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Would love to hear people's opinions on which is better for trying to secure an appellate clerkship. Here's the situation.

I have decided I will not apply for EIC/ME positions. They just aren't worth it to me. Yes, they're a huge pay off for clerkship applications, but the cost is just too high. I am, however, considering doing the highest position for Notes on our Board.

But, I have the opportunity to do an externship with a federal district court judge. (He's a friend of a friend and has space for me.)

That being said, I have to choose between the two because of P/F credit restrictions at my school. Thus, I can't do both. I have to pick between them. Which do you think would be more valuable for an application to an Art III CCA judge? Is the answer different for a D. Ct.?

Why isn't it an option to do the externship for no credit? (And, thus, be able to do both.)

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:Why isn't it an option to do the externship for no credit? (And, thus, be able to do both.)

Or to do LR for no credit...?

If you must chose for whatever reason, I'd suggest doing LR editorial position. It'll serve you better across the board.

Nice ninja delete, OP.

Thanks. Op here.

I am already on law review, moot court, a student organization board, and RAing, so I don't know if I would have the sanity to add board responsibilities AND a judicial internship on top of that. Thank you for the suggestion though.

Thanks for the insight Patrick. Any other thoughts?

board position: on your resume/firm bio forever

externship: questionable value; could be high, could be low. i'd only choose this if i had some inside knowledge on this judge being able and willing to help me land a clerkship.

IAFG wrote:board position: on your resume/firm bio forever

externship: questionable value; could be high, could be low. i'd only choose this if i had some inside knowledge on this judge being able and willing to help me land a clerkship.

cr. I'd do the board position OP, unless you get the impression that this judge has gone out of his way for you, in which case you might want to take the externship.

I would say editorial board, unless you think doing the externship with the D. Ct. judge is necessary to get a clerkship with the judge. I made the same decision not to run for Editor-in-Chief/top 3, and I don't think it hurt me too much (will be clerking for a federal appellate judge next year coming out of a T50). While doing a judicial internship will give you a taste of what you'll be doing as a clerk (and gives you some fodder for the "Why do you want to clerk?" question), I don't think there's much of an added bonus. The judges I interviewed with definitely took an interest in my editorial board responsibilities.

I guess I'm the exception. I'm the EIC of a secondary journal and (from what I could gather from the judge) landed a clerkship based on doing 3 externships (at state courts, no less) and the recommendations from the judges. The judge I'm clerking for didn't even ask about journal.

Also, from a career POV, journal is so god damn useless and such a waste of time. Externing has been incredibly interesting and valuable in my experience. I'd say extern.

I was EIC of my school's main law review and am currently clerking at the appellate level. My judge will, in general, only look at applications from students who are either #1, #2, or #3 in their class, or top 10% + board position. (Exceptions for schools that don't rank, like Harvard.) I'd say board position. While the externship is more useful as a practical matter, the board position will go further with securing a clerkship.

Does anyone know why judges care about law review? Not asking this rhetorically. I just don't see any correlation whatsoever between being able to Bluebook well and do objective legal analysis.

OP here.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Passed on the externship as per everyone's advice. Will be applying for Ed Board.