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I am currently a 3L, & up till now, I thought I wanted to go straight PI. I worked in state gov't after 1L and big fed after 2L (think: FTC / DOJ). I'm at a T6 and probably top 30%. I did meh 1L, but received all As and A-s last year.

3L job prospects seemed relatively dim, so when I got an opportunity to clerk for a state trial-level attorney, I took it. The judge has an entirely criminal docket and seems like a great mentor, but I am aware that there is some stigma in the legal community surrounding these types of opportunities.

I'm interested in eventually being an AUSA or working for DOJ, but big law seems like the best route to get there. Would I be able to go straight to big law from here? Would I need to fed clerk first? Would two years of clerking look bad to an employer?

Do you want to practice criminal law? If so, I don't know that big law would be the place for you anyways. It seems like the other well-trodden path to an AUSA is ADA, and the state criminal experience would be really useful to them. I don't see that a criminal-focused state court clerkship would be that useful to a big firm, whose criminal cases (to the extent they even have any) would all be in federal court, but you could always try and spin it I suppose. I don't think firms give a clerkship bonus for state clerkships (though I could be wrong), so there's that to consider too. Basically, if money is not a major issue, and your primary interest is in criminal law/PI, I think there's ways to get to an AUSA spot without the detour into big law.

Seems like you have biglaw creds regardless of clerkship.

You have two non mutually exclusive routes here. You could either apply to biglaw entry level/junior associate/post-clerkship gigs now, and mention early when the earliest you could start is.

You could apply to fedclerk, and I’d begin immediately. If you’re geographically flexible, with your creds, you should probably succeed.

Good luck.

clerkship helps a small amount for lit, none for corporate

(1) Seems like you have biglaw credentials now. Maybe you could seek a pre-clerkship summer job at a biglaw firm? Or talk to your school's career service folks if they know of anyone looking?

(2) I know lots of people that went from state level clerkships to biglaw. Most examples I can think of are from DC superior court, but I've seen it elsewhere too. I don't think there's a stigma, but it's not the normal path that a federal clerkship provides. I'd play up the things you've learned as a clerk that will be relevant to whatever position you'll be applying for. E.g., rules of evidence, courtroom presentation, what's convincing to judges and juries. If you're applying for a civil class action defense job don't lead with "my clerkship was all criminal so I don't know anything about class actions."

(3) You mentioned a second clerkship on a federal court. I think that could be a good path too. I clerked twice and got some questions (I did fed. coa -> biglaw -> fed. d. ct.). I just explained why I thought it was an opportunity to learn things I otherwise wouldn't be able to learn in my career. People loved it. It made me look like a go getter I think. Seems like the same would be true for a state trial clerkship and a federal d. ct. or coa clerkship. Most cases are in state court. You're going to get an idea of how judges make decisions on their feet to keep their busy docket going. You're going to get inside info on the judges in your county. You're going to see way more jury trials. Play that type of stuff up.

(4) If your goal is AUSA, why do biglaw at all? You might land an AUSA job right out of the clerkship. I know a person that interviewed me at the DDC USAO did that. Or you could go to a DA's office and then to a USAO.

12YrsAnAssociate wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 03, 2021 4:51 pm

(2) I know lots of people that went from state level clerkships to biglaw. Most examples I can think of are from DC superior court, but I've seen it elsewhere too. I don't think there's a stigma, but it's not the normal path that a federal clerkship provides. I'd play up the things you've learned as a clerk that will be relevant to whatever position you'll be applying for. E.g., rules of evidence, courtroom presentation, what's convincing to judges and juries. If you're applying for a civil class action defense job don't lead with "my clerkship was all criminal so I don't know anything about class actions."

I've just started a clerkship in the DC superior court and was wondering if you had any other info about people who have went into biglaw afterwards. From the people you were thinking of, were they all from T14s? Are they only at firms in DC? Are they in specific practice areas?

lawpsych wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:24 pm

12YrsAnAssociate wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 03, 2021 4:51 pm

(2) I know lots of people that went from state level clerkships to biglaw. Most examples I can think of are from DC superior court, but I've seen it elsewhere too. I don't think there's a stigma, but it's not the normal path that a federal clerkship provides. I'd play up the things you've learned as a clerk that will be relevant to whatever position you'll be applying for. E.g., rules of evidence, courtroom presentation, what's convincing to judges and juries. If you're applying for a civil class action defense job don't lead with "my clerkship was all criminal so I don't know anything about class actions."

I've just started a clerkship in the DC superior court and was wondering if you had any other info about people who have went into biglaw afterwards. From the people you were thinking of, were they all from T14s? Are they only at firms in DC? Are they in specific practice areas?

I was referring to people I worked with and knew when I was an associate in DC at one of the more DC-brand biglaw firms (e.g., Hogan-type firms). It's been a few years. The ones that I can think of all went to American/Catholic-level schools. I don't recall if any went to T14s. All did litigation or white collar. Some probably had some litigation specialty. It's been so long since I left DC that I'm not sure if any of them are still in biglaw. I'd just do some google searches. If your judge has some alums at firms, maybe try to meet up. I really like getting to know and helping the clerks of the judges I clerked for.

I was T6 above median, clerked for a district judge for two years straight out of law school, and I struggled to find employment. I got a good number of biglaw callbacks, but only one offer from a litigation boutique paying market.

State trial judge is just unheard of.

The kind of people I see getting market-paying out of state clerkships are something like: 2-4 years biglaw lit, 1-2 years state supreme (ny/nj).

It's very, very hard to lateral to biglaw lit if you have limited work experience.

FWIW, the only people I’ve seen go to USAOs from state clerkships went the state prosecutor route and came in as seasoned trial attorneys rather than through biglaw. I don’t think USAOs really care about/pay any attention to state clerkships, unfortunately.

I think if you want to go to a USAO via the traditional biglaw route rather than via state prosecution, a federal clerkship would help a lot. I’d be a little surprised if a state trial clerkship got you to biglaw. I don’t think clerking for 2 years is really an issue when they’re different kinds of courts - at most a biglaw firm might bring you in as a second year rather than a third year.

There are, generally speaking, two paths to AUSA that I've seen.

1) ADA 5-10 years to AUSA.

2) BL to AUSA.

Clerking can be done in either of these cases, and I don't think it hurts to do a state one if you're going route 1. I don't think it even necessarily hurts for option 2, but it doesn't help either. You can certainly do a state clerkship then fed. I know there are also some folks who go straight from fed clerkship to AUSA, but I think this is fairly rare.

In my district, option 1 is the more common route, and doing a state court clerkship with a judge who is familiar with the folks who are ADAs doesn't hurt.