Corporate to Clerkship? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello all,

I'm currently a junior associate in a transactional practice. I graduated with below median grades (not too many H grades, but nothing below a P) from Y/H/S.

I really want to shoot my shot at being a litigator, so a clerkship is the dream. My questions are, 1) is a clerkship even possible? Really all I have going for me is that I have a YHS degree and some interesting pre-law school experience. 2) what judges have quick turnaround times?

Any advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

[jotarokujo]

Hello all,

I'm currently a junior associate in a transactional practice. I graduated with below median grades (not too many H grades, but nothing below a P) from Y/H/S.

I really want to shoot my shot at being a litigator, so a clerkship is the dream. My questions are, 1) is a clerkship even possible? Really all I have going for me is that I have a YHS degree and some interesting pre-law school experience. 2) what judges have quick turnaround times?

Any advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

I'd first try to switch to litigation at your firm or lateral to a firm to do litigation. Any clerkship you could get would probably start in fall '24 at the earliest. You do have a good chance at magistrate clerkships

[Anonymous User]

Hello all,

I'm currently a junior associate in a transactional practice. I graduated with below median grades (not too many H grades, but nothing below a P) from Y/H/S.

I really want to shoot my shot at being a litigator, so a clerkship is the dream. My questions are, 1) is a clerkship even possible? Really all I have going for me is that I have a YHS degree and some interesting pre-law school experience. 2) what judges have quick turnaround times?

Any advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

I'd first try to switch to litigation at your firm or lateral to a firm to do litigation. Any clerkship you could get would probably start in fall '24 at the earliest. You do have a good chance at magistrate clerkships

Firm doesn't let people switch unfortunately. Do biglaw lit groups pay clerkship bonuses to people with magistrate clerkships?

[jotarokujo]

Firm doesn't let people switch unfortunately. Do biglaw lit groups pay clerkship bonuses to people with magistrate clerkships?

I'd say most high rank biglaw lit groups, e.g. Wilmer, PW, do but some don't

[OPM]

Hello all,

I'm currently a junior associate in a transactional practice. I graduated with below median grades (not too many H grades, but nothing below a P) from Y/H/S.

I really want to shoot my shot at being a litigator, so a clerkship is the dream. My questions are, 1) is a clerkship even possible? Really all I have going for me is that I have a YHS degree and some interesting pre-law school experience. 2) what judges have quick turnaround times?

Any advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

You probably know that most really competitive clerkships are off the table. But there are plenty of less competitive federal clerkships that hire people below median from HYS, especially if you have ties, an interesting background, good recs etc. District is going to be a lot more forgiving for you, since many less competitive district judges rarely even see HYS apps and your school alone may give you a significant advantage (and they may not all even understand your grades). Being in corporate isn’t super helpful, but if you’re at a very prestigious corporate firm, that will blunt some of the side eye. Judges do appreciate that some people want to use the clerkship to transition to lit, and some judges may actually view that positively. But in order to make all of this work, you will need strong recs, a good writing sample, and a polished application.

[Anonymous User]

Hello all,

I'm currently a junior associate in a transactional practice. I graduated with below median grades (not too many H grades, but nothing below a P) from Y/H/S.

I really want to shoot my shot at being a litigator, so a clerkship is the dream. My questions are, 1) is a clerkship even possible? Really all I have going for me is that I have a YHS degree and some interesting pre-law school experience. 2) what judges have quick turnaround times?

Any advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

You probably know that most really competitive clerkships are off the table. But there are plenty of less competitive federal clerkships that hire people below median from HYS, especially if you have ties, an interesting background, good recs etc. District is going to be a lot more forgiving for you, since many less competitive district judges rarely even see HYS apps and your school alone may give you a significant advantage (and they may not all even understand your grades). Being in corporate isn’t super helpful, but if you’re at a very prestigious corporate firm, that will blunt some of the side eye. Judges do appreciate that some people want to use the clerkship to transition to lit, and some judges may actually view that positively. But in order to make all of this work, you will need strong recs, a good writing sample, and a polished application.

Not OP, but similar situation. Is there a sense for how kneecapping a year in corporate is? Like is it going to be outcome determinative for competitive clerkships