TT in the 80s until this year)
Rank: 1/3~~
LR?:Yes, Notes and Comments Editor
Published?:No
Recs: 3, I guess pretty strong
2L/3L/Alum?: rising 3L
Where applying?: all over the place (167 apps), only a few CoA (just for kicks)

0% chance. Sorry to be harsh, but T14 top 1/3 are not getting AIII clerkships these days.

I thought they meant there were ranked #1 out of 3xx students? If so, I think there is a chance, generally with judges who are alums of or local to your law school. (If you did mean top 1/3, yeah, that's not going to happen.)

[harmonep07]

School range: TTT (was TT in the 80s until this year)
Rank: 1/3~~
LR?:Yes, Notes and Comments Editor
Published?:No
Recs: 3, I guess pretty strong
2L/3L/Alum?: rising 3L
Where applying?: all over the place (167 apps), only a few CoA (just for kicks)

0% chance. Sorry to be harsh, but T14 top 1/3 are not getting AIII clerkships these days.

I thought they meant there were ranked #1 out of 3xx students? If so, I think there is a chance, generally with judges who are alums of or local to your law school. (If you did mean top 1/3, yeah, that's not going to happen.)

Yes, I meant I am ranked 1 out of more than 300 students.

[Anonymous User]

School range: TTT (was TT in the 80s until this year)
Rank: 1/3~~
LR?:Yes, Notes and Comments Editor
Published?:No
Recs: 3, I guess pretty strong
2L/3L/Alum?: rising 3L
Where applying?: all over the place (167 apps), only a few CoA (just for kicks)

0% chance. Sorry to be harsh, but T14 top 1/3 are not getting AIII clerkships these days.

I thought they meant there were ranked #1 out of 3xx students? If so, I think there is a chance, generally with judges who are alums of or local to your law school. (If you did mean top 1/3, yeah, that's not going to happen.)

Yes, I meant I am ranked 1 out of more than 300 students.

Oh. My mistake. I wondered what those tildes were doing there, but that's an odd way of expressing "first in class."

Anyway, you should have a shot then. Particularly with local judges. Do you have a list of judges who have hired alums from your school in the past 10 years or so? Those are your best bets.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if Castel (SDNY) has started interviewing yet?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if Castel (SDNY) has started interviewing yet?

Yes

[Anonymous User]

Anyway, you should have a shot then. Particularly with local judges. Do you have a list of judges who have hired alums from your school in the past 10 years or so? Those are your best bets.

I have similar stats (second in class at a sub 100 school) and submitted around 300 apps, and I have recieved district and circuit interviews (2 district, 2 circuit) in 4 different states. Just as an fyi.

[Anonymous User]

Anyway, you should have a shot then. Particularly with local judges. Do you have a list of judges who have hired alums from your school in the past 10 years or so? Those are your best bets.

I have similar stats (second in class at a sub 100 school) and submitted around 300 apps, and I have recieved district and circuit interviews (2 district, 2 circuit) in 4 different states. Just as an fyi.

Quoted poster here. I didn't mean to imply he should only concentrate on judges to whom he has a connection, only that those will be his best shot and so he should focus more heavily there.

Out of curiosity: you got interviews in 4 states to which you have no connection? Your LS isn't there, your UG isn't there, you didn't grow up there, you never lived there, your family doesn't live there, etc.? That would surprise me. Either way--well done!

[Anonymous User]

OSCAR question: If I finalize an application before all my recommenders have uploaded letters, does that prevent their letters from being part of the application (and my OSCAR cover sheet from reflecting them as reccommenders?).

[lolwat]

OSCAR question: If I finalize an application before all my recommenders have uploaded letters, does that prevent their letters from being part of the application (and my OSCAR cover sheet from reflecting them as reccommenders?).

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think so. I was just warned that the judge might end up reviewing your application before all of your recommenders upload their letters, see that it's incomplete, and basically ding you without ever checking back at a later time to see whether the recommendations came in.

