Fed. Dist. Clerkship a Possibility? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi All,

I was wondering if you would be able to give me some advice on where I should be targeting my clerkship search. I'm only looking at federal district courts now because I know my GPA won't qualify me for a circuit clerkship. Here are the relevant figures:

Law School: T-10
GPA: Top 30% (estimated)
Senior Position on Law Review (getting note published)
Legal Writing TA (best grades in writing too)
2 years work experience pre-law school
Recs should be good

I'd like to go somewhere east of Chicago, preferably on the East Coast. Clerkship advising isn't so great, so I figured I would turn here to see what you all thought. Should I wait to apply to see if I can bring my GPA up a bit more? Where should I be looking? I feel like otherwise I would just be mass-mailing OSCAR, which doesn't sound promising.

[UnicornHunter]

I struggle to believe that you're at a top 10 law school and the clerkship advising isn't on point, but w/e. You've got all the shiny bells and whistles for a clerkship so apply away, but seriously talk to your career services and talk to any professors you've built relationships with.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Mass-mailing OSCAR is kind of how it works, unless you have connections to specific judges that you can leverage.

[Anonymous User]

I struggle to believe that you're at a top 10 law school and the clerkship advising isn't on point, but w/e. You've got all the shiny bells and whistles for a clerkship so apply away, but seriously talk to your career services and talk to any professors you've built relationships with.

You would be surprised with how little guidance we get. My essential concern is with my GPA. I know that the "shiny bells and whistles" make clerkships a possibility for me, but I'm a little concerned that my (relatively) lower GPA will discourage people from even reading enough of my resume to get to the bells and whistles.

If mass-mailing OSCAR is how it works, that's what I'll do. I'm going to avoid SDNY/EDNY/DDC/DNJ though, as it seems based on the wisdom from this blog that those may be out of reach.

[UnicornHunter]

I struggle to believe that you're at a top 10 law school and the clerkship advising isn't on point, but w/e. You've got all the shiny bells and whistles for a clerkship so apply away, but seriously talk to your career services and talk to any professors you've built relationships with.

You would be surprised with how little guidance we get. My essential concern is with my GPA. I know that the "shiny bells and whistles" make clerkships a possibility for me, but I'm a little concerned that my (relatively) lower GPA will discourage people from even reading enough of my resume to get to the bells and whistles.

If mass-mailing OSCAR is how it works, that's what I'll do. I'm going to avoid SDNY/EDNY/DDC/DNJ though, as it seems based on the wisdom from this blog that those may be out of reach.

Don't do that. Maybe they are, maybe they're not but you won't know unless you apply.

[A. Nony Mouse]

There isn't really any reason to limit applications. If they reject you're no worse off, and you might get lucky.

But also maybe to be a little more constructive - you should probably apply everywhere you'd be willing to go, but you can specifically look for judges who

- went to your law school
- went to your undergrad
- sit anywhere you have ties
- worked in some field you have experience in (before law school/during/what you want to do after. This can be less pertinent if you're doing the standard biglaw, but I knew judges who favored legal aid people because that's what they did before they were judges. I know others who liked to hire former military etc.)

Most importantly, find out if your letter writers have any connections and would be willing to make calls for you. This is the best way to get an interview if you're not, say, one of the top 5 students in the country (though those kids are definitely going to have people make calls for them).

[rpupkin]

I struggle to believe that you're at a top 10 law school and the clerkship advising isn't on point, but w/e. You've got all the shiny bells and whistles for a clerkship so apply away, but seriously talk to your career services and talk to any professors you've built relationships with.

You would be surprised with how little guidance we get. My essential concern is with my GPA. I know that the "shiny bells and whistles" make clerkships a possibility for me, but I'm a little concerned that my (relatively) lower GPA will discourage people from even reading enough of my resume to get to the bells and whistles.

Your bells and whistles aren't that shiny. You're top-third at a T14 with law review. Those grow on trees.

You're right that many judges will screen you out because of your GPA (many want top 10% or at least top 25%), but you can't do anything about that. Just apply broadly, exploit connections to judges if you have them, and hope for the best. And if you strike out, don't give up if you really want to clerk: your chances will improve with a year or two of experience in lit. Good luck!