Leaving biglaw for fed district clerkship Forum

[poweradezero]

Worth it? Assuming u cant come back to the firm after.

[PMan99]

This really comes down to a couple of questions:

Do you want to clerk?
Do you want to change your firm/job?

I know a few people who have left as juniors (or even juniorish midlevels) to go clerk. Economically, it probably isn't the best idea. If you really want to clerk, go for it. If you want to try to get into the gov't, or a good boutique, it may be your best shot. You'll at least likely be able to switch to a different biglaw firm. If you're doing it because you're bored, that's a different call.

[RaceJudicata]

Isn't this sort of a moot point since you are an ADA in a flyover state looking to work as a staff attorney at a district court? Or is that a different random hypothetical?

[poweradezero]

Just wanted to ask here for my friend whos doing biglaw now. How about Ada to fed. Clerkship? Would that be a good idea?

[RaceJudicata]

See Pman's post.

[Anonymous User]

I left biglaw as a 4th year to clerk for a fed district court. It turns out that the firm invited me to come back, but I didn't know they would when I decided to leave.

Here's why I did it:

(1) I was burnt out and I don't think I could have made it another year in biglaw. The year off really refreshed me and allowed me to get back into the right mindset;

(2) I wanted to move cities. My biglaw firm has offices in other cities, but it's risky to ask to transfer. Since I was burnt out on biglaw anyway, I figured the clerkship would be the best way to move markets; and

(3) I have an interest in possibly working as an AUSA in the future, and I was told USAOs value clerkships.

Here's why you may not want to:

(1) Firms tend to question the commitment of people that leave biglaw to clerk. I tested the market and had a very bad time of it;

(2) As a 4th year I was already drafting, and the things I needed work on weren't really things you do as a clerk;

(3) Firms will probably cut you down a class year for it.