Clerks Taking Questions Forum

[Anonymous User]

When clerks are going through OSCAR and pulling apps for the next clerks, do they get emailed every time someone submits or updates an application? Or do they get like a list of names on OSCAR where you can click through, open the packets in a browser, and then close it without getting any kind of notification? If you update your app 4 times, do the clerks get 4 emails? Or, if it's hosted on the browser, is there some kind of queue of how recently people have submitted or updated their apps, so the people who submitted longest ago are in the back? Or is it more something like alphabetical?

We can choose to get a daily or weekly digest. We can also choose how to sort the list of applicants. Don’t worry about updating.

[Anonymous User]

I'm getting conflicting statements about the Court of Federal Claims--does it actually pigeonhole you into government contracts practice? If you did, say, CFC + a normal district or circuit court, would that heal any damage done by going with the specialty?

I'm interested in living in DC for a year for family reasons and have a CFC interview lined up in the next few days, but I'm worried about my prospects after and am debating backing out and waiting to see if I can get a more traditional clerkship for '24.

Edit: Update: didn't end up taking it; decided to hold out for a district clerkship after talking to some people at my school.

[Anonymous User]

Applying to post-clerkship associate positions. Thoughts on leveraging an interview with one firm to get interviews at others? I got a screener interview with a top big law firm in a major market, but I’m still waiting to hear back from other firms, including boutiques. Is it a good idea to let these other firms know about my interview in an attempt to get interview offers, or is that not a thing? What would be the best way to do so?

[Anonymous User]

Applying to post-clerkship associate positions. Thoughts on leveraging an interview with one firm to get interviews at others? I got a screener interview with a top big law firm in a major market, but I’m still waiting to hear back from other firms, including boutiques. Is it a good idea to let these other firms know about my interview in an attempt to get interview offers, or is that not a thing? What would be the best way to do so?

I think a short email update that let's them know you are interviewing but remain interested