Preparing for Clerkships @UChicago? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Drop everything and apply but do not be discouraged because many great judges are not hiring yet.

Talk to your recommenders, but make sure they are in the know. For instance, Levmore or Case are probably out of the loop. However, Baude, Strahi, etc. are definitely in. Don't cold email Mortara for help.

Reach out to 3Ls who are clerking for judges you are interested in. They are generally happy to talk about their experiences all day. They can also likely give you more detailed insights into particular chambers.

Look at the clerkship list and feel free to reach out to alums. Cold works but if you can find a connection for an introduction, even better. I would probably put a 7-10 year limit on this. I found the most helpful alums clerked within the last 5 years for the judges that I was interested in.

Apply broadly at this stage. Most of the judges hiring now are extremely competitive. Keep at it and you will get something. I know people who got clerkships before the end of 1L and some who got them the last quarter of 3L. It's stressful but both you and your judge will want to make sure the fit is right. A clerkship is more than a resume line; it's a mentor and career advice for the foreseeable future. You want it to be the right person.

Good luck!!

Seconding “don’t cold email Mortara.” He’s more than willing to help if you actually sort of know him from coffee mess or Fed Soc or something but he’ll (reasonably) ignore cold emails. The current Fed Soc president is super friendly and approachable and I’m sure he’s made himself very useful to off-plan 1Ls.

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

Yes, I received my email this morning.

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

Last year it went out 7/26, so that’d be a little early. Of course there were grades last year.

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

Yes, I received my email this morning.

Congrats! I missed it with a 181.

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

Yes, I received my email this morning.

Congrats! I missed it with a 181.

Sorry you missed it--I wonder if only having 50% of your grades had an effect, i.e. there were more high GPAs that otherwise would've leveled out a bit more. Made it last year with somewhere in the 180.5-181 range.

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

Yes, I received my email this morning.

Congrats! I missed it with a 181.

Sorry you missed it--I wonder if only having 50% of your grades had an effect, i.e. there were more high GPAs that otherwise would've leveled out a bit more. Made it last year with somewhere in the 180.5-181 range.

Thank you. I imagine the P/F spring did have an impact. I felt a little bummed because I really wanted the extra institutional support, especially in terms of clerkships. Do you have any advice on what my next steps should be for getting clerkship support as a non-K&E non-FedSoc student?

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

Yes, I received my email this morning.

Congrats! I missed it with a 181.

Sorry you missed it--I wonder if only having 50% of your grades had an effect, i.e. there were more high GPAs that otherwise would've leveled out a bit more. Made it last year with somewhere in the 180.5-181 range.

I had 182.9 after the first two quarters my first year and third quarter reverted me to the mean a lot, I'm sure that's pretty common and the reason the cutoff must've been sky high (it's always been between 180.5-181 before I think). Should've waited for three quarters of grades this year before handing it out imo.

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

Yes, I received my email this morning.

Congrats! I missed it with a 181.

Sorry you missed it--I wonder if only having 50% of your grades had an effect, i.e. there were more high GPAs that otherwise would've leveled out a bit more. Made it last year with somewhere in the 180.5-181 range.

I had 182.9 after the first two quarters my first year and third quarter reverted me to the mean a lot, I'm sure that's pretty common and the reason the cutoff must've been sky high (it's always been between 180.5-181 before I think). Should've waited for three quarters of grades this year before handing it out imo.

At least those in the top 5% at the end of 2L will get added if different from those at the end of 1L, and that will hopefully be in time for clerkship apps. I got it at the end of 1L last year with around 180.9.

[Anonymous User]

Has K&E gone out yet this year?

Yes, I received my email this morning.

Congrats! I missed it with a 181.

Sorry you missed it--I wonder if only having 50% of your grades had an effect, i.e. there were more high GPAs that otherwise would've leveled out a bit more. Made it last year with somewhere in the 180.5-181 range.

I had 182.9 after the first two quarters my first year and third quarter reverted me to the mean a lot, I'm sure that's pretty common and the reason the cutoff must've been sky high (it's always been between 180.5-181 before I think). Should've waited for three quarters of grades this year before handing it out imo.

At least those in the top 5% at the end of 2L will get added if different from those at the end of 1L, and that will hopefully be in time for clerkship apps. I got it at the end of 1L last year with around 180.9.

I can't say I personally know anyone who got it after 2L (or has told me if they did), but I doubt it would come out before the hiring plan date, assuming that date stays roughly the same next year. I'm pretty sure in a normal year (i.e. with grades), it's well after June 15-ish before 100% of 2L grades are in. Could still help with later applications though.

