Things have gone weirdly quiet? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Started applying back in December, had a bunch of interviews in late jan/early feb. Got a COA clerkship offer for 2026 last week, but the past three or so weeks I haven't had a single district court interview invite (when I was getting 3-4 a week at peak). Vast majority of my apps have been for 2025, so it's not a time conflict issue.

Are district judges just not interviewing/hiring as much as they were in February? Also, since I've gotten more attention from circuit than district judges, are district judges looking for different things from their clerks than circuit judges are?

Edit: on this same note, I've noticed way fewer postings. Yesterday there were what, 3 DJs posting? Way lower than in Jan/Feb.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, many district courts might be not be dealing with interviews right now with the upcoming 6 month list deadline (March 31) for the district courts.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, many district courts might be not be dealing with interviews right now with the upcoming 6 month list deadline (March 31) for the district courts.

Bingo !

[Anonymous User]

Ohhhh, that makes sense. Should we expect things to pick up after 3/31, then?

[Anonymous User]

Ohhhh, that makes sense. Should we expect things to pick up after 3/31, then?

Maybe a bit, but at that point, I’d expect that many chambers will just wait until June when the plan opens.

[Anonymous User]

Ohhhh, that makes sense. Should we expect things to pick up after 3/31, then?

Maybe a bit, but at that point, I’d expect that many chambers will just wait until June when the plan opens.

I haven't had my recommenders make calls yet--would that possibly motivate chambers to move faster? Or would it be better to hold those until closer to June?

[Anonymous User]

Ohhhh, that makes sense. Should we expect things to pick up after 3/31, then?

Maybe a bit, but at that point, I’d expect that many chambers will just wait until June when the plan opens.

I haven't had my recommenders make calls yet--would that possibly motivate chambers to move faster? Or would it be better to hold those until closer to June?

I doubt calls are going to make chambers move faster (unless maybe the caller will tell them that you are a HOT commodity and weighing other offers and they must move NOW, which I kind of doubt people will be willing to say unless it's true), but I don't know that there's much reason to wait on having them call, either, since you don't know when chambers is going to review applications/pick interviewees. Waiting till after 3/31 may make sense given the 6 month list deadline, but the primary benefit of a call isn't quite shaping how the judge perceives you in interview, but getting pulled from the pile of applicants to begin with. If the call has any effect, it doesn't have to coincide with reviewing applications/picking candidates - the judge can make a note of the recommendation for when they start that process and act on it later.

Or to put it another way, I'd rather have someone call early than too late, and I don't think otherwise it's necessary to try to game the timing.

But if others have different experiences from their chambers, that's fair. I just think sometimes candidates (understandably enough) don't quite get how ordinary hiring becomes for judges, who do it every year, and have their own routines that aren't generally going to change based on what applicants do. I'm sure there could be judges who get a call from the right recommender and decide to call up that applicant and interview them right away, but I tend to think that any caller who has that kind of sway with a specific judge will also know how that judge approaches hiring and be able to take that into account from the start.

(also, obviously, if a judge is hiring on plan they're not going move faster b/c someone calls them.)