2021-2022 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

Dimitrouelas (SDFL) has filled his 2021-23 slot

[Anonymous User]

I know someone said Ramos has invited to interview, but has anyone else on SDNY? Last year it seemed they were faster.

Caproni (she's SDNY right?) and Engelmayer

And Torres.

Were those from today or yesterday/Monday?

Engelmayer and Nathan made interview offers within about an hour of the plan opening yesterday, fwiw

[Anonymous User]

Are the most competitive district done already? (DDC, ND Cal, SDNY?)

[Anonymous User]

Are the most competitive district done already? (DDC, ND Cal, SDNY?)

Almost certainly not; even on those most competitive districts, there are judges who are "off plan".

[Anonymous User]

Are the most competitive district done already? (DDC, ND Cal, SDNY?)

Almost certainly not; even on those most competitive districts, there are judges who are "off plan".

Right I meant only those who are on the Plan obviously.

[Anonymous User]

What are the odds of someone outside of T-14 at D.D.C. or D.C. Circuit?

Honestly my guess is they’re pretty low unless you are number one in your class like at a T20. HYS around top 10% here and didn’t even get a whiff from a COA judge in a major city thus far

[Anonymous User]

Feeling disheartened that I haven't heard from a single judge yet. I'm HYS with relatively strong grades (though probably not top 10% I'm assuming) + LR + SCOTUS clinic + strong recs (I'm assuming. One prof. let me read his). A classmate with similar stats has an offer in hand already on day two. Here's to hoping another wave of calls/emails will roll out soon...

[Anonymous User]

Are the most competitive district done already? (DDC, ND Cal, SDNY?)

Almost certainly not; even on those most competitive districts, there are judges who are "off plan".

Right I meant only those who are on the Plan obviously.

I just had an interview today with a judge on one of those districts who said they still have more to go.

[Anonymous User]

What are the odds of someone outside of T-14 at D.D.C. or D.C. Circuit?

Honestly my guess is they’re pretty low unless you are number one in your class like at a T20. HYS around top 10% here and didn’t even get a whiff from a COA judge in a major city thus far

Anecdotally, that sounds right. I knew a person who was top of their class at a school ranked ~20 within the past few years and they were terrified of losing their #1 spot since their perception was that the difference between #1 and #2 would be huge for clerking opportunities.

[Anonymous User]

Got an interview with Kovner. Top 5% T10, LR exec board.

[Anonymous User]

Got an interview with Kovner. Top 5% T10, LR exec board.

Congratulations!

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know if there's been any movement from McKeown, D. Mass, C.D. Cal., S.D. Cal.?

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know if there's been any movement from McKeown, D. Mass, C.D. Cal., S.D. Cal.?

Yes for McKeown and several D. Mass judges - use the search feature in this thread for names you are looking for, or scroll back.

[Anonymous User]

Feeling disheartened that I haven't heard from a single judge yet. I'm HYS with relatively strong grades (though probably not top 10% I'm assuming) + LR + SCOTUS clinic + strong recs (I'm assuming. One prof. let me read his). A classmate with similar stats has an offer in hand already on day two. Here's to hoping another wave of calls/emails will roll out soon...

If you mean SCOTUS clinic at S, there's no way you'll strike out, so hang in there. It can feel like that's the only credential that actually matters here.

[Anonymous User]

Several N.D. Tex. judges have extended interview invites (Godbey, Lynn, Fitzwater, possibly more).

O'Connor has been interviewing. I believe Hendrix has hired one and Kacsmaryk is full. Can confirm that all the above are also interviewing (multiple sources).

Edit: Judges Kernodle and Barker have also been interviewing (E.D. Tex.), I believe. Same with Judge Brown (S.D. Tex.).

Hendrix hired one from Chicago off-plan if that's not the one you're thinking of.

Hendrix hired two off-plan—one from Chicago and one from Michigan—by mid-March. I know this because I am one of them.