[Anonymous User]

The Law Review posted its clerkship list today and the political swing really stood out to me and I thought I’d revive this excellent thread for the class of 2022. For the liberals, many only got a district court, nobody got a more-than-occasional feeder or the D.C. Circuit, and only one got SDNY/CA2. And over half of them are actually clerking for Republican appointees, you can’t be picky in today’s judiciary. For the conservatives, everyone got COA and about half got at least one feeder. Both of those trends are more extreme vs. last year and may not hold up long-term, but that’s the situation you may be facing. Biden appointees should help to staunch the bleeding some though.

[Anonymous User]

The Law Review posted its clerkship list today and the political swing really stood out to me and I thought I’d revive this excellent thread for the class of 2022. For the liberals, many only got a district court, nobody got a more-than-occasional feeder or the D.C. Circuit, and only one got SDNY/CA2. And over half of them are actually clerking for Republican appointees, you can’t be picky in today’s judiciary. For the conservatives, everyone got COA and about half got at least one feeder. Both of those trends are more extreme vs. last year and may not hold up long-term, but that’s the situation you may be facing. Biden appointees should help to staunch the bleeding some though.

3L who's still on the market here. I saw this and was pretty surprised too. My theory is last year's class had an easier time because it was the first year of the plan; a ton of judges filled a significant number of positions for 2021 or even 2022 in June of 2019. You don't see the same imbalance with FedSoc judges because they're not on the plan. Not that this explains everything, but I certainly think it's a factor in the huge swing in liberal clerkship performance from last year.

[Anonymous User]

The Law Review posted its clerkship list today and the political swing really stood out to me and I thought I’d revive this excellent thread for the class of 2022. For the liberals, many only got a district court, nobody got a more-than-occasional feeder or the D.C. Circuit, and only one got SDNY/CA2. And over half of them are actually clerking for Republican appointees, you can’t be picky in today’s judiciary. For the conservatives, everyone got COA and about half got at least one feeder. Both of those trends are more extreme vs. last year and may not hold up long-term, but that’s the situation you may be facing. Biden appointees should help to staunch the bleeding some though.

3L who's still on the market here. I saw this and was pretty surprised too. My theory is last year's class had an easier time because it was the first year of the plan; a ton of judges filled a significant number of positions for 2021 or even 2022 in June of 2019. You don't see the same imbalance with FedSoc judges because they're not on the plan. Not that this explains everything, but I certainly think it's a factor in the huge swing in liberal clerkship performance from last year.

That sounds reasonable to me. For anyone still on the market, or planning to go on it in June, I’d strongly consider taking Mortara’s class next quarter given that Fed Soc connections seem to be so advantageous in the current environment. I doubt it’s coincidence that the one SDNY/CA2 clerk was also the only LR liberal (afaik) with help from Mortara last year.

[Anonymous User]

The Law Review posted its clerkship list today and the political swing really stood out to me and I thought I’d revive this excellent thread for the class of 2022. For the liberals, many only got a district court, nobody got a more-than-occasional feeder or the D.C. Circuit, and only one got SDNY/CA2. And over half of them are actually clerking for Republican appointees, you can’t be picky in today’s judiciary. For the conservatives, everyone got COA and about half got at least one feeder. Both of those trends are more extreme vs. last year and may not hold up long-term, but that’s the situation you may be facing. Biden appointees should help to staunch the bleeding some though.

3L who's still on the market here. I saw this and was pretty surprised too. My theory is last year's class had an easier time because it was the first year of the plan; a ton of judges filled a significant number of positions for 2021 or even 2022 in June of 2019. You don't see the same imbalance with FedSoc judges because they're not on the plan. Not that this explains everything, but I certainly think it's a factor in the huge swing in liberal clerkship performance from last year.

That sounds reasonable to me. For anyone still on the market, or planning to go on it in June, I’d strongly consider taking Mortara’s class next quarter given that Fed Soc connections seem to be so advantageous in the current environment. I doubt it’s coincidence that the one SDNY/CA2 clerk was also the only LR liberal (afaik) with help from Mortara last year.

Class of 2020 here. I think there was only one CA2 my year straight out. I don't recall any SDNY but I could be wrong. No more than one if so.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, only one each to the Second Circuit and SDNY in 2020, the same as 2021, though there were three to the Second Circuit in 2019. I expect that the tendency of the 2 judges to hire very far out hurts our performance with them since most of our students don't target them in particular and prefer to clerk one year out on 7, 9, etc. instead.

[Anonymous User]

Hey all - I'm currently a rising 2L at Chicago, with grades close to the top of the class. Haven't applied to any judges off-plan. Aside from making law review, going to office hours/doing research with well-connected professors, and keeping my grades up, are there any major steps that I should be taking to prepare for OSCAR applications come next year?

Also, any idea how soon after the posting of spring grades Kirkland and Ellis scholars/law review is announced?

Join FedSoc, buy (and wear) a MAGA hat.

lollllllllll

true though