Texas State Clerkships Forum

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard back from justices on the Texas Supreme Court or from any of the appellate courts in regards to clerkships? What is the typical timeline?

[Anonymous User]

Bump -- I guess no one has heard back?

[Anonymous User]

I clerked at the 14th COA. I was hired the summer before 3L. Application to interview was a few weeks; interview to offer was another week or two. Some judges prefer to hire that early; others wait until federal hiring is mostly over. I think there are 3-4 spots open for 2013-2014. (Some clerks stick around more than a year. Some judges prefer to hire permanent attorneys only.)

I don't know that much about other courts, but I know 1st COA does OCI primarily at UT and frequently hires from that pool (inviting students back to the court for second round of interviews). All or almost all of the term clerks at 1st COA from last year came from UT. The 14th COA hires from a variety of schools -- in my tenure, they've hired T14 through TTTT. They usually just do one interview before hiring.

SCOTX in recent years has posted their application before now, but I see it's not up. Weird. Like the COAs, I'm guessing justices do their own thing and hire when they want.

What's your school rank / grades / etc. like?

[Anonymous User]

Tech/South Texas/St. Mary's, Top 10%, Law Review Editorial Board. I applied to most of the COAs, including the 14th, and the SCOTX through information posted on my school's career services website.

[Anonymous User]

Tech/South Texas/St. Mary's, Top 10%, Law Review Editorial Board. I applied to most of the COAs, including the 14th, and the SCOTX through information posted on my school's career services website.

SCOTX is a long shot. You have a chance at COAs -- I had similar creds, though probably in the bottom tier of the clerks I knew.

I had applied directly to the COA, responding to the job posting on the court's website (1st and 14th are currently posted). I'm not sure how applying through your school's career services website would work -- does your application get sent to the court immediately, or in a group with other students? (I know for internships, all apps from Tech & St. Mary's are sent at one time late in the spring, after most judges have already hired interns -- students who applied directly to the court in December / January had a better shot). Just my $0.02: It would probably be best to send a paper copy directly to the court's recruiting coordinator. That way it has to go through her hands.

Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

Tech/South Texas/St. Mary's, Top 10%, Law Review Editorial Board. I applied to most of the COAs, including the 14th, and the SCOTX through information posted on my school's career services website.

SCOTX is a long shot. You have a chance at COAs -- I had similar creds, though probably in the bottom tier of the clerks I knew.

I had applied directly to the COA, responding to the job posting on the court's website (1st and 14th are currently posted). I'm not sure how applying through your school's career services website would work -- does your application get sent to the court immediately, or in a group with other students? (I know for internships, all apps from Tech & St. Mary's are sent at one time late in the spring, after most judges have already hired interns -- students who applied directly to the court in December / January had a better shot). Just my $0.02: It would probably be best to send a paper copy directly to the court's recruiting coordinator. That way it has to go through her hands.

Good luck!

Thanks for the information! I guess I didn't clarify, but only the job postings were put on the career services website, you still had to directly apply to whichever court you wanted. So, I guess we'll see. I'm just getting a little antsy because the postings have been up for a while, and yet I haven't heard of anyone (from a variety of schools) having any interviews.

[kalvano]

I believe the COA's in Houston are the only ones hiring this term. I think Lang on the Dallas COA hires a clerk, but only from SMU. I know TX SC and COCA apps are due in the next week or so.

[Anonymous User]

I believe the COA's in Houston are the only ones hiring this term. I think Lang on the Dallas COA hires a clerk, but only from SMU. I know TX SC and COCA apps are due in the next week or so.

Oh okay -- thanks for the info! Glad some people are in the know.

[kalvano]

To give you a timeline idea, COCA apps are due in to Career Services at SMU this Friday, 14th COA were due yesterday (Wednesday) and 1st COA are not due until the 15th of September. They said the court extended the deadline.

[Anonymous User]

Updates?