Clerks Taking Questions Forum

[jrf12886]

I'm using gold (as opposed to white) bond paper for my resume and cover letter. Would it be fine if I also printed the rest of my application on gold bond paper instead of regular white paper? I may be overthinking it, but I don't want to come off as pretentious by using gold bond paper for the entire application. But I do think it would look strange if only my resume and cover letter were gold bond.

Bond paper only for cover letter and resume. Writing samples and grade sheets/transcripts should be on regular paper. No one wants 20+ pages of bond paper to flip through.

[lolwat]

I'm using gold (as opposed to white) bond paper for my resume and cover letter. Would it be fine if I also printed the rest of my application on gold bond paper instead of regular white paper? I may be overthinking it, but I don't want to come off as pretentious by using gold bond paper for the entire application. But I do think it would look strange if only my resume and cover letter were gold bond.

Bond paper only for cover letter and resume. Writing samples and grade sheets/transcripts should be on regular paper. No one wants 20+ pages of bond paper to flip through.

This is how I did it too.
I don't know about gold, though. I used some cream colored "off-white" paper which might be what the OP is referring to but I wouldn't use anything too weird.

[mjb447]

I'm using gold (as opposed to white) bond paper for my resume and cover letter. Would it be fine if I also printed the rest of my application on gold bond paper instead of regular white paper? I may be overthinking it, but I don't want to come off as pretentious by using gold bond paper for the entire application. But I do think it would look strange if only my resume and cover letter were gold bond.

I think I'd mostly use gold bond paper for consistency. For multi-page docs - for me that was only my writing sample(s) - I did a cover page in bond paper to match my other docs and the rest on white copier paper. (Seems like kind of an odd line to draw - being concerned that gold paper comes off as pretentious but only if you use it beyond your cover letter and resume. It also probably doesn't matter that much which you do.)

Thanks, very helpful. Also, re the bold, I was under the impression that you had to use nice paper only for your resume and cover letter, but that using nice paper beyond that was not the norm. So that's why I didn't think it would be pretentious to use nice paper for resume and cover letter, but felt that using nice paper for my entire application might be.

I've definitely seen some apps where everything is copier paper, and some where everything is bond paper. Doesn't make any difference to me or any judge I've worked with. (Lots of apps come in through OSCAR, and it's not like we're printing them up on bond paper.)

[BVest]

I find a good middle ground is to just use 28lb color laser paper for everything. I like the office depot house brand. Has a nice feel, is very bright, and is clearly a step above copy paper, but less pretentious (and much cheaper) than bond.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, our clerkship office confirms bond for resume+CL, copier for everything else.

[LurkerTurnedMember]

FWIW, our clerkship office confirms bond for resume+CL, copier for everything else.

I'm so clueless. I had to just google what bond paper was. When I clerked I went through apps for one of my judges to suggest the top candidates for us to interview and one time an app had different type of paper for different documents/pages and I thought, "what is this? Feels different... Are these different types of paper? Wow this person didn't check the printer and accidentally used weird paper for these pages." Hahahaha i guess that was bond paper. But, as far as we were concerned, what was in your resume and app counted. You could smear shit on golden pages but you're still submitting shit. But things might've changed since I went through the ringer.

[BulletTooth]

FWIW, our clerkship office confirms bond for resume+CL, copier for everything else.

This is definitely the gold standard

[lavarman84]

I'm not really seeing the benefits of buying more expensive paper.

[rpupkin]

I can't say I ever noticed paper quality when reviewing clerkship apps, and I'm 95% sure that my judge didn't care/notice either. That said, I think the anon advice above ("bond for resume+CL, copier for everything else") is probably the safest route.

This is one of those areas where you never know when a judge might have a quirk. I can't imagine anyone holding a cover letter or resume printed on bond against an applicant, so it's probably worth it to print those materials on nicer paper.

[A. Nony Mouse]

When I interviewed with the staff in my chambers, they let the intern sit in because they were a non-citizen so couldn't clerk, but was interested in the whole process and so on, and the staff actually commented on the intern being completely amazed by the bond paper for my resume/cover letter. I don't know if that was because no one else did it, though, or because the intern just didn't see a lot of apps. (I applied as an alum when the plan was still a thing so I don't think they'd had tons of apps yet?)

I think this is just totally down to personal preference, honestly. I just did it because I'm old and I was always taught to put resumes/cover letters on fancy paper. I doubt anyone is going to care.

