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I am completing a district court clerkship in a major market and starting a district court clerkship in a much smaller market. The smaller market is where I want to practice. My tie to the smaller market is that I went to law school there and it is much closer to family (but still several hours away). I'm not a T14 graduate but went to a tier 1 school and graduated magna with law review.

I plan to target firms in both markets, starting with the smaller market. When should I start applying? All of the clerks at my last clerkship had positions early on, so I didn't get much advice there. I had the 2nd clerkship lined up before starting the first so I haven't applied to firms since 3L.

I have seen people post that clerks should apply anywhere between August and December. Any advice is appreciated.

1. ask judge on policy regarding interviewing with firms
2. another thread has someone just send out applications in november; if firm isn't hiring yet, they'll likely tell you. most firms I talked to said winter/spring of clerkship year.

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