Delaware Clerkship for transactional? Forum

[Anonymous User]

So, I know clerkships tend to lock you into litigation. But my corps professor was saying that clerkships in Delaware are a great way to learn a lot about corporate practice. Is there a possibility of doing a Delaware clerkship and then getting into corporate transactional work at a firm? Is this common?

Having probably struck out at OCI, and not wanting to get locked into litigation by doing a clerkship, I was wondering...

(Btw, if you know my school from this, how about you just not out me, thanks.)

[LurkerNoMore]

Clerkships don't lock you into litigation. People who know that they don't want to do litigation and aren't interested in any of the other career paths where they need to check that box (academia, some gov't jobs) often don't bother because they don't need to do it. But if you get a solid clerkship, you aren't locking yourself into litigation by any means -- especially if you are looking a BigLaw career.

That being said, if you don't get a federal District or COA clerkship and you know you want to do transactional work, I would look at a DE clerkship over any other state or federal magistrate clerkship.

[Anonymous User]

Clerkships don't lock you into litigation. People who know that they don't want to do litigation and aren't interested in any of the other career paths where they need to check that box (academia, some gov't jobs) often don't bother because they don't need to do it. But if you get a solid clerkship, you aren't locking yourself into litigation by any means -- especially if you are looking a BigLaw career.

That being said, if you don't get a federal District or COA clerkship and you know you want to do transactional work, I would look at a DE clerkship over any other state or federal magistrate clerkship.

I know I should know this, but how much more or less selective is a Court of Chancery/Del SC clerkship, as compared to, say, a random District clerkship in a big, but non-SDNY district? Compared to SDNY/NDCA? Random fly-over COA? Significantly less selective? What sort of grades do you need coming from a T10?

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Clerkships don't lock you into litigation. People who know that they don't want to do litigation and aren't interested in any of the other career paths where they need to check that box (academia, some gov't jobs) often don't bother because they don't need to do it. But if you get a solid clerkship, you aren't locking yourself into litigation by any means -- especially if you are looking a BigLaw career.

That being said, if you don't get a federal District or COA clerkship and you know you want to do transactional work, I would look at a DE clerkship over any other state or federal magistrate clerkship.

I know I should know this, but how much more or less selective is a Court of Chancery/Del SC clerkship, as compared to, say, a random District clerkship in a big, but non-SDNY district? Compared to SDNY/NDCA? Random fly-over COA? Significantly less selective? What sort of grades do you need coming from a T10?

Thanks!

Shameless bump - anybody have any idea? Thanks!

[savetheturtles]

There are only 10 clerkship spots available on the Court of Chancery (2 per chancellor) and 6 available on the Delaware Supreme Court, which is what makes them incredibly competitive (I've heard CoA competitive). Can't help you much more than that, because I haven't gone through the process yet. It's definitely not something one settles for after striking out at the District level though. I believe the timeline is similar to federal hiring.

written by a former clerk:
http://truthonthemarket.com/2010/04/12/ ... e-lawyers/

[SpiteFence]

I would like to rehash this topic. If one were attempting to obtain a Chancery Court clerkship, do you all perceive the ideal mix of classes to be heavier on transactional/Corp. classes or general litigation classes?

[kurla88]

I would like to rehash this topic. If one were attempting to obtain a Chancery Court clerkship, do you all perceive the ideal mix of classes to be heavier on transactional/Corp. classes or general litigation classes?

I'd say definitely on the corporate side, corporate litigation really? But I'd talk to your Corporations professor about it.

[Anonymous User]

no LR = fat chance?

[LawIdiot86]

One course I found helpful in obtaining DE interviews even though it doesn't apply at the state level was bankruptcy. The judge I talked to really seemed to like that and it is fairly easy to get a Bankr.D.Del. interview that you parlay into Chancery/SC. Also, they're really big on collegiality and the professor, so it might help to have PR under your belt during 2L.