Common Clerkship App Mistakes Forum

[Anonymous User]

It really depends on the Judge, so I would first suggest researching the Judge and seeing if your school has any former students who have clerked for that Judge. For instance, I'm currently clerking for a SDNY Judge, and one thing my Judge dislikes is when students email chambers their application and subsequently point out that they're currently at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, or any other supposedly prestigious school. For instance, the subject line will read "[Harvard], [Clerkship Application], [Student name]". To my Judge, it comes across as wildly pretentious, and he does not hire anyone with even a hint of pretentiousness.

Wrong thread maybe? This doesn’t respond to the question

For the question, my clerkship office told me to upload PDFs so I did, but you have to be careful to get the right one to the right judge and triple-check, it’s hard to manage with a hundred.

If that poster wanted to respond to the question, I assume the poster would have quoted it. If the thread isn't for common Clerkship app mistakes, and is just a general thread for people to ask questions and have that question answered directly afterwards, the OP should make that clear.

[Anonymous User]

It really depends on the Judge, so I would first suggest researching the Judge and seeing if your school has any former students who have clerked for that Judge. For instance, I'm currently clerking for a SDNY Judge, and one thing my Judge dislikes is when students email chambers their application and subsequently point out that they're currently at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, or any other supposedly prestigious school. For instance, the subject line will read "[Harvard], [Clerkship Application], [Student name]". To my Judge, it comes across as wildly pretentious, and he does not hire anyone with even a hint of pretentiousness.

Wrong thread maybe? This doesn’t respond to the question

For the question, my clerkship office told me to upload PDFs so I did, but you have to be careful to get the right one to the right judge and triple-check, it’s hard to manage with a hundred.

No, the comment was clearly in the right thread, which asks for "Common Clerkship App Mistakes"

[Anonymous User]

Curious if any clerks can speak to common application mistakes you see that may take an applicant out of a pile. Beyond typos, are there other common turn-offs you see?

Just trying to figure out what is wrong with my application. I have applied to about 150 judges and have been unable to grab so much as an interview (T6, not graduating magna cum laude, but decent grades, and law review).

Y/S grad, and current district court clerk with COA clerkship to follow. Biggest mistake is not having your recommenders call your top-choice judges on your behalf!

Keep the faith. I also applied to a lot of judges before getting bites.

I know it works a bit differently at HYS, but how are you supposed to be comfortable enough w/ a prof to ask them to call on your behalf? I feel like if they wanted to make calls, they'd tell you (and maybe they do—I just don't know).

[Anonymous User]

Curious if any clerks can speak to common application mistakes you see that may take an applicant out of a pile. Beyond typos, are there other common turn-offs you see?

Just trying to figure out what is wrong with my application. I have applied to about 150 judges and have been unable to grab so much as an interview (T6, not graduating magna cum laude, but decent grades, and law review).

Y/S grad, and current district court clerk with COA clerkship to follow. Biggest mistake is not having your recommenders call your top-choice judges on your behalf!

Keep the faith. I also applied to a lot of judges before getting bites.

I know it works a bit differently at HYS, but how are you supposed to be comfortable enough w/ a prof to ask them to call on your behalf? I feel like if they wanted to make calls, they'd tell you (and maybe they do—I just don't know).

Asking a prof to call a judge to get OFF the pile is one thing, and I never did it. If you already have an interview, you can simply tell the prof that you have an interview with the judge, you know the judge would be really impressed to hear from the professor and would value his perspective, you would appreciate any contact the professor thinks is appropriate. Sometimes you just have to be shameless.

[Anonymous User]

Curious if any clerks can speak to common application mistakes you see that may take an applicant out of a pile. Beyond typos, are there other common turn-offs you see?

Just trying to figure out what is wrong with my application. I have applied to about 150 judges and have been unable to grab so much as an interview (T6, not graduating magna cum laude, but decent grades, and law review).

Y/S grad, and current district court clerk with COA clerkship to follow. Biggest mistake is not having your recommenders call your top-choice judges on your behalf!

Keep the faith. I also applied to a lot of judges before getting bites.

I know it works a bit differently at HYS, but how are you supposed to be comfortable enough w/ a prof to ask them to call on your behalf? I feel like if they wanted to make calls, they'd tell you (and maybe they do—I just don't know).

You just need to ask. I'm at a CCN, and one of my recommenders unsolicited said she would call for me, but my other recommender professor (who was actually more helpful!) waited until I asked. It's part of their job, and if your school places even a few clerks, the professors should understand that this is part of the process.

[Anonymous User]

Curious if any clerks can speak to common application mistakes you see that may take an applicant out of a pile. Beyond typos, are there other common turn-offs you see?

Just trying to figure out what is wrong with my application. I have applied to about 150 judges and have been unable to grab so much as an interview (T6, not graduating magna cum laude, but decent grades, and law review).

Y/S grad, and current district court clerk with COA clerkship to follow. Biggest mistake is not having your recommenders call your top-choice judges on your behalf!

Keep the faith. I also applied to a lot of judges before getting bites.

I know it works a bit differently at HYS, but how are you supposed to be comfortable enough w/ a prof to ask them to call on your behalf? I feel like if they wanted to make calls, they'd tell you (and maybe they do—I just don't know).

You just need to ask. I'm at a CCN, and one of my recommenders unsolicited said she would call for me, but my other recommender professor (who was actually more helpful!) waited until I asked. It's part of their job, and if your school places even a few clerks, the professors should understand that this is part of the process.

Agreed. Just ask. Worst case scenario is they say no (but if they already agreed to be a recommender, they will probably give a qualified No and will call if you get an interview). It’s normal to ask and it’s part of the job.

[Anonymous User]

If you are applying for a clerkship at a specialized court, don’t send your generic cover letter. At least acknowledge the fact that the court deals with specialized material, and preferably speak to your interest in it.