An Appellate Boutique/Top Appellate Practice Groups Question Forum

[Anonymous User]

I go to GULC, not on LR, and got a clerkship on one of the least prestigious circuits (6/8/10/11) for 2012, solely, I would say, because of my very high grades. Looking at the people who work at Robbins Russell, Kellogg Huber, Mayer Brown, etc., that isn't really a path to work at one of those firms. (Mileage may certainly vary in bigger firms with large, strong appellate groups, e.g. Latham.) Typically, you see people who clerked either at the Supreme Court itself, or with feeders or 2/9/DC Cir non-feeders. Is there anything I can do about this? I could try to use a recommendation from my judge to get to, say, DC Cir in 2014, or, perhaps a bit more realistically, to one of the feeders on his circuit in 2014, if he has relationships with them - but isn't it probable that the same factors that prevented me from getting a judge of that ilk in the first place would in a second go-round? Or does a judge's recommendation carry a great deal of weight? And, would publications help much?

[Anonymous User]

Lol. I'm just the opposite. At a T14, perfect GPA, offers from every T10 firm, but no offer from any federal appellate court even though I applied to over 140 federal appellate judges. Can we trade positions? I envy you.

[Anonymous User]

Lol. I'm just the opposite. At a T14, perfect GPA, offers from every T10 firm, but no offer from any federal appellate court even though I applied to over 140 federal appellate judges. Can we trade positions? I envy you.

Actually we're in similar boats; I have a perfect GPA too, and I suppose I could, post-clerkship, get offers from a lot of v10 firms. (I didn't in the first instance because I transferred from a so-so school.) But getting an offer from an appellate boutique is way chancier than getting one from a huge v10 firm. Unfortunately I can't really see myself doing general lit, much less transactional. Did you not get interviews? In spite of the perfect GPA, I pretty much only got calls from judges whose arms were twisted by my one very helpful recommender.

[Anonymous User]

Lol. I'm just the opposite. At a T14, perfect GPA, offers from every T10 firm, but no offer from any federal appellate court even though I applied to over 140 federal appellate judges. Can we trade positions? I envy you.

Actually we're in similar boats; I have a perfect GPA too, and I suppose I could, post-clerkship, get offers from a lot of v10 firms. (I didn't in the first instance because I transferred from a so-so school.) But getting an offer from an appellate boutique is way chancier than getting one from a huge v10 firm. Unfortunately I can't really see myself doing general lit, much less transactional. Did you not get interviews? In spite of the perfect GPA, I pretty much only got calls from judges whose arms were twisted by my one very helpful recommender.

Pls. excuse my ignorance, but couldn't you do appellate at various top non-boutique firms? Don't a few firms have good appellate departments that clerks would get hired into? Or is it too chancy if you aren't at a strictly appellate boutique.

[Anonymous User]

I also transferred from a so-so school. Most of the T10's have said I could do all appellate work if I wanted.

[Anonymous User]

^ Um, I just wanted to be in the appellate boutique, I guess. Yeah, I would take a larger firm's appellate practice group over not being in appellate.