2021-2022 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know, of the circuit judges with available positions still posted for 2021-2022, which ones are actually still hiring? I assume Flaum, Baldock, and Rawlinson are all still hiring/haven't started.

Word on the street is Flaum has not started hiring and has no immediate plans to until he can do in-person interviews. Not sure how long he'll hold to his guns on that, as it seems doubtful that will be safe before at least the spring, giving a pretty short time between potential hiring and start dates.

Edit: This is pure speculation on my part (not based on any insider info) but I also wonder if he might be considering going senior, as that could be an additional factor in delaying his posting I suppose.

I would expect a lot of turnover in the Seventh if Biden wins. I would be shocked if Rovner doesn't go senior, probably Flaum too, and Barrett's seat will open. Feinerman will likely get elevated and could become an even-feedier judge. Easterbrook and Wood could also go senior but seem to be healthy and have a lot left in the tank. I can't see Kanne willingly retiring under a Democrat even though he's getting up there.

It could also become pretty liberal very quickly. Sykes, Kanne, and Brennan could be the only truly reliable Fed Soc judges left active by 2022.

Kanne was actually set to go senior in 2018, but he withdrew his senior status letter when Pence torpedoed his law clerk as his successor.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/ ... mp-1411915

I wonder whether this means he won't assume senior status under a Republican administration that includes Pence.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have a sense if any of the judges in this latest batch will be a particularly shiny name to have on a resume for 2022 COA applications?

Going to a district that makes sense for your career is almost certainly more important, but Gujarati and Robinson were top AUSAs in their respective areas and Scarci, Blumenfeld, and Hinderaker were biglaw partners. If you define "batch" broadly Cronan is debatably the standout confirmee of the summer, particularly for conservatives, and he's tight with at least a few of the more prominent CA2 judges (including Katzmann).

Anyone have insight on Gujarati's hiring and if she has spots left?

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have a sense if any of the judges in this latest batch will be a particularly shiny name to have on a resume for 2022 COA applications?

Going to a district that makes sense for your career is almost certainly more important, but Gujarati and Robinson were top AUSAs in their respective areas and Scarci, Blumenfeld, and Hinderaker were biglaw partners. If you define "batch" broadly Cronan is debatably the standout confirmee of the summer, particularly for conservatives, and he's tight with at least a few of the more prominent CA2 judges (including Katzmann).

Anyone have insight on Gujarati's hiring and if she has spots left?

Mildly interestingly, Cronan and Gujarati co-taught at NYU before Cronan moved to DC and now moved to the bench together

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

FRIENDLY REMINDER: OSCAR will be down from Oct. 26 through Nov. 2. Hopefully, we'll have a much improved website afterward.

[Anonymous User]

FRIENDLY REMINDER: OSCAR will be down from Oct. 26 through Nov. 2. Hopefully, we'll have a much improved website afterward.

I predict I will see exactly as much movement on my applications during the OSCAR blackout as I've seen every week since striking out on the plan. Looking forward to a system that wasn't designed to run on Windows 95.

[Anonymous User]

Chutkan (DDC) has hired for 2022, per the court's website.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if the recent CD Cal nominees have made offers for 2021? Especially Scarsi and Blumenfeld?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if the recent CD Cal nominees have made offers for 2021? Especially Scarsi and Blumenfeld?

Someone at my school (CCN) accepted an offer from Blumenfeld recently

[Anonymous User]

Hi All!

I secured a district court clerkship for 2022-2023 last week and I'm super excited. I was hoping to update my Court of Appeals applications for 2021 and (more realistically) 2023 and wasn't sure how to go about doing that on OSCAR for maximum impact. I've obviously added it to my resume and cover letter, which I will re-upload for any still open applications, but is there anything else I should be doing so that it gets seen?

Thanks for the help! This thread has been so helpful throughout my law school experience, so I'm hoping it will come through for me once more.

[Anonymous User]

Hi All!

I secured a district court clerkship for 2022-2023 last week and I'm super excited. I was hoping to update my Court of Appeals applications for 2021 and (more realistically) 2023 and wasn't sure how to go about doing that on OSCAR for maximum impact. I've obviously added it to my resume and cover letter, which I will re-upload for any still open applications, but is there anything else I should be doing so that it gets seen?

Thanks for the help! This thread has been so helpful throughout my law school experience, so I'm hoping it will come through for me once more.

Afaik there's nothing else you can do on your end, but you can ask your district court judge for advice on the appellate application process. They may be willing to send your app directly to appellate judges they know, which increases your odds a lot versus being in the generic pile (and at least means it'll get read).

And yeah I don't think you're getting a 2021 COA at this point.

[Anonymous User]

Looks like we might get three lame duck Trump COA appointments: Barrett's seat on CA7, Flaum's seat on CA7 (most likely going to Martha Pacold if they can confirm someone, and she has presumably already hired), and Torruella's seat on CA1.

[Anonymous User]

Looks like we might get three lame duck Trump COA appointments: Barrett's seat on CA7, Flaum's seat on CA7 (most likely going to Martha Pacold if they can confirm someone, and she has presumably already hired), and Torruella's seat on CA1.

Why Flaum? Did I miss some announcement where he's going senior?

[Anonymous User]

No big public announcement that I've seen, just an update on the future vacancies page:

https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgesh ... -vacancies

[Anonymous User]

Looks like we might get three lame duck Trump COA appointments: Barrett's seat on CA7, Flaum's seat on CA7 (most likely going to Martha Pacold if they can confirm someone, and she has presumably already hired), and Torruella's seat on CA1.

