Clerkship worth it? Forum

[ughbugchugplug]

I've gotten a few interviews in district courts in flyover parts of the country. I'm top 10% at a t14 and going into litigation at a V5. I'll accept any offers I get because I already have the interviews, but I'm wondering whether I ought to continue applying at the moment. Would a clerkship in a not particularly fancy district benefit me? Lessen my marketability? Would I be better off waiting a few years and then hopefully getting DNJ/SDNY/DDC and then maybe a COA? I'm guessing the answer is that a clerkship will always increase my marketability but I'm somewhat skeptical about that. Would any district court really be better prestige than being an associate at a top firm? And if I were to accept the flyover district court then I probably wouldn't want to do a district court again, so I'd never be able to go to one of the more prestigious districts.

Anyway, as you can probably tell, I'm conflicted. Opinions would be welcome.

[Rowinguy2009]

What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

[ughbugchugplug]

What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

[MrT]

What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

[ughbugchugplug]

What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

Mine said that rehiring decisions are made near the time when you're available to start. I realize it's a frequent industry practice to take clerks back but I'm not sure it's a given in this case.

[MrT]

What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

Mine said that rehiring decisions are made near the time when you're available to start. I realize it's a frequent industry practice to take clerks back but I'm not sure it's a given in this case.

A V5?? I struggle to believe that would be the policy but I suppose it's possible. A lot of uncertainty right now.

[ughbugchugplug]

What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

Mine said that rehiring decisions are made near the time when you're available to start. I realize it's a frequent industry practice to take clerks back but I'm not sure it's a given in this case.

A V5?? I struggle to believe that would be the policy but I suppose it's possible. A lot of uncertainty right now.

Honesty, I understood the person who said it to me to be hedging because s/he didn't want to guarantee a spot more than saying that there's a decent chance that I wouldn't be rehired. But I also don't want to be crying "but I'm supposed to get back in!" and not be able to be an associate in the future.

[Anonymous User]

What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

Mine said that rehiring decisions are made near the time when you're available to start. I realize it's a frequent industry practice to take clerks back but I'm not sure it's a given in this case.

A V5?? I struggle to believe that would be the policy but I suppose it's possible. A lot of uncertainty right now.

I've heard this about two of V5's through my friends. They won't guarantee a spot back and said that they will decide closer to the time when you're done your clerkship, if you decide to work at the firm first.