Clerking chances Forum

[Anonymous User]

T25 LS, T10 UG, ~3.5 GPA (3.4 1L fall, 2.7 1L spring, 3.85 2L fall and spring), no LR or secondary journal, A's in all writing classes (1L LRW, 2L seminars), no summer experience working for a judge

Had dismissed the idea of clerking after abysmal 1L spring and failing to make a journal, but after strong grades 2L year, wondering again if clerking is possible

Interested in everyone's thoughts on:
(a) chances of landing a district court clerkship somewhere in the country
(b) chances of landing a circuit court clerkship somewhere in the country
(c) chances of DC/CC clerkship if looking only at courts in 4/5/9/11th circuits

[romothesavior]

Can't answer your question, but I'd imagine it would help people tremendously if you gave your tier (CCN, MVP, etc.) and your class %ile.

[Anonymous User]

Can't answer your question, but I'd imagine it would help people tremendously if you gave your tier (CCN, MVP, etc.)

First thing I wrote was "T25 LS," which I assumed would be understood as "I attend a top 25 law school as ranked by the U.S. News & World Report."

and your class %ile.

Good point. Just above 25th percentile. (edit: i.e., slightly better than 25th percentile)

[Anonymous User]

1. COA almost certainly out of the question unless you have a serious connection.

2. District MIGHT happen if you have very strong recs and your professors are willing to make phone calls. You'd still have to apply very broadly though and be very willing to work in a flyover district. Still, even with phone calls, chances would be very slim.

[D-ROCCA]

Federal courts are probably out, state supreme courts may be possible if you continue to get good grades and develop a solid extracurricular since no LR.

[OldManHunger]

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[OldManHunger]

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[Anonymous User]

Well thanks for the input, all, even if it isn't all roses.

A couple things for GTLR:
(1) I think you need to check what '<' and '>' mean (unless you're saying I have a "greater than 3% chance" of landing a DC clerkship, in which case it would be nice if you could narrow down that range of probabilities a little bit)
(2) I'm well aware of the near tautology that 2L GPAs > 1L GPAs. However, at my school, the average semester GPA for 2L/3Ls is about 0.1-0.2 higher than the average semester GPA for 1Ls, whereas my 2L GPA was about 0.6-0.7 higher than the 1L average. Moreover, this rise was not on account of "gaming" the system. Of my 34 2L credits (the maximum allowed per year at my school), all were graded, only two were "cupcake," six were for seminars on serious legal issues, and the remainder were in curved bar exam subjects. If this doesn't change your opinion, that's fine; I know clerking for a federal judge will be an uphill battle with lackluster 1L grades and no journal membership. I appreciated your candor, but I also feel your analysis was at least partly based on faulty assumptions about my transcript. If judges really do examine the contents of transcripts as scrupulously as you suggest, the differences between my grades and your assumptions about them seem material, at least to this clerkship neophyte.

[robotclubmember]

tautology? neophyte? you're just saying words now. this is the internet. you're not a neophyte, ur a newb lul.

[timbs4339]

Well thanks for the input, all, even if it isn't all roses.

A couple things for GTLR:
(1) I think you need to check what '<' and '>' mean (unless you're saying I have a "greater than 3% chance" of landing a DC clerkship, in which case it would be nice if you could narrow down that range of probabilities a little bit)
(2) I'm well aware of the near tautology that 2L GPAs > 1L GPAs. However, at my school, the average semester GPA for 2L/3Ls is about 0.1-0.2 higher than the average semester GPA for 1Ls, whereas my 2L GPA was about 0.6-0.7 higher than the 1L average. Moreover, this rise was not on account of "gaming" the system. Of my 34 2L credits (the maximum allowed per year at my school), all were graded, only two were "cupcake," six were for seminars on serious legal issues, and the remainder were in curved bar exam subjects. If this doesn't change your opinion, that's fine; I know clerking for a federal judge will be an uphill battle with lackluster 1L grades and no journal membership. I appreciated your candor, but I also feel your analysis was at least partly based on faulty assumptions about my transcript. If judges really do examine the contents of transcripts as scrupulously as you suggest, the differences between my grades and your assumptions about them seem material, at least to this clerkship neophyte.

What he was saying was that his judge (or whoever reviews applications) analyzes applications that meet certain standards (i.e. top 1-3% at a T14) very closely. The same level of scrutiny probably does not extend to someone who is top 25% at a T25, no matter the GPA bump, unless that bump puts them within the top 1-3% range.