Bankruptcy Clerkship Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anybody received a bankruptcy clerkship for the 13-14 term? It's early, but I'm interested if any judges are hiring off-plan yet?

Bump

Anyone know of bankruptcy judges that generally hire off-plan?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have an idea of the grades needed for SDNY / DDel from a lower T14?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have an idea of the grades needed for SDNY / DDel from a lower T14?

I don't know where the idea came from that D. Del. was particularly grade-selective for BK, but it certainly doesn't seem to be true based on my sample of a whole two former D. Del. clerks. They both had a proven commitment to BK though.

[clockwerk]

I'm pretty sure that it's either Judge Walrath or Judge Walsh (both Bankr. D. Del.) who has a strict 20% or 25% grade cutoff regardless of what school you attended.

[Anonymous User]

I'm pretty sure that it's either Judge Walrath or Judge Walsh (both Bankr. D. Del.) who has a strict 20% or 25% grade cutoff regardless of what school you attended.

It's not Judge Walsh.

[Anonymous User]

what about sdny?

[Anonymous User]

anybody?

[Anonymous User]

I was under the impression that you needed borderline D.ct. stats for D.Del and SDNY bankr. I don't think that's true after checking out firm bios. At least from talking around, the most important thing is a demonstrated BK interest.

SDNY prefers people with work experience, but I haven't heard of any movement outta there besides Judge Bernstein.

No idea re: off-plan hiring.

Has anyone gotten an interview for D.Del besides Judges Walsh and Walrath?

[Anonymous User]

Judge Walsh (D. Del.) is done hiring.

[Anonymous User]

I'm pretty sure that it's either Judge Walrath or Judge Walsh (both Bankr. D. Del.) who has a strict 20% or 25% grade cutoff regardless of what school you attended.

It's not Judge Walsh.

By this do you mean Judge Walsh's standards are higher or lower than this? 2L here so just trying to gauge chances for next year's round of hiring. Good luck to the current 3Ls.

[Anonymous User]

I'm pretty sure that it's either Judge Walrath or Judge Walsh (both Bankr. D. Del.) who has a strict 20% or 25% grade cutoff regardless of what school you attended.

It's not Judge Walsh.

By this do you mean Judge Walsh's standards are higher or lower than this? 2L here so just trying to gauge chances for next year's round of hiring. Good luck to the current 3Ls.

Lower. Have a bunch of BK stuff on your resume and decent grades.

[Anonymous User]

Aside from SDNY and D. Del., anyone hear about judges in other districts/areas making calls and starting to interview yet?

[Anonymous User]

Aside from SDNY and D. Del., anyone hear about judges in other districts/areas making calls and starting to interview yet?

Some judges from other districts have set up interviews. Seems like a lot have not yet responded though.

[Anonymous User]

Made some calls today:
DE is done besides floating clerks and they're not accepting apps for those right now.
Bernstein: Done
Gropper: done
Lifland: extended interviews. Havent offered yet, but plan to do so in immediate future.

[Anonymous User]

Outside of SDNY, DE, are there any other bankruptcy courts of much value.
I have heard Cali, Texas and Chicago have some limited value because of local companies filing... opinions?

[insideman]

Has anyone had any traction with these recently?

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone had any traction with these recently?

Still waiting here and not entirely discouraged yet. Speaking with a few people who applied to BK judges last year, I was told that BK judges outside S.D.N.Y. and D. Del. can vary wildly on when they get around to interviewing and making offers. It's not ideal, but I suppose it keeps the hope alive.

That said, only a few OSCAR judges have indicated they filled their positions, with a few more indicating that they are no longer accepting applications. Most remain open.

[Anonymous User]

Any thought on the whether completing a bankruptcy clerkship makes someone more marketable for a district or circuit court clerkship the following year?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone hear any news about Bankr. E.D.N.Y., specifically Grossman and Trust?

[peter2009]

Has anyone had any traction with these recently?

Still waiting here and not entirely discouraged yet. Speaking with a few people who applied to BK judges last year, I was told that BK judges outside S.D.N.Y. and D. Del. can vary wildly on when they get around to interviewing and making offers. It's not ideal, but I suppose it keeps the hope alive.

That said, only a few OSCAR judges have indicated they filled their positions, with a few more indicating that they are no longer accepting applications. Most remain open.

Almost all bankruptcy judges are done hiring at this point.

[Anonymous User]

Are you pretty much ruled out of consideration if you don't have a journal?

[Anonymous User]

Are you pretty much ruled out of consideration if you don't have a journal?

Clerking for a bankruptcy judge now. He sorts the applications looking for two things on the first pass through: (1) whether the candidate has taken bankruptcy, and (2) whether he or she is on a journal. Anyone that doesn't have those two things is pretty much out of the running, unless they have something else extraordinary in their application.

So it's definitely a significant factor for my judge. Can't tell you how other judges view it though.

[Anonymous User]

For current clerks -- How much of an edge does a current bankruptcy clerk seeking a second clerkship have in the application process?

[Anonymous User]

I have what is probably one of the more preftigeous BK clerkships right now, and I was top-20% at a T25. I recently participated in the interviewing and hiring process for my replacement, and he had a 3.55 from a T25, not sure what the rank was, but I imagine that's pretty good.

As has been said though, interest in bankruptcy is the make-or-break for pretty much every judge. You can probably score a bk clerkship with less-than-amazing grades if you demonstrate true commitment and enthusiasm to bankruptcy law. DON'T TRY AND FAKE IT THOUGH, judges will know immediately if you're just applying because you didn't have the grades for a District Court clerkship. They would much rather hire a competent career clerk than a 3L with middling grades from a T14 who doesn't want to be there.

As for whether BK clerkships are good experiences or not, like all things, it just depends what your alternatives are and what you're into. If you really want to do BK practice, I'd recommend this to anyone. Even outside of SDNY or D. Del. as long as you're in a major city you'll get enough 11s and interesting stuff to keep you engaged, and some of the more interesting research I've done has been on garden variety 7 cases (summary judgment motions can get kinda neat), so don't be too quick to write off the experience based on an imagined lack of complexity in your work.

I can say that the advice about the St. John's LLM is credited if you're 100% sure this appeals to you. Normally I'd never recommend anyone get an LLM, let alone one from a TTT in a city with an astronomical COL, but I know multiple BK clerks in my district alone who went through this program, and they're all very good at what they do.

[Anonymous User]

Are you pretty much ruled out of consideration if you don't have a journal?

Clerking for a bankruptcy judge now. He sorts the applications looking for two things on the first pass through: (1) whether the candidate has taken bankruptcy, and (2) whether he or she is on a journal. Anyone that doesn't have those two things is pretty much out of the running, unless they have something else extraordinary in their application.

So it's definitely a significant factor for my judge. Can't tell you how other judges view it though.

As a current bankruptcy clerk who reviewed resumes for my successor, not having a journal was not a problem. Obviously it is nice to be on law review, but that is more because it means you have good grades.

My judge wanted an interest in bankruptcy, which did not necessarily require having taken bankruptcy already as long as there was some proof of your interest (ex: Duberstein), good grades, and a decent (top 50) law school.