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cchen815

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legal clerkships

Post by cchen815 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:47 am

Does anyone know how hard it is to get a clerkship in: (1) a federal district court in the districts of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, or the Nothern Mariana islands; (2) the New York Court of Appeals; the (3) the Supreme Court of California; or (4) the Supreme Court of Illinois? What numbers do I need from a T17-T20 school?

00TREX00

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by 00TREX00 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:53 pm

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Last edited by 00TREX00 on Thu Aug 01, 2013 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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A'nold

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by A'nold » Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:04 pm

Trying to get prestige and a year of Hawaii, huh?

cchen815

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by cchen815 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:07 pm

Trying to get prestige and a year of Hawaii, huh?

Actually, no. Hawaii would be nice but I would much rather work in NY or CA if I could in order to start building connections there (during my clerkship). The reason I listed those districts for federal courts is because I am a non-US citizen and those are the only federal district courts I can clerk at as a non-US citizens. Most state courts allow non-US citizens to clerk; however, it wouldn't be useful for me to just pick a random state if I had no intention of staying at that state after the clerkship.

I appreciate all your feedback. If anyone else can give me more advice, Iwould appreciate it.

cchen815

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by cchen815 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:23 pm

Also, just wondering, even if I got one of those clerkships (which is hard), ITE, how much would it really enhance my ability to get a firm job after the clerkship (if people arne't hiring that much)? If I got into a decent boutique or midsized firm, should I take one of those clerkships instead (again assuming I got it). Would big law be in the picture if I got one of those clerkships?

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cchen815

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by cchen815 » Sun Feb 13, 2011 12:45 am

The thing is I was a transfer student and it seemed that the large law firms didn't know what to make out of my prior law school's transcript (i.e. most others at my school had transcript's from current law school, I only had transcripts from a prior law school). So, I did not do that well at OCI at my current T17-T20. I did pretty well during the first semester of my 2L year here.

Not sure if that changes your analysis.

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ggocat

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by ggocat » Sun Feb 13, 2011 2:10 am

cchen815 wrote:What numbers do I need from a T17-T20 school?
cchen815 wrote:I did pretty well during the first semester of my 2L year here.
The more information you give, the easier it will be for people to give advice/predictions.

cchen815

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by cchen815 » Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:32 am

Top quarter from T18-20 school. Hopefully I can bring this up; the school's grading system makes it relatively easy for you to improve your ranking from semester to semester (of course, the corollary of ths is that it is also easier for you to drop in the rankings). Editor on official school journal (but not law review).

Strong softs - bilingual (reading, writing, speaking); CPA and worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 3 years prior to law school; two book awards from previous school (not sure if this is relevant).

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by Master Tofu » Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:02 am

You need a strong writing sample; think about publishing a note. Talk to your advisor; usually there is a professor at your school who is the point-person for clerkships. He or she can probably give you better advice. Think about who you are going to ask for in terms of faculty recommendations. The grades are what they are at this point; you should just focus on what you can do to improve the rest of your application.

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ggocat

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by ggocat » Sun Feb 13, 2011 5:45 pm

You could have a shot at a state court or a non-Hawaii federal court if you also have ties to the state/territory. Those are all desirable places. You will have competition with people from higher ranked schools with better grades (and lower ranked with much better grades). My guess is you'd need something other than grades and journal to get an interview (e.g., personalized prof recommendation and/or cover letter). Best of luck!

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Feb 13, 2011 5:49 pm

How hard are the Dt Courts in Georgia for people with hardcore ties? Think UGA undergrad and grew up in the state and top 10.

cchen815

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Re: legal clerkships

Post by cchen815 » Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:01 pm

To be honest, I don't have any ties with Hawaii, Guam, PR, etc. I don't have that many ties with NY either other than I want to live there after graduation and I have a lot of friends there? Like I mentioned, I am a non-US citizen. I think I have a good writing sample; how high do I need to bring up my grades to have a decent shot? Top 20% Top 15? Top 10?

Thanks

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