[Anonymous User]

OSCAR question: If I finalize an application before all my recommenders have uploaded letters, does that prevent their letters from being part of the application (and my OSCAR cover sheet from reflecting them as reccommenders?).

per the OSCAR FAQ:

Can my recommender upload letters of recommendation after I finalize my applications?
Recommenders can upload letters of recommendation to your applications even after they are viewable to the judges or staff attorney offices and up to 30 days after the position's close date. Note: OSCAR will display to the judges or staff attorney offices that the letters are pending until they are uploaded.

But, as per lolwat, the judge can see your app prior to that point and may just ignore the whole "pending" thing. So be careful.

In cases where I had a letter that I knew was coming in later but wanted to get the app in right-then-right-then, I said that the letter would be following electronically in my cover letter. Not sure if that helped, but at least I indicated an awareness of the fact that my LORs weren't all there yet.

[Anonymous User]

OSCAR question: If I finalize an application before all my recommenders have uploaded letters, does that prevent their letters from being part of the application (and my OSCAR cover sheet from reflecting them as reccommenders?).

per the OSCAR FAQ:

Can my recommender upload letters of recommendation after I finalize my applications?
Recommenders can upload letters of recommendation to your applications even after they are viewable to the judges or staff attorney offices and up to 30 days after the position's close date. Note: OSCAR will display to the judges or staff attorney offices that the letters are pending until they are uploaded.

But, as per lolwat, the judge can see your app prior to that point and may just ignore the whole "pending" thing. So be careful.

In cases where I had a letter that I knew was coming in later but wanted to get the app in right-then-right-then, I said that the letter would be following electronically in my cover letter. Not sure if that helped, but at least I indicated an awareness of the fact that my LORs weren't all there yet.

Thanks. I'm sure it will be in on time, I just didn't want to finalize if it'd lock it out.

[Anonymous User]

Anyway, you should have a shot then. Particularly with local judges. Do you have a list of judges who have hired alums from your school in the past 10 years or so? Those are your best bets.

I have similar stats (second in class at a sub 100 school) and submitted around 300 apps, and I have recieved district and circuit interviews (2 district, 2 circuit) in 4 different states. Just as an fyi.

Quoted poster here. I didn't mean to imply he should only concentrate on judges to whom he has a connection, only that those will be his best shot and so he should focus more heavily there.

Out of curiosity: you got interviews in 4 states to which you have no connection? Your LS isn't there, your UG isn't there, you didn't grow up there, you never lived there, your family doesn't live there, etc.? That would surprise me. Either way--well done!

One state is the state my school is in; one state I have family that lives there, but not in the city where the judge is; one state I worked last summer for 6 weeks but did not go back to this summer; and ther other I have no connection at all. Further, three of the judges from what I can tell have never hired a single student from my school, one even told me in the interview that he had never even had a student from my school ever apply. Maybe I am an anomaly...

[lolwat]

Yeah - being 1st/2nd/3rd or whatever at any school will probably give you a shot with a lot of judges that might just be curious. I also know someone that's like 2nd at their school (which is like.. tier 3-4? or whatever, basically one of the schools with like a 150 median LSAT) that has a district court clerkship lined up. I think it's more because their resume/background was incredibly interesting though.

[Anonymous User]

Fed Dist. clerkship interview a couple of weeks ago. Offer yesterday. In a flyover district

[Anonymous User]

Offer and acceptance today for a federal district court clerkship. Really, really happy. Unimpressive stats at a T10. The CW on the need for calls to regions where you lack connections, as well as the CW on grades, proved wrong. Which probably means I got extremely lucky. But very happy.

[lolwat]

Congrats to you two.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a tad confused due to my ignorance. OSCAR isn't open yet. I know a lot of judges are off plan. But, with the amount of people stating they have had interviews and stuff I have become nervous, are you guys alums?