Must have upper-class courses for Clerkships? Forum

[Magnificent]

So I'm gunning for an appellate clerkship following graduation. I'm planning on taking these courses before graduation.

Corporations
Evidence
Admin
Fed Courts
Antitrust
Fed Income Tax
Crim Pro
Securities Reg

Am I missing anything?

[leobowski]

Employment discrimination/ employment law. Immigration too, unless you're competitive for circuits like the 2nd where they have their own immigration-specific clerks.

You may also want to take a mix of black-letter and seminar courses, to make your life easier and taken advantage of the grade inflation in seminars. I took black-letter courses exclusively over my 2nd year and it was brutal. Also consider whether you need to take some easier courses to have time for law review.

Edit: wait are you a 1L? Forget about clerkships until you get grades back/ get on LR. The classes you take don't even matter that much.

[Magnificent]

Employment discrimination/ employment law. Immigration too, unless you're competitive for circuits like the 2nd where they have their own immigration-specific clerks.

You may also want to take a mix of black-letter and seminar courses, to make your life easier and taken advantage of the grade inflation in seminars. I took black-letter courses exclusively over my 2nd year and it was brutal. Also consider whether you need to take some easier courses to have time for law review.

Edit: wait are you a 1L? Forget about clerkships until you get grades back/ get on LR. The classes you take don't even matter that much.

2L....already on LR.....gonna see if I get on admin board next semester

right now I'm planning on taking 2 of these BLL classes a semester and one-two seminars mixed in.

[vanwinkle]

I took black-letter courses exclusively over my 2nd year and it was brutal.

This. Especially if one of them is Fed Courts. Take that as a 3L.

[ph14]

Employment discrimination/ employment law. Immigration too, unless you're competitive for circuits like the 2nd where they have their own immigration-specific clerks.

You may also want to take a mix of black-letter and seminar courses, to make your life easier and taken advantage of the grade inflation in seminars. I took black-letter courses exclusively over my 2nd year and it was brutal. Also consider whether you need to take some easier courses to have time for law review.

Edit: wait are you a 1L? Forget about clerkships until you get grades back/ get on LR. The classes you take don't even matter that much.

Is this school specific or generally true at all schools?

[Magnificent]

I took black-letter courses exclusively over my 2nd year and it was brutal.

This. Especially if one of them is Fed Courts. Take that as a 3L.

don't the most competitive judge wanna see a good Fed Courts grade before they hire?

[I.P. Daly]

Although certainly not necessary, a course on remedies might be helpful...

[vanwinkle]

I took black-letter courses exclusively over my 2nd year and it was brutal.

This. Especially if one of them is Fed Courts. Take that as a 3L.

don't the most competitive judge wanna see a good Fed Courts grade before they hire?

No, they just want to know that you're taking it, from what I understand.

I'll put it this way: I was one of only two 2Ls in my Fed Courts class. At HLS. Everyone else was a 3L. If you had to take it as a 2L, wouldn't there be more 2Ls in there?

[Magnificent]

I took black-letter courses exclusively over my 2nd year and it was brutal.

This. Especially if one of them is Fed Courts. Take that as a 3L.

don't the most competitive judge wanna see a good Fed Courts grade before they hire?

Not necessarily. Although they want to see Fed Courts, they want to see all As/Hs/HHs/182s more. An A in employment discrimination will get you further, with most judges, than a B+ in Fed Courts. And as pointed out above, you can always take Fed Courts after you land your clerkship, thus satisfying any demand on the judge's part.

but wouldn't getting an A in Fed Courts be more impressive than getting an A in employment?

I assume that someone who got all A's in corporations, fed courts, admin, etc. would be a more impressive candidate for a feeder judge than someone who got all A's in labor, employment, immigration, etc.

[vanwinkle]

but wouldn't getting an A in Fed Courts be more impressive than getting an A in employment?

I assume that someone who got all A's in corporations, fed courts, admin, etc. would be a more impressive candidate for a feeder judge than someone who got all A's in labor, employment, immigration, etc.

Sure, but the A in Fed Courts will be far harder to get.

People usually don't take Fed Courts unless they want a competitive clerkship. And as discussed, very few 2Ls take it. So you're going to be competing with 3Ls, most of whom are on LR and have a train of As running down their transcript already. And Fed Courts is (IMO) the most difficult subject matter to grasp in law school.

You have a high risk of not getting an A in Fed Courts; if you really, really want a prestigious clerkship, aim outside the gunner pit for 2L courses.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

I took black-letter courses exclusively over my 2nd year and it was brutal.

This. Especially if one of them is Fed Courts. Take that as a 3L.

don't the most competitive judge wanna see a good Fed Courts grade before they hire?

Not necessarily. Although they want to see Fed Courts, they want to see all As/Hs/HHs/182s more. An A in employment discrimination will get you further, with most judges, than a B+ in Fed Courts. And as pointed out above, you can always take Fed Courts after you land your clerkship, thus satisfying any demand on the judge's part.

Tangent question for G.T.L. Rev. (or anyone else who wants to answer): Is admin law really necessarily? I've heard that besides Fed Courts, that it might be the second-most "required" class for clerkships. Please destroy this dirty rumor because I think taking admin law sounds awful.

[Magnificent]

Tangent question for G.T.L. Rev. (or anyone else who wants to answer): Is admin law really necessarily? I've heard that besides Fed Courts, that it might be the second-most "required" class for clerkships. Please destroy this dirty rumor because I think taking admin law sounds awful.

I've heard its necessary for the DC circuit if you want to clerk there. Don't know about the other circuits.

[quiver]

Tangent question for G.T.L. Rev. (or anyone else who wants to answer): Is admin law really necessarily? I've heard that besides Fed Courts, that it might be the second-most "required" class for clerkships. Please destroy this dirty rumor because I think taking admin law sounds awful.

Can't speak to your question directly since I'm only a 2L, but I'm taking Admin now and it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. If you like Con Law you'll like at least half of Admin.

[ph14]

Tangent question for G.T.L. Rev. (or anyone else who wants to answer): Is admin law really necessarily? I've heard that besides Fed Courts, that it might be the second-most "required" class for clerkships. Please destroy this dirty rumor because I think taking admin law sounds awful.

Can't speak to your question directly since I'm only a 2L, but I'm taking Admin now and it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. If you like Con Law you'll like at least half of Admin.

Personally not a big fan of administrative law.