Federal magistrate clerkship - already accepted BL return offer Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi! I'm considering applying to some federal magistrate clerkships but wanted to get this community's feedback before getting that ball fully rolling.

A bit about me:
- rising 3L, top third at a "lower" T-14;
- ME for a secondary journal;
- moot court;
- accepted a return offer to join the litigation team of a great firm. Super excited to return;
- didn't apply broadly for clerkships for personal reasons and struck out through the plan. I don't need to clerk. My desire to clerk is 80% for the skills-building and 20% for the clout;
- for personal reasons, 2024-25 is likely the only year I have geographic flexibility in where I clerk. After that, I'd likely only want to clerk if I didn't have to relocate. I'd be living in a "competitive" district in which I doubt my grades would be sufficient for a District Court clerkship. Even if I kill it with grades 3L and have a few years legal WE, I would probably only be marginally competitive;
- I'll continue applying to District Court clerkships throughout 3L but am not holding my breath.

I think I've read through all the TLS and reddit posts regarding federal magistrate clerkships. It seems that most, if not all, of these posts deal with OPs who are considering a magistrate clerkship and do not have a BL offer. To summarize what I've read:
- *if* the judge handles more than just SS/HC petitions, these clerkships can be incredibly helpful for learning the nuts-and-bolts of litigation, especially with regards to discovery battles;
- magistrate judges are often very well-regarded in their home districts;
- magistrate clerkships carry less "clout" than AIII clerkships;
- magistrate clerkships can help lead to AIII clerkships in that district, but that is far from a guarantee (especially since District Court hiring often happens so far in advance - there isn't enough time to build trust with the Magistrate Judge such that they'll put in a good word before AIII hiring happens, so there might have to be a yearlong gap between the magistrate clerkship and the AIII clerkship);
- many firms don't give a bonus/class year bump for magistrate clerkships.

I'd only clerk for a magistrate judge if 1) it's a competitive district in which I'll likely frequently practice as an associate (e.g., SDNY, NDCA, NDIL), 2) would handle more than just HC/SS petitions (for students reading this - you can get a sense of a judge's docket through the WestLaw Litigation Analytics tool), and 3) can get the clerkship bonus and/or class year bump (but I don't want to ask my firm about its policies unless I'm sure that the clerkship would be worth it otherwise).

At the moment, I am leaning towards getting the ball rolling here. But before I do - do you all have any thoughts? TIA, much appreciated.

[Anonymous User]

A3 clerkships -- especially in NYC -- are much, much more attainable with work experience. Not hard to get SDNY/EDNY as a 3rd or 4th year lit associate at a v20.

[Anonymous User]

Not hard to get SDNY/EDNY as a 3rd or 4th year lit associate at a v20.

Really?

[Anonymous User]

A3 clerkships -- especially in NYC -- are much, much more attainable with work experience. Not hard to get SDNY/EDNY as a 3rd or 4th year lit associate at a v20.

OP here. Interesting. I'll be a V20 lit associate. What's your source/evidence for this?

[Anonymous User]

Being a v10 lit associate.

[Anonymous User]

You could clerk for a mag on EDNY and then clerk for an a3 judge on SDNY, I've seen that happen not infrequently. Agree with above poster that a few years' work experience can lift up otherwise less-competitive candidates for some NYC judges.