2012 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

Did anyone here applied outside of the continental US, aka Hawaii?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone willing to divulge what district (or state?) the already calling judges are?

(Would love a PM if you don't want to make it public.)

NY - won't go any further than that.

[Anonymous User]

Did anyone here applied outside of the continental US, aka Hawaii?

I didn't apply to Hawaii but I did to the Virgin Islands

[Mroberts3]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it matters that some judges are calling already. My guess is that those judges are off plan and would have been calling if the app had been submitted last week -- it just so happens that a lot of us finalized a large number of apps right before Sept. 4.

Congrats to those who got calls, but I wouldn't worry about missing anything until Friday if you are applying on plan.

[Anonymous User]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it matters that some judges are calling already. My guess is that those judges are off plan and would have been calling if the app had been submitted last week -- it just so happens that a lot of us finalized a large number of apps right before Sept. 4.

Congrats to those who got calls, but I wouldn't worry about missing anything until Friday if you are applying on plan.

One of mine was on-plan I believe. I guess just because they say they abide by it, doesn't mean that they do.

[Anonymous User]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it matters that some judges are calling already. My guess is that those judges are off plan and would have been calling if the app had been submitted last week -- it just so happens that a lot of us finalized a large number of apps right before Sept. 4.

Congrats to those who got calls, but I wouldn't worry about missing anything until Friday if you are applying on plan.

One of mine was on-plan I believe. I guess just because they say they abide by it, doesn't mean that they do.

Ditto. The judge I know of who was calling yesterday expressly listed themselves as on-plan and stated that they would not look at 3L applications until Sept. 4. I'm not saying it's common, but people should be aware that "on-plan" judges may call ahead of the official time, and have also been known to schedule interviews before the official interview day.

[Anonymous User]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it matters that some judges are calling already. My guess is that those judges are off plan and would have been calling if the app had been submitted last week -- it just so happens that a lot of us finalized a large number of apps right before Sept. 4.

Congrats to those who got calls, but I wouldn't worry about missing anything until Friday if you are applying on plan.

One of mine was on-plan I believe. I guess just because they say they abide by it, doesn't mean that they do.

Ditto. The judge I know of who was calling yesterday expressly listed themselves as on-plan and stated that they would not look at 3L applications until Sept. 4. I'm not saying it's common, but people should be aware that "on-plan" judges may call ahead of the official time, and have also been known to schedule interviews before the official interview day.

Agreed. I think you have to look at the verbiage more closely on OSCAR. Judges who indicate that they stringently follow the hiring plan or something similar will do so, but more general terminology or nothing at all does not mean that they are following those dates. My interview is on Friday morning. My guess is that judges want to get this done as quickly as possible and move on.

[Anonymous User]

School: Top 25
Rank: 30%
Journal: Board of secondary
Applied for: over 100 judges

Feelings: Know it's going to be tough, but wanted to try anyway.

[Mroberts3]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it matters that some judges are calling already. My guess is that those judges are off plan and would have been calling if the app had been submitted last week -- it just so happens that a lot of us finalized a large number of apps right before Sept. 4.

Congrats to those who got calls, but I wouldn't worry about missing anything until Friday if you are applying on plan.

One of mine was on-plan I believe. I guess just because they say they abide by it, doesn't mean that they do.

Ditto. The judge I know of who was calling yesterday expressly listed themselves as on-plan and stated that they would not look at 3L applications until Sept. 4. I'm not saying it's common, but people should be aware that "on-plan" judges may call ahead of the official time, and have also been known to schedule interviews before the official interview day.

I stand corrected. I do find it odd though because if you are a judge and want to hire right away, why not just not follow any part of the plan? Why wait until the 4th and then call right away?

[Anonymous User]

School: T20
Rank: ~Top 12%
Journal: On LR, no position, note is getting published
Moot Court: Some success at the in-school competitions, but not on national team
Judges: District courts in flyover country, couple of magistrates, and some state SCT in the market I'm working in

Expectations: lulz

[Anonymous User]

lower t14, 30%, 2ndary Journal board
4 apps to D.Ct judges and 1 app to a magistrate judge

Why so few apps? Do you only want to clerk in one market?

yep, focusing on one district. applied to judges still hiring + 1 magistrate with a particularly good reputation

[Anonymous User]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it matters that some judges are calling already. My guess is that those judges are off plan and would have been calling if the app had been submitted last week -- it just so happens that a lot of us finalized a large number of apps right before Sept. 4.

