Grades/School Rank for a DC Circuit Clerkship Forum

[Anonymous User]

Will #1-3ish at a T30 cut it?

Do you have to be on the exec board of your law review or be published?

[Anonymous User]

Will #1-3ish at a T30 cut it?

Do you have to be on the exec board of your law review or be published?

0% odds at a T30 at a DC Cir clerkships (yeah, every few years it happens, but its exceedingly rare). #1-#3 at a T30 has a decent shot at flyover COA or with a COA judge who regularly hires from the school. DC Cir is dominated by HLS, YLS, and SLS (plus a smattering of T6)... many of the lower T14's only place someone there every couple years (though, FWIW, these same T14's regularly place with feeders in the 4th, 6th, etc.). Plus, outside of the 'prestige', there are many better circuits for clerkships -- I'd rather have a heavy docket with a wide variety of cases than a slow docket with a heavy admin law load.

[Anonymous User]

From everything I've heard, once you reach top grades at a school, connections with important professors become far more important than minor differences on the resume. I think one of the reasons HYS has such a monopoly over the DC circuit is that so many of the resident professors are trusted by the judges and can go to bat for their favorite students by making phone calls and writing glowing letters. Outside of HYS, it's a lot more important to look through your professors' CVs to see if any of them have clerked on the DC circuit themselves and really go out of your way to try to wow them. Obviously top grades are a must, but top grades with no professor connections won't do it. That's why many T14s only place someone there every couple years -- at least, that's what I sense.

[Anonymous User]

That would be helpful if any of my professors knew my name. Time to start making friends I guess.