Why Flaum? Did I miss some announcement where he's going senior?

He’s going senior Nov 30. @fedjudges on Twitter is some anonymous lawyer who posts a lot of bleeding edge confirmation news on their account and associated blog, it’s a good resource for this sort of thing.

[Anonymous User]

Ok technically this is for a much later term, but did anyone else who applied to Judge Breyer in ND Cal for 2023 get an email asking for updates if they accept an appellate clerkship for an earlier term? Part of me wants to take it as a good sign that they read my application, part of me suspects everyone who applied without a prior appellate clerkship got the same email.

[Anonymous User]

I am considering doing a clerkship. I am interested in doing criminal prosecution as a career but the judge will be primarily handling civil cases during my time there. A job is a job especially in these uncertain times but how much do you think that would hurt my prospects of going into criminal prosecution directly afterwards. The judge just switched to civil.

[april_ludgate]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

[nixy]

I feel silly even responding because your qualifications are so much better than mine ever were and my gut response is that something will definitely come through for you, but: have your profs/anyone else made calls? When you say "basically every liberal federal judge," have you been focusing on COA or DCt or both? My suspicion is that your application may have just not clicked with the right people based on your early more limited applications, and that you've fallen into sort of a hiring lull caused by covid - like maybe you missed 2021, but it's too early for the judges who will be interested in you to hire for 2022, and/or judges' schedules are hard to predict this year. (I'd also suggest maybe not limiting by "liberal," unless you mean just "not batshit conservative I could in no way work for," but that's a very personal choice.) Otherwise all I can say is, yes, hang in there - it's a really idiosyncratic process and sometimes it takes a long time for no great reason.

[lavarman84]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

You have three great recs from pretty big names? Are they willing to make calls? I would expect they would be pretty well connected. If so, make use of that. You need any leg up you can get. Are you applying to COA, D. Ct., or both? Outside of persevering, the best advice is to use your school's network (professors and former/current law clerks) and your personal network to the greatest extent you can.

[Anonymous User]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

You have three great recs from pretty big names? Are they willing to make calls? I would expect they would be pretty well connected. If so, make use of that. You need any leg up you can get. Are you applying to COA, D. Ct., or both? Outside of persevering, the best advice is to use your school's network (professors and former/current law clerks) and your personal network to the greatest extent you can.

I tried to vaguely ask them, and no dice. Unfortunately I'm not the best networker--I wouldn't even know where to start. I'm a books bitch :'( but thank you for the advice. I know that's my only hope left

[april_ludgate]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

You have three great recs from pretty big names? Are they willing to make calls? I would expect they would be pretty well connected. If so, make use of that. You need any leg up you can get. Are you applying to COA, D. Ct., or both? Outside of persevering, the best advice is to use your school's network (professors and former/current law clerks) and your personal network to the greatest extent you can.

I tried to vaguely ask them, and no dice. Unfortunately I'm not the best networker--I wouldn't even know where to start. I'm a books bitch :'( but thank you for the advice. I know that's my only hope left

whoops did not mean to anonymously reply to that

[april_ludgate]

I feel silly even responding because your qualifications are so much better than mine ever were and my gut response is that something will definitely come through for you, but: have your profs/anyone else made calls? When you say "basically every liberal federal judge," have you been focusing on COA or DCt or both? My suspicion is that your application may have just not clicked with the right people based on your early more limited applications, and that you've fallen into sort of a hiring lull caused by covid - like maybe you missed 2021, but it's too early for the judges who will be interested in you to hire for 2022, and/or judges' schedules are hard to predict this year. (I'd also suggest maybe not limiting by "liberal," unless you mean just "not batshit conservative I could in no way work for," but that's a very personal choice.) Otherwise all I can say is, yes, hang in there - it's a really idiosyncratic process and sometimes it takes a long time for no great reason.

I did both CoA and Dct from the start!

[Iowahawk]

I assume you know this, but in case you don't, appointing president is a rough-at-best proxy for district judge ideology in states with Democratic senators. I don't think even the most liberal student would refrain from applying to Liman, who's a Stevens clerk ex-NAACP Trump appointee, for example. If you really want to clerk you probably want to broaden to the more moderate Trump/GWB/etc. judges, but that's a personal decision; the more right-wing ones won't hire someone who did impact lit and is obviously liberal anyway. Watch out for new confirmations in the Biden presidency, you might even have a shot at them for 2021.

[lavarman84]

I tried to vaguely ask them, and no dice. Unfortunately I'm not the best networker--I wouldn't even know where to start. I'm a books bitch :'( but thank you for the advice. I know that's my only hope left

You RA'd for professors, and they won't make any calls? Harsh. Regardless, that's not your only avenue. I am assuming your law school has a list of current and former clerks. Make a list of judges for whom you want to work and are realistic given your credentials. (Obviously, make sure those judges haven't already hired for the terms you want.) Then, look at the list of former clerks, reach out to some who recently clerked for the judges on your list, and ask to talk to them about their experiences with those judges.

Given the pandemic, you'll probably be limited to Zoom and telephone calls, but it's worth doing. They might end up being willing to forward your resume or application to the judge, the JA, or a current clerk. That at least gets you out of the pile. Even if they aren't, they might be able to give you tips on how to appeal to that judge's idiosyncrasies.

(Also, I don't know which impact lit place you interned, but if it's a fancy one, odds are you worked with people who clerked. If you made a good impression there, talk to some of those people, and see what they have to say. If they liked you, they might well go to bat for you with their judges.)