Making up for lack of law review Forum

[Anonymous User]

2L who hopes to land a federal clerkship eventually.

I'm currently on a secondary journal. If I get elected to Articles Editor and get my note published, does that make up for the fact that I'm not on law review?

[Anonymous User]

Law review has lost its cachet at a lot of schools, because at many schools it's no longer strictly grades-based. You are more competitive for federal clerkships if you have very high grades and no law review than you are if you have average grades and are on law review. If you're at a T14, focus on getting the highest grades you can in black-letter doctrinal courses. If you're not at a T14, then try to be at the very tippy top of the class. Also try to develop good relationships with professors for recommendations. A leadership position on a secondary journal and a published note are great, but those are soft factors.

[Anonymous User]

I think for a lot of judges, getting something published or winning some kind of writing contest would serve as a reasonable proxy for the kind of writing ability that law review suggests you have. Getting published in a journal you don’t work for would probably be even better. But a lot of judges don’t care about law review and I agree that grades and good relationships with profs, who can ideally call judges for you, are more important.

You didn’t ask this exactly, but I wouldn’t go for articles editor just for the sake of clerking if the job will make you hate your life. If you think it would be interesting, go for it (I liked being on e-board). But I don’t think it makes a big enough difference if you’re going to hate it. (Publishing your note is probably worthwhile - it’s extra work but not insanely so.)

[Anonymous User]

Law review has lost its cachet at a lot of schools, because at many schools it's no longer strictly grades-based. You are more competitive for federal clerkships if you have very high grades and no law review than you are if you have average grades and are on law review. If you're at a T14, focus on getting the highest grades you can in black-letter doctrinal courses. If you're not at a T14, then try to be at the very tippy top of the class. Also try to develop good relationships with professors for recommendations. A leadership position on a secondary journal and a published note are great, but those are soft factors.

Thanks for the reply. Not at a T14. Grades are borderline for getting a clerkship at my school (I have a high class rank, but as you've indicated, it needs to be even higher), but that's the focus of course. Have good recommenders lined up. Just hoping to solidify as many soft factors as possible along the way.

I think for a lot of judges, getting something published or winning some kind of writing contest would serve as a reasonable proxy for the kind of writing ability that law review suggests you have. Getting published in a journal you don’t work for would probably be even better. But a lot of judges don’t care about law review and I agree that grades and good relationships with profs, who can ideally call judges for you, are more important.

You didn’t ask this exactly, but I wouldn’t go for articles editor just for the sake of clerking if the job will make you hate your life. If you think it would be interesting, go for it (I liked being on e-board). But I don’t think it makes a big enough difference if you’re going to hate it. (Publishing your note is probably worthwhile - it’s extra work but not insanely so.)

This is also helpful, thanks. It's good to hear that law review may not be a dealbreaker for all judges; my school has been reinforcing that it is, and it's been a bit disheartening. I do enjoy articles (but you couldn't pay me to do research editor), but I guess I'll have to see how things shake out. I just want to maximize clerkship chances as much as possible.