[Anonymous User]

Motz, Kearse, Boudin, Higginson, Bibas, Moore, Boggs, Lucero, Saylor, Lynch, Kayatta, Wardlaw, Kovner, Feinerman have all extended interview invites.

Boggs is only considering for '21, not '22 at this point.

[Anonymous User]

Feeling disheartened that I haven't heard from a single judge yet. I'm HYS with relatively strong grades (though probably not top 10% I'm assuming) + LR + SCOTUS clinic + strong recs (I'm assuming. One prof. let me read his). A classmate with similar stats has an offer in hand already on day two. Here's to hoping another wave of calls/emails will roll out soon...

If you mean SCOTUS clinic at S, there's no way you'll strike out, so hang in there. It can feel like that's the only credential that actually matters here.

if this makes anyone feel better, everyone but a couple of ppl in scotus clinic at S have gotten absolutely wrecked in the last 48 hours from what I've heard. People are freaking out.

[Anonymous User]

Anybody heard anything from Connecticut, Utah, Nevada, or 10th Cir.?

[Anonymous User]

Feeling disheartened that I haven't heard from a single judge yet. I'm HYS with relatively strong grades (though probably not top 10% I'm assuming) + LR + SCOTUS clinic + strong recs (I'm assuming. One prof. let me read his). A classmate with similar stats has an offer in hand already on day two. Here's to hoping another wave of calls/emails will roll out soon...

If you mean SCOTUS clinic at S, there's no way you'll strike out, so hang in there. It can feel like that's the only credential that actually matters here.

True that some judges hire exclusively SCOTUS clinic people ... but you can definitely strike out.

[Anonymous User]

Why is the SCOTUS clinic so highly regarded for clerkship apps?

[Anonymous User]

Why is the SCOTUS clinic so highly regarded for clerkship apps?

I'd guess intense application process where only like 10 people the school chooses get in, and then you know Pamela Karlan really well throughout the clinic

[Anonymous User]

..

[Anonymous User]

As someone who's ~T20% + LR at a lower T14, this process is disheartening. At OCI, it seemed like there was a sliding scale between your credentials and your job prospects, so if you did pretty well but not top of the class, you were still likely to get some interviews, if not as many as the people at the top.

But with clerkships, it feels like it's more of a cliff than a sliding scale. Like if you're not elite (ie. HYSCCN or T10% at a lower T14) and you don't have connections, you're unlikely to get any interviews, even if you apply broadly. Wish I could go back in time to 1L and try harder.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who's ~T20% + LR at a lower T14, this process is disheartening. At OCI, it seemed like there was a sliding scale between your credentials and your job prospects, so if you did pretty well but not top of the class, you were still likely to get some interviews, if not as many as the people at the top.

But with clerkships, it feels like it's more of a cliff than a sliding scale. Like if you're not elite (ie. HYSCCN or T10% at a lower T14) and you don't have connections, you're unlikely to get any interviews, even if you apply broadly. Wish I could go back in time to 1L and try harder.

I'm sitting here at HLS, top 10% (3DS, 10H, 1P, and 3 CR for this spring), albeit no LR, and have heard only from a single judge. So it seems like even if you are at a higher ranked school, it's still tough. I guess I wish the clerkship office had been more frank about chances.

Still, it's early on and all it takes is one offer.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who's ~T20% + LR at a lower T14, this process is disheartening. At OCI, it seemed like there was a sliding scale between your credentials and your job prospects, so if you did pretty well but not top of the class, you were still likely to get some interviews, if not as many as the people at the top.

But with clerkships, it feels like it's more of a cliff than a sliding scale. Like if you're not elite (ie. HYSCCN or T10% at a lower T14) and you don't have connections, you're unlikely to get any interviews, even if you apply broadly. Wish I could go back in time to 1L and try harder.

Agree 100%. My hope is that it really is moving in tiers (2C/9C/DC -- SDNY, DDC -- NDIL, EDNY, CDCA, NDCA and so on)