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Hello,

I'm currently an AUSA in flyover country in the small city I'm from (state Y). I worked in regional BL for two years in state Y and have been with my current office for a year. The judge I interned with while in law school recently reached out to me asking if I'd be interested in coming and clerking for a year with him; the clerk he did have dropped out due to family issues. I didn't clerk out of law school, but it's something I do wish I had done. Here's the thing, I went to law school in a neighboring state (state X) and this judge is in state X and I have no real interest in staying there long term (I'm not 100% opposed to it, but would just prefer a few other places).

Long term, my goal is to be a judge. Don't care if it's on the state side or federal. Just something I've always been interested in. State X also has a better BL market than state Y, and its other neighboring state (state W-which my school does feed into) has a very sizeable BL market, bigger than both state Y and X combined. I'd actually be fine with ending up in state W. To add onto all of this, I did well, but not amazing during law school. I was above median but missed out on honors cut-offs; school is decent regional school like Iowa, Illinois, Indiana type. All that to say, it could be that landing BL post this clerkship (regardless of market) is unlikely due to just my grades and school combo. Not even sure if true BL would be the right next step either. I really enjoy my job atm and had not thought of leaving for quite awhile. This sorta just fell in my lap and am seriously considering it.

Would appreciate any insight- basically, given my goals, would this be a bad decision and, even if I did take the clerkship, would I even be able to land true BL? Thanks all and sorry for the ramble.

I think it's tough to give some kind of definitive answer at this point, in part due to lack of detail about you (not saying you need to or should give more detail here, just that it's a very individual kind of decision), and in part because becoming a judge is likely going to depend on what you do for the next 10-15 years, which is hard to predict even with some of the variables outlined in your post. So this post is mostly stream of consciousness rambling.

I do think clerking is helpful for someone who wants to be a judge, if for no other reason than it gives you an inside look at how the sausage is made, although it's also helpful for expanding your network.

I think, though, that the most important factor in becoming a judge (state or federal) is getting yourself established in a particular market and making as many connections there as you can. The precise logistics may differ a little on the state side depending on whether the state appoints or elects judges, but it's going to be largely about who you know (and what experience you get to sell yourself to the people who matter, but you will need a critical mass of people who can vouch for you.)

So my question is which of these paths seems most likely to help you do that? (To be clear, I think state Y probably has an edge right now but you can still succeed in state X or state W at this point, unless they are particularly insular states that very very very strongly prefer natives - not likely to sink you, I just throw it out there.)

I don't know what your chances are of getting true biglaw after the clerkship - I would say pretty decent, but it depends on more information about you and the markets in question and what the economy is doing at that time. That said, wrt to becoming a judge, I don't think true big law is necessary, especially in smaller markets (which it sounds like X and Y are). I've seen any number of judges get appointed/elected out of federal service, and assuming you're a criminal AUSA, I think prosecutorial experience goes over particularly well in elections for state judges. (Don't know if you could or want to go back to your current job after clerking, though.)

I guess the last thing to consider is - what do you actually want to do, in and of itself, rather than as a means to an end? What kind of work would you want to do for the next 10-15 years if becoming a judge was completely off the table? Because there are so many factors about becoming a judge that you can't control, I don't think you should sacrifice happiness/work life balance/salary/location etc for something you can't guarantee.

This is the OP.

First, thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. This is certainly a bit of a ramble on my part, and I sincerely appreciate any and all insight.

I can give some more details, but some folks are here know me, so I'll try to be a bit sneaky, hah.

I agree, it's quite difficult to try and plan a career around being a judge. I think my other plans, or hopes, would be 1) to stay long term at my office 2) go solo and get on the CJA panel 3) become a fulltime prof 4) work in a state AG office or 5) going to a political boutique shop. I wouldn't mind trying to rake in big bucks for a few years as well and then jumping to one of those options above, but BL would not be something I'd be interested in doing long term. I currently adjunct, but I could see myself transitioning in 10-20 years to doing it fulltime (albeit, that might be another tough one to plan on...). I could certainly see myself doing option 1 or 2 as more realistic, long term options.

I'd say state Y and state X are quite insular, state W is much less. I have connections to all three states, but by far have more connections in state Y (since I'm from here, practice here, immediate family is here, etc.)

I think I would most likely want to go back to doing my current gig after clerking, or, possibly jumping to option 4 or 5 or going BL, off the bat. I can't join the CJA panel until I've got 3 years fed crim experience, so it'll be some time.

Thank you so much again for your advice.