Post Bankruptcy Clerkship Employment Forum

[Anonymous User]

What are some good options? What's the timeline?

[Anonymous User]

Start submitting your resume now.

[emciosn]

Your options will depend in large part on where you are clerking. If you are in SDNY/DE, you could probably land biglaw no problem. After that it is sort of a sliding scale with some pretty good jurisdictions on one end and some not-so-good jurisdictions on the other. This assumes you want biglaw restructuring. The non-corporate jurisdictions would still be a great clerking experience, they just may not give you the exposure the big boys are looks for. Not impossible, just harder. There is other mid-lawish bankruptcy work out there but it's kind of tough to find and may not be interesting to you. Working in a office with a chapter 7 panel trustee comes to mind.

A small handful of firms dominate the restructuring game right now and despite that article on ATL the other day, I'm not convinced hiring will pick up. High end restructuring is just tough to break into without either the right clerkship or a previous relationship with the firm/biglaw (i.e. former biglaw SA). Not to say it can't happen from a second tier jurisdiction, I've seen it happen, it's just kind of rare.

In terms of timeline, you are pretty early. Did you just start? You want to at least give it some time to develop a relationship with your judge. Your judge's connections and recommendation may be very important. Obviously (s)he can't recommend you if (s)he doesn't know your work product. You would be fine waiting until Jan. 1 or later. If you must, you could probably send some stuff out Nov. 1 but you will likely get either radio silence or "touch base with me in five months." Just enjoy your clerkship for now and do your best to make a good impression on your judge.

[aliens]

Prior bankruptcy clerk here. I clerked in a flyover state in a very small market and had next to no options when exiting. I say this not to be disheartening, but if you're not in a powerhouse district or even a relatively major market, you will likely have no real options. I had all the right credentials, but at the time I exited the clerkship (2 years ago), there was no hiring in biglaw restructuring. As with many other types of law, it is either all or nothing. So if you can't get biglaw, then you're stuck with a bankruptcy mill or trustee's office (which often still does debtor work). The only caveat is if your judge will go to bat for you. My judge would not use any influence to help with any clerk's job search and only reluctantly would give recommendations when pressed. The judge was just very concerned with not appearing partial, which I can understand. So I was doing it on my own entirely. I literally got my job offer 2 weeks before the end of the clerkship. Talk about sweating it.... I ended up a small firm making less than what I made in the clerkship. 2 years later and I still make less than I did as a clerk. If you want to ask me more specific questions, feel free to pm me.

[Anonymous User]

Clerkship is not SDNY or DE, but it is a major market. There's a mix of chapter 11 and chapter 7 cases.

[Anonymous User]

You can try the AG honors program; it takes clerks and 3Ls. I'm currently at the U.S. trustee in a major market with two others who were also former clerks