2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Aug 03, 2017 3:39 pm

The only movement I've seen has been the judges updated their positions to "filled" on OSCAR. It's been radio silence other than that, I'm afraid.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by lavarman84 » Thu Aug 03, 2017 3:42 pm

Anonymous User wrote:The only movement I've seen has been the judges updated their positions to "filled" on OSCAR. It's been radio silence other than that, I'm afraid.
That and rejection/acknowledgement letters have been it for me.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Aug 03, 2017 4:01 pm

Officially at 50 days since interview for COA clerkship. OSCAR spot still shows as available. I'm holding out hope!

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Aug 03, 2017 4:23 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Officially at 50 days since interview for COA clerkship. OSCAR spot still shows as available. I'm holding out hope!
In a similar boat, though it's only been about half as long. What explanation is there?

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by nothingtosee » Thu Aug 03, 2017 6:09 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Officially at 50 days since interview for COA clerkship. OSCAR spot still shows as available. I'm holding out hope!
In a similar boat, though it's only been about half as long. What explanation is there?

The judge has more important things to do with his/her time and will have excellent quality clerks regardless

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by mjb447 » Thu Aug 03, 2017 6:35 pm

nothingtosee wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Officially at 50 days since interview for COA clerkship. OSCAR spot still shows as available. I'm holding out hope!
In a similar boat, though it's only been about half as long. What explanation is there?

The judge has more important things to do with his/her time and will have excellent quality clerks regardless
Yeah, it may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to you, but a judge can fill three or four positions every year for a career that can span decades. There are also dozens, possibly hundreds, of applicants who can fill the spot competently. The result is that getting back to any individual candidate usually isn't nearly as urgent to the judge as it is to that candidate. (If a judge is hiring for years down the road, fifty or twenty-five days also isn't a huge amount of time to let a candidate twist in the wind while he reviews other apps or interviews other people if he wants to ensure a good fit.)

Keep holding on!

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Aug 04, 2017 11:09 am

Officially at 50 days since interview for COA clerkship. OSCAR spot still shows as available. I'm holding out hope!
For what it's worth, I'll share my similar story. Last year, I straight up OSCAR'd my way into an interview - no local ties, faculty assistance, or other connections to the judge. I had what I thought was a great 90-minute interview with the judge. The judge said, "I'll let you know within a month and, in the interim, let me know if you'd like to be considered for subsequent terms." Then the waiting game began. After a week or so, I sent a "Thank You" email to chambers that also expressed my interest in subsequent terms. After 7 weeks post-interview with nothing but radio silence, I called and politely asked the judge's secretary whether she had a sense of where the judge was at in his hiring timeline. She said only that the judge was still deciding. Within a week I got a rejection email followed by a snail-mail ding. My OSCAR applications for the judge's subsequent terms have met with no success.

Moral(s) of the story? Judges don't give a rip about the representations they make to candidates in interviews, and calling chambers even well after the projected deadline for hearing back is unlikely to help your chances. I suspect that I didn't absolutely blow the judge's hair back during the interview, so s/he kept me waiting on the expectation that s/he would eventually interview someone who did.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Aug 04, 2017 12:43 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Officially at 50 days since interview for COA clerkship. OSCAR spot still shows as available. I'm holding out hope!
For what it's worth, I'll share my similar story. Last year, I straight up OSCAR'd my way into an interview - no local ties, faculty assistance, or other connections to the judge. I had what I thought was a great 90-minute interview with the judge. The judge said, "I'll let you know within a month and, in the interim, let me know if you'd like to be considered for subsequent terms." Then the waiting game began. After a week or so, I sent a "Thank You" email to chambers that also expressed my interest in subsequent terms. After 7 weeks post-interview with nothing but radio silence, I called and politely asked the judge's secretary whether she had a sense of where the judge was at in his hiring timeline. She said only that the judge was still deciding. Within a week I got a rejection email followed by a snail-mail ding. My OSCAR applications for the judge's subsequent terms have met with no success.

Moral(s) of the story? Judges don't give a rip about the representations they make to candidates in interviews, and calling chambers even well after the projected deadline for hearing back is unlikely to help your chances. I suspect that I didn't absolutely blow the judge's hair back during the interview, so s/he kept me waiting on the expectation that s/he would eventually interview someone who did.
Interviewed with a district judge for this term. It took almost 90 days exactly from the date of the interview to receive an offer. COA hiring might be somewhat different but it's not unheard of for a candidate who's waited this long to still ultimately receive an offer.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by clerk1251 » Fri Aug 04, 2017 2:56 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Officially at 50 days since interview for COA clerkship. OSCAR spot still shows as available. I'm holding out hope!
Don't stress. There's nothing you can do about it at this point. Just keep applying elsewhere and see if you can't scoop a clerkship with a different judge. If you get an interview elsewhere - you can call this judge and let him know - might get him to make a decision on the spot, otherwise, try for someone else!

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:11 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Officially at 50 days since interview for COA clerkship. OSCAR spot still shows as available. I'm holding out hope!
In a similar boat, though it's only been about half as long. What explanation is there?
I interviewed with prominent State S. Ct. judge and didn't hear anything for 2+ months until I withdrew my application because I accepted another offer. Judicial Assistant said the judge had been dragging his feet with the hiring--not an uncommon thing.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:21 pm

Matheson is done, per email.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:26 pm

Am I too late for 2019 term if I haven't done a thing with applications yet? I want to do a clerkship (hopefully district ct but I don't know if I have the resume – I'm top 25% at a lower T14 w/LR), but I feel super behind and like I've already screwed myself by waiting this long.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 13, 2017 4:07 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Am I too late for 2019 term if I haven't done a thing with applications yet? I want to do a clerkship (hopefully district ct but I don't know if I have the resume – I'm top 25% at a lower T14 w/LR), but I feel super behind and like I've already screwed myself by waiting this long.
I have a similar question. I am considering applying for a district clerkship in January and then applying for a circuit clerkship for the 20-21 term either in January or June. I have the sense, somewhat confirmed by OSCAR, district judges take a bit longer to hire.

