People who know about clerkships, internships, etc... Forum

[Anonymous User]

1) How important is it to get a clerkship in LS?
2) What's better: working for a federal judge or a state judge?
3) How good does it look on your resume if you get an internship during LS at the USAO?
4) How much help do these types of internships/externships help with regards to receiving employment at the state/federal level, bar any hiring freezes.
5) What about working for a mid-law firm before graduating?

I understand that this is dependent on what you want to do afterwards. My goal is to work for the feds/state level attorney. Just looking for some insight!

Thanks!

[dowu]

This is relevant to my interests

[kalvano]

1) Depends on what you want to do when you graduate. Generally, pretty important.

2) Federal is considered more prestigious. If you have a specific state in which you wish to work, a state supreme or appellate court clerkship in that state might trump a federal clerkship on the other side of the country. It would definitely trump a magistrate clerkship, possibly a district court clerkship, but definitely not a COA clerkship.

3) It looks OK. It's better than some things, not as good as others. All depends on the office you work in. But, forget how it looks. I really enjoyed my time there immensely, and highly recommend it to anyone.

4) Familiarity with the federal government is always somewhat helpful in applying for jobs with federal agencies. If you worked at the USAO, did well in Admin Law, etc., that will be important. It will not trump good grades though.

5) What about it? If you like it and they pay you and the work is fun, then do it.

[lawschoolftw]

1) Depends on what you want to do when you graduate. Generally, pretty important.

2) Federal is considered more prestigious. If you have a specific state in which you wish to work, a state supreme or appellate court clerkship in that state might trump a federal clerkship on the other side of the country. It would definitely trump a magistrate clerkship, possibly a district court clerkship, but definitely not a COA clerkship.

3) It looks OK. It's better than some things, not as good as others. All depends on the office you work in. But, forget how it looks. I really enjoyed my time there immensely, and highly recommend it to anyone.

4) Familiarity with the federal government is always somewhat helpful in applying for jobs with federal agencies. If you worked at the USAO, did well in Admin Law, etc., that will be important. It will not trump good grades though.

5) What about it? If you like it and they pay you and the work is fun, then do it.

Generally agree with all of this but I wouldn't say clerking is "important" as much as it is really, really helpful. Clerkships (even at the state level) are hard to come by and no one iwll hold it against you for not having one. But, if you want to be a litigator, clerkships can be a tremendous advatnage.

[Anonymous User]

1) Depends on what you want to do when you graduate. Generally, pretty important.

2) Federal is considered more prestigious. If you have a specific state in which you wish to work, a state supreme or appellate court clerkship in that state might trump a federal clerkship on the other side of the country. It would definitely trump a magistrate clerkship, possibly a district court clerkship, but definitely not a COA clerkship.

3) It looks OK. It's better than some things, not as good as others. All depends on the office you work in. But, forget how it looks. I really enjoyed my time there immensely, and highly recommend it to anyone.

4) Familiarity with the federal government is always somewhat helpful in applying for jobs with federal agencies. If you worked at the USAO, did well in Admin Law, etc., that will be important. It will not trump good grades though.

5) What about it? If you like it and they pay you and the work is fun, then do it.

Generally agree with all of this but I wouldn't say clerking is "important" as much as it is really, really helpful. Clerkships (even at the state level) are hard to come by and no one iwll hold it against you for not having one. But, if you want to be a litigator, clerkships can be a tremendous advatnage.

OP here. Thats really good to know. I was really trying to figure out what the best thing to do for going into the DOJ would be. Any clerkship over another? What's optimal?

What about the DOJ honors program? How hard is it to get into? How helpful would it be if one got into the program?

[NinerFan]

1) How important is it to get a clerkship in LS?

Most people don't clerk. Clerking is very important if you want to go into academia. At the top law schools, for your other typical law school outcomes (biglaw, PI, govt), it's not a necessity.

[Anonymous User]

1) How important is it to get a clerkship in LS?

Most people don't clerk. Clerking is very important if you want to go into academia. At the top law schools, for your other typical law school outcomes (biglaw, PI, govt), it's not a necessity.

Clerking is important for academia, as in clerking for a judge OR clerking for an attorney/attorneys office? Does the word "clerkship" in these contexts mean one or the other?

[NinerFan]

1) How important is it to get a clerkship in LS?

Most people don't clerk. Clerking is very important if you want to go into academia. At the top law schools, for your other typical law school outcomes (biglaw, PI, govt), it's not a necessity.

Clerking is important for academia, as in clerking for a judge OR clerking for an attorney/attorneys office? Does the word "clerkship" in these contexts mean one or the other?

Definitely Judges. I'm talking about a post-graduation clerkship for a federal judge. Anyone can get a clerkship aka internship/externship at an attorney's office.

[target]

Clerking for a judge is what people do after they complete law school. When you are still in law school and work for a judge for a semester, you intern/extern for a judge.

Clerking in other context, like in a law firm or USAO is generally equivalent to internship/externship.

[Anonymous User]

1) How important is it to get a clerkship in LS?

Most people don't clerk. Clerking is very important if you want to go into academia. At the top law schools, for your other typical law school outcomes (biglaw, PI, govt), it's not a necessity.

Clerking is important for academia, as in clerking for a judge OR clerking for an attorney/attorneys office? Does the word "clerkship" in these contexts mean one or the other?

Definitely Judges. I'm talking about a post-graduation clerkship for a federal judge. Anyone can get a clerkship aka internship/externship at an attorney's office.

Oh, okay. I see. So, I guess what I'm REALLY trying to ask is what is the best thing (intern/extern, etc...) thing you can get while IN LS? Something that would put you in a better than average position? Sorry for all of the stupid questions, but I kind of want to have some kind of idea of what I should be trying for come LS.

[NinerFan]

Oh, okay. I see. So, I guess what I'm REALLY trying to ask is what is the best thing (intern/extern, etc...) thing you can get while IN LS? Something that would put you in a better than average position? Sorry for all of the stupid questions, but I kind of want to have some kind of idea of what I should be trying for come LS.

During the summer? A summer associate position at a "biglaw" firm.

[Anonymous User]

Oh, okay. I see. So, I guess what I'm REALLY trying to ask is what is the best thing (intern/extern, etc...) thing you can get while IN LS? Something that would put you in a better than average position? Sorry for all of the stupid questions, but I kind of want to have some kind of idea of what I should be trying for come LS.

During the summer? A summer associate position at a "biglaw" firm.

Okay, but what if you're trying to work for the gov? In those cases, what would be best? Internships at the agency you want to work for?

I know most people can't get gov straight away, so then my question is referring to what would set me up best for the track to working for the gov?

BTW, thank you guys for taking the time to ask these questions.

[desertlaw]

The US gov't is run from the top down, even though our founding fathers preferred this to be not the case.

Therefore, everyone views the "higher" judges as being better/more prestigious/more awesome.