Pigeon-Holed from Clerkship? Forum

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Grad1234

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Pigeon-Holed from Clerkship?

Post by Grad1234 » Tue May 29, 2012 3:50 pm

I'm a recent grad who decided to go the clerkship route. I struck out on the federal clerkships, but I got a state superior court clerkship for a judge who, at the time, was part of the court's general division. He heard crim and civil. Many months ago, I accepted the position to be his clerk for two years.

Today I got a phone call letting me know that the judge volunteered to take an 18 month stint in the court's family law division. This means that he will exclusively hear family law cases for the next 18 months. Some time in the second year of my clerkship, he will switch back to the general division and we will again hear crim and civil cases like before. However, the majority of my clerkship would be spent exclusively in the family law division.

I'm okay with doing the work for that year, but I'm worried that I will be pigeon-holed by firms once I have finished. I do not want to practice family law. How much of a problem will have with recruiters when they find out that most of my clerkship was exclusively in the area of family law? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Thanks.

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Re: Pigeon-Holed from Clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed May 30, 2012 8:12 am

Or what about, more generally, being pigeon-holed as a litigator when you may or may not want to be a litigator? What is the value for practice areas where clerkships might be more tangentially valuable (Regulatory, International Disputes, Government Contracts, etc.)?

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