[rpupkin]

I think this is just totally down to personal preference, honestly. I just did it because I'm old and I was always taught to put resumes/cover letters on fancy paper. I doubt anyone is going to care.

Although you may be old by TLS standards, I doubt you're old by judge standards. That's why it's probably worth going through the trouble of printing resumes/cover letters on fancy paper—even though I'm pretty sure I didn't do so when I applied.

[flashdril]

Yeah (sorry, I'm the anon who posted about clerkship office saying bond for R+CL) I think the general thing is before online applications, you'd never hand someone a resume on copier paper. You just put resumes on bond paper, period. When more than half of the applications are going to be printed in chamber, that might seem archaic but if it's a judge that only takes paper apps I think it can only help to use bond paper for the resume and cover letter.

[84651846190]

I'm not really seeing the benefits of buying more expensive paper.

There was no benefit for either of the judges I clerked for.

[84651846190]

Yeah (sorry, I'm the anon who posted about clerkship office saying bond for R+CL) I think the general thing is before online applications, you'd never hand someone a resume on copier paper. You just put resumes on bond paper, period. When more than half of the applications are going to be printed in chamber, that might seem archaic but if it's a judge that only takes paper apps I think it can only help to use bond paper for the resume and cover letter.

My COA judge reviewed paper apps and couldn't give a shit if you printed it on copier paper.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah (sorry, I'm the anon who posted about clerkship office saying bond for R+CL) I think the general thing is before online applications, you'd never hand someone a resume on copier paper. You just put resumes on bond paper, period. When more than half of the applications are going to be printed in chamber, that might seem archaic but if it's a judge that only takes paper apps I think it can only help to use bond paper for the resume and cover letter.

My COA judge reviewed paper apps and couldn't give a shit if you printed it on copier paper.

Cool. The only point anyone is making is that it's professional and costs like $10 to buy some bond paper and won't hurt you.

[rpupkin]

Yeah (sorry, I'm the anon who posted about clerkship office saying bond for R+CL) I think the general thing is before online applications, you'd never hand someone a resume on copier paper. You just put resumes on bond paper, period. When more than half of the applications are going to be printed in chamber, that might seem archaic but if it's a judge that only takes paper apps I think it can only help to use bond paper for the resume and cover letter.

My COA judge reviewed paper apps and couldn't give a shit if you printed it on copier paper.

Cool. The only point anyone is making is that it's professional and costs like $10 to buy some bond paper and won't hurt you.

Right.

[84651846190]

Yeah (sorry, I'm the anon who posted about clerkship office saying bond for R+CL) I think the general thing is before online applications, you'd never hand someone a resume on copier paper. You just put resumes on bond paper, period. When more than half of the applications are going to be printed in chamber, that might seem archaic but if it's a judge that only takes paper apps I think it can only help to use bond paper for the resume and cover letter.

My COA judge reviewed paper apps and couldn't give a shit if you printed it on copier paper.

Cool. The only point anyone is making is that it's professional and costs like $10 to buy some bond paper and won't hurt you.

no one cares

[rpupkin]

Cool. The only point anyone is making is that it's professional and costs like $10 to buy some bond paper and won't hurt you.

no one cares

You clerked for two judges. You're not in a position to say that the hundreds (thousands if you include state positions) of chambers to which an applicant might apply won't care. C'mon dude. If you really did clerk, you surely heard stories about weird quirks that individual judges had.

[84651846190]

Cool. The only point anyone is making is that it's professional and costs like $10 to buy some bond paper and won't hurt you.

no one cares

You clerked for two judges. You're not in a position to say that the hundreds (thousands if you include state positions) of chambers to which an applicant might apply won't care. C'mon dude. If you really did clerk, you surely heard stories about weird quirks that individual judges had.

I have indeed heard many stories, and not a single one of them involved the type of paper an applicant printed something on. I would question working for someone who gives any kind of meaningful weight to something so trivial.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Judges give weight to all kinds of things because they're individuals and what they think about hiring goes.

[rpupkin]

I have indeed heard many stories, and not a single one of them involved the type of paper an applicant printed something on.

Same here. But I certainly heard stories about judges caring about stuff just as trivial as bond paper versus regular paper. As I mentioned in another thread, I knew of a judge who took particular offense at thank-you emails (but who loved hand-written thank-you notes). The point is that you never know what traditional thing—and, as Nony points out, nicer paper for resumes is a traditional thing—a particular judge might care about for some reason.

