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I've applied to all. I've gotten a couple of interviews. All things equal, which should I take?

1. Federal Court of Appeals judge (prob obv #1) both in and out of state I want to practice
2. Federal Court of Appeals judge with senior status both in and out of state I want to practice
3. Federal District Judge both in and out of state I want to practice
4. Federal District Judge with senior status both in and out of state I want to practice
5. Chief Federal District Judge
6. Federal Magistrate Judge both in and out of state I want to practice
7. Chief Federal Magistrate Judge
8. Federal Bankruptcy Judge
9. Chief Federal Bankruptcy Judge
10. State Supreme Court Judge in state I want to practice
11. State Court of Appeals Judge in state I want to practice
12. State County-level Trial judge not in county I want to practice


Assume T14 median.


Sorry for the long post.

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thanks for the non-helpful response. several of them in the response emails asking for interviews called them clerkships.

let's go back in time and pretend I typed "internships" to ease the butthurt.

TTT-LS beat me to it. Call it a judicial internship. If you get school credit, call it a judicial externship. Calling it a clerkship (esp. on a resume) is confusing, and it may make you look dishonest--like you're trying to say it's like a post-JD paid judicial clerkship.

SCOTUS
Federal COA
Fed District==State Supreme Court for a small state--a bigger state's supreme court is probably more prestigious.
State COA for a small state--don't know for a larger state.
State Metro district court
State rural district court

Doing the clerkship in an area where you plan to work (esp. for district court gigs) is more helpful than at a distant location because firms who hire may be interested in hiring you because you understand the quirks of specific judges whom they will have to argue before.

If you have the time, I would ask career services for the names of students that have clerked/interned with the judges you have secured interviews with. For the purpose of an internship, it really isn't the level of the judge, but the judge him or herself that should be determining factor. Some interns get seated in the court's library tolling on disjointed research projects or doing clerical work and may never even see the judge more than once or twice. Some interns get to see the judge all the time and work on substantive projects. Some judges are amazing mentors, some are unpleasant to be around. I would go with judge that will offer the best experience, rather than the judge with the best title. Figuring that out will largely come through word of mouth, which is why hooking up with alumni who have first hand experience with the judges is a good idea.

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