On a slightly related note, what are the chances of landing a circuit clerkship (non-feeder) with a 3.6 for CCN w/ LR and pretty strong recs. Like I noted above, this would be for the 20-21 term.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by RSN » Sun Aug 13, 2017 5:01 pm

Not at all too late if you're good with a little lower interest district. SDNY/DDC/N.D. Ill. etc. are pretty full but there are a good number of judges elsewhere that haven't opened yet. Take a look at OSCAR and get your recommenders together before school starts, start getting apps out in September.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 13, 2017 5:40 pm

RSN wrote:Not at all too late if you're good with a little lower interest district. SDNY/DDC/N.D. Ill. etc. are pretty full but there are a good number of judges elsewhere that haven't opened yet. Take a look at OSCAR and get your recommenders together before school starts, start getting apps out in September.
Who is full on N.D. Ill.?

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by radio1nowhere » Sun Aug 13, 2017 5:50 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
RSN wrote:Not at all too late if you're good with a little lower interest district. SDNY/DDC/N.D. Ill. etc. are pretty full but there are a good number of judges elsewhere that haven't opened yet. Take a look at OSCAR and get your recommenders together before school starts, start getting apps out in September.
Who is full on N.D. Ill.?
As of about a week and a half ago, no judge on N.D. Ill. had hired for 2019–2020. Even Feinerman is still open.

OP, I would say: You're not even close to too late — this is a little on the early side for many/most district judges, actually. According to my school's clerkship office as of a week or two ago, almost a third of district judges haven't even hired for 2018–2019 yet. That being said, the earlier you apply, the better!

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by RSN » Sun Aug 13, 2017 5:54 pm

Whoops, apologies re N.D. Ill., thought I had read that recently but apparently misremembered. But yes, regardless, applying sooner rather than later is always the right call.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:06 pm

SDNY, EDNY, NDCA, DMD, DDC, and the small handful of feeder-ish district judges elsewhere like Feinerman/Brinkema/Thompson/Ellison are interviewing/hiring already. You're early for elsewhere though. Even on those aforementioned courts, there are still plenty of judges who haven't hired yet.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:09 pm

So waiting for first semester 2L grades wouldn't be the end of the world?

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by RSN » Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:25 pm

Anonymous User wrote:So waiting for first semester 2L grades wouldn't be the end of the world?
No, but there's no good reason to wait if judges you're interested in are hiring, or open during the fall, unless you need those grades to make up for some weaker grades last year.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:46 pm

Any sense of where we are in COA hiring? Which circuits are lagging behind and which are all nearly done? The OSCAR postings have been few and far between so it's hard to really know where things stand.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by radio1nowhere » Sun Aug 13, 2017 7:08 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Any sense of where we are in COA hiring? Which circuits are lagging behind and which are all nearly done? The OSCAR postings have been few and far between so it's hard to really know where things stand.
My rough guesstimate is that about a third of COA judges (counting senior judges) have hired for 2019–2020. The D.C. and Second Circuits seem to be the only ones with over half the judges filled.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 13, 2017 8:51 pm

OP from above. Thanks all – I wasn't dead set on the more competitive districts since I didn't think I could get a clerkship there anyway. Trying to stay geographically flexible, so I'm glad to hear I can still apply.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:48 pm

radio1nowhere wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
RSN wrote:Not at all too late if you're good with a little lower interest district. SDNY/DDC/N.D. Ill. etc. are pretty full but there are a good number of judges elsewhere that haven't opened yet. Take a look at OSCAR and get your recommenders together before school starts, start getting apps out in September.
Who is full on N.D. Ill.?
As of about a week and a half ago, no judge on N.D. Ill. had hired for 2019–2020. Even Feinerman is still open.

OP, I would say: You're not even close to too late — this is a little on the early side for many/most district judges, actually. According to my school's clerkship office as of a week or two ago, almost a third of district judges haven't even hired for 2018–2019 yet. That being said, the earlier you apply, the better!
FYI on Feinerman - heard from a recommender 3 weeks ago that he had already hired 2/3 and was looking for a specific type of candidate for the 3rd.

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Re: 2019-20 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by radio1nowhere » Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:31 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
radio1nowhere wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
RSN wrote:Not at all too late if you're good with a little lower interest district. SDNY/DDC/N.D. Ill. etc. are pretty full but there are a good number of judges elsewhere that haven't opened yet. Take a look at OSCAR and get your recommenders together before school starts, start getting apps out in September.
Who is full on N.D. Ill.?
As of about a week and a half ago, no judge on N.D. Ill. had hired for 2019–2020. Even Feinerman is still open.

OP, I would say: You're not even close to too late — this is a little on the early side for many/most district judges, actually. According to my school's clerkship office as of a week or two ago, almost a third of district judges haven't even hired for 2018–2019 yet. That being said, the earlier you apply, the better!
FYI on Feinerman - heard from a recommender 3 weeks ago that he had already hired 2/3 and was looking for a specific type of candidate for the 3rd.
Ah gotcha, my statement that no one had "hired" was confusing; I meant that no one had completed all their hiring. Thanks for the Feinerman update!

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