Like I said, I didn't care about paper weight at all when I reviewed clerkship applications; I didn't even notice. And I really doubt my judge cared or noticed. But given the low cost involved in printing your resumes and cover letters on nicer paper, and given the outside chance that some quirky judge (or some quirky JA who acts as the gatekeeper for clerkship apps) cares about it, I really can't think of a reason not to do it.

[84651846190]

Judges give weight to all kinds of things because they're individuals and what they think about hiring goes.

Definitely a true statement.

[lavarman84]

I have indeed heard many stories, and not a single one of them involved the type of paper an applicant printed something on.

Same here. But I certainly heard stories about judges caring about stuff just as trivial as bond paper versus regular paper. As I mentioned in another thread, I knew of a judge who took particular offense at thank-you emails (but who loved hand-written thank-you notes). The point is that you never know what traditional thing—and, as Nony points out, nicer paper for resumes is a traditional thing—a particular judge might care about for some reason.

Like I said, I didn't care about paper weight at all when I reviewed clerkship applications; I didn't even notice. And I really doubt my judge cared or noticed. But given the low cost involved in printing your resumes and cover letters on nicer paper, and given the outside chance that some quirky judge (or some quirky JA who acts as the gatekeeper for clerkship apps) cares about it, I really can't think of a reason not to do it.

I will not be doing it on principle. I will stand up to judicial abuses of my wallet by picking something trivial. Take that judge bond paper carer abouter.

Truthfully, I just don't think it's worth the time or effort for the marginal benefit.

[rpupkin]

I will not be doing it on principle. I will stand up to judicial abuses of my wallet by picking something trivial. Take that judge bond paper carer abouter.

Truthfully, I just don't think it's worth the time or effort for the marginal benefit.

I hope you realize that many parts of your application—including stuff like the content of your cover letter, the 1L internship on your resume, and that third LOR from a professor who really doesn't know you that well—are of marginal benefit.

For my judge, I'd say that 98% of what mattered was law school + grades + phone calls from profs my judge knew + interview. Everything else was pretty marginal. But that doesn't mean it was a good idea for an applicant to ignore the other stuff, as you never know when the 2% will matter.

I'm reminded of the experience of someone I know who got an interview (and an offer) with a SCOTUS justice. She was surprised because her credentials—while excellent by most standards—were a bit below that of the typical SCOTUS clerk. During her clerkship, she found out why the Justice interviewed her, and it turned out to be due to a minor thing about her application that was even more quaint and subtle than bond paper.

Anyway, it's fine not to do things on principle if it makes you feel better, but I can't say it's the most sensible attitude to have if you really want a clerkship. In some ways, applying for clerkships is basically about doing a bunch of minor things that—taken in isolation—won't matter for the majority of judges you're applying to but which might make the difference with the one judge who ends up making you an offer.

[lavarman84]

I hope you realize that many parts of your application—including stuff like the content of your cover letter, the 1L internship on your resume, and that third LOR from a professor who really doesn't know you that well—are of marginal benefit.

Absolutely. However, those are all mandatory in a clerkship application.

For my judge, I'd say that 98% of what mattered was law school + grades + phone calls from profs my judge knew + interview. Everything else was pretty marginal. But that doesn't mean it was a good idea for an applicant to ignore the other stuff, as you never know when the 2% will matter.

I'll take my chances.

I'm reminded of the experience of someone I know who got an interview (and an offer) with a SCOTUS justice. She was surprised because her credentials—while excellent by most standards—were a bit below that of the typical SCOTUS clerk. During her clerkship, she found out why the Justice interviewed her, and it turned out to be due to a minor thing about her application that was even more quaint and subtle than bond paper.

Like I said, I'll take my chances. I have no shot at SCOTUS, but I recognize the anecdote is more widely applicable than that.

Anyway, it's fine not to do things on principle if it makes you feel better, but I can't say it's the most sensible attitude to have if you really want a clerkship. In some ways, applying for clerkships is basically about doing a bunch of minor things that—taken in isolation—won't matter for the majority of judges you're applying to but which might make the difference with the one judge who ends up making you an offer.

I already have a D. Ct. clerkship. I'd like to clerk at the COA level, but it's not a huge deal if I don't. Due to my school (outside of the t14), I have a feeling that a lot of judges will toss my application without even reading it. I know the wisdom will be that should convince me to maximize my chances elsewhere, but I don't think it's worth the time and money for the marginal, if any, benefit.

Frankly, my best shots at a COA clerkship will come from connections. My hope was that I could get one on merit without having to call in connections, but that's likely not going to happen.