Congrats to those who got calls, but I wouldn't worry about missing anything until Friday if you are applying on plan.

One of mine was on-plan I believe. I guess just because they say they abide by it, doesn't mean that they do.

Ditto. The judge I know of who was calling yesterday expressly listed themselves as on-plan and stated that they would not look at 3L applications until Sept. 4. I'm not saying it's common, but people should be aware that "on-plan" judges may call ahead of the official time, and have also been known to schedule interviews before the official interview day.

I stand corrected. I do find it odd though because if you are a judge and want to hire right away, why not just not follow any part of the plan? Why wait until the 4th and then call right away?

My bet is that judges that do that have sorted through their alumni applications and did not like what they saw.
They shotgun the 3L apps on Monday and contact applicants they like and see what happens. I'm getting the feeling that this is not as cut and dry of a process as applying to big law where if you have the GPA and the extras you get an interview. I have heard more anecdotal evidence of judges targeting former athletes, ultimately selecting people at median at a TT, etc. Seems like everything/everyone is in play moreso than with firms.

[nevdash]

Just got a call from an unknown number in the area code where I go to school (where I most want to clerk). Got my hopes up for two seconds, but it was my school's alert system informing us of a bomb threat. I hope it was made by another law student equally unnerved about clerkship apps.

[Anonymous User]

Nominally on-plan judges on 9th and 11th Circuits have made calls.

[Anonymous User]

Nominally on-plan judges on 9th and 11th Circuits have made calls.

Judges?

[Anonymous User]

Nominally on-plan judges on 9th and 11th Circuits have made calls.

Judges?

Do you really expect me to answer that?

[Anonymous User]

Nominally on-plan judges on 9th and 11th Circuits have made calls.

Judges?

Do you really expect me to answer that?

I guess not...sorry. In last year's clerkship thread a lot of people said what judges they got calls from. Thanks for the update though.

[Anonymous User]

just heard (second hand) that an "on-plan" judge in a very selective district says s/he will not be considering applications or making calls until October. Has anyone else heard of judges waiting that long to hire for the next fall?

[Anonymous User]

Ding from an on-plan District Judge in the Fourth Circuit.

[Anonymous User]

Nominally on-plan judges on 9th and 11th Circuits have made calls.

Judges?

Do you really expect me to answer that?

I guess not...sorry. In last year's clerkship thread a lot of people said what judges they got calls from. Thanks for the update though.

Sorry, didn't mean to come off as brusque. I just don't want to expand b/c I feel doing so could out me. I will say, however, that neither judge accepted online (OSCAR) applications (in other words, I submitted paper apps).

[Anonymous User]

Nominally on-plan judges on 9th and 11th Circuits have made calls.

Judges?

Do you really expect me to answer that?

I guess not...sorry. In last year's clerkship thread a lot of people said what judges they got calls from. Thanks for the update though.

Different poster, but I have heard of Anderson, Marcus, and Hull making calls already

[Anonymous User]

is it standard practice to send out dings - or since there are so many applicants, they only make the effort to reach out to those they want to interview?

I've got a slim-to-none shot at any District or magistrate positions with my Top 20% ranking at a top 30 school on a secondary journal. Applied all over.

[Anonymous User]

just heard (second hand) that an "on-plan" judge in a very selective district says s/he will not be considering applications or making calls until October. Has anyone else heard of judges waiting that long to hire for the next fall?

One or two judges stated on oscar that they did not plan to interview anyone until October or even as late as December or next spring. I've heard informally of others doing so without notice.

[Anonymous User]

SDNY judge made a call today setting up an interview tomorrow

[Anonymous User]

Is there any point to adding more apps on OSCAR if the position is still listed as available and it says the judge is accepting applications until September 30 (or a later date)? Or does everyone download the apps at 12:01 yesterday and that's it?

I am thinking I may have overreached and should add more non-big-city district court judges. Is there any point to that now?