how will a clerkship help me? Forum

[Anonymous User]

current 3L going to a V10 firm in a large east coast market (DC/NYC). if i lateral, it'll be because im fired, asked to leave after 8 years, or want to go to a smaller, better-lifestyle firm in my home market. no desire to work in academia, government, etc.

if i clerked, itd be 1 or 2 years out. will clerking help significantly with partnership/getting clients? will it help significantly with a lateral move to smaller firms? i guess my current thought is that the reputation of my current firm (i think) goes a long ways, so it may be better to stay put, build good relationships, and not forego the income (i have massive loans)... given that most professors seem to have a clerkship or bust mentality and thats all ive been hearing for 3 years, would it be crazy to not apply if i think i have a decent shot of landing something?

oh, i'm also doing litigation.

[Anonymous User]

current 3L going to a V10 firm in a large east coast market (DC/NYC). if i lateral, it'll be because im fired, asked to leave after 8 years, or want to go to a smaller, better-lifestyle firm in my home market. no desire to work in academia, government, etc.

if i clerked, itd be 1 or 2 years out. will clerking help significantly with partnership/getting clients? will it help significantly with a lateral move to smaller firms? i guess my current thought is that the reputation of my current firm (i think) goes a long ways, so it may be better to stay put, build good relationships, and not forego the income (i have massive loans)... given that most professors seem to have a clerkship or bust mentality and thats all ive been hearing for 3 years, would it be crazy to not apply if i think i have a decent shot of landing something?

oh, i'm also doing litigation.

We are very similar. I'm curious if the answers will differ if we are talking about federal district courts or federal courts of appeals. I'm not sure if OP is referring to federal clerkships but I am, and I assume OP is as well since he/she will be at a V10 in NYC/DC.

[Anonymous User]

OP - yup, fed. clerkships. mostly looking at district courts, but who knows, maybe ill get lucky...

[Anonymous User]

If you want to stay at your firm for as long as they'll keep you I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to interrupt things for a clerkship, unless appellate work really interest you and you can land a court of appeals clerkship. Clerking looks good but it won't have much of an effect on whether you make partner or counsel.

[Anonymous User]

If you want to stay at your firm for as long as they'll keep you I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to interrupt things for a clerkship, unless appellate work really interest you and you can land a court of appeals clerkship. Clerking looks good but it won't have much of an effect on whether you make partner or counsel.

op here - thanks for the reply. no interest in doing appellate work (not smart enough and like trial work better anyways). any idea on lateraling down? does clerking give a significant boost or will reputation of former firm carry significant weight on its own? most likely, if i do get forced out or otherwise leave the firm, i'd be looking to go to my home market (think seattle/phoenix/denver-type market).

[Anonymous User]

It will definitely be a fatter check when you start at the firm and supposedly open more doors.

[Anonymous User]

what are the doors it will open outside of academia, AUSA/gov jobs, and clerkship-centric boutiques like kellogg huber/kvn etc.?

[englawyer]

It will definitely be a fatter check when you start at the firm and supposedly open more doors.

sure, you get paid starting with a 2nd yr salary + 50k bonus. but really, thats only +10k salary , +50k bonus in exchange for foregoing 160k+1st yr bonus because you got paid like 60k while clerking. financially it seems about even or possibly in favor of just starting as a first-yr associate.

now whether this helps put you on partnership track or get better assignments is another story. sounds like something extremely difficult to analyze/answer though.

[Anonymous User]

What about those of us who don't want to be litigators per se, but are interested in Government & Regulatory work either as members of a firm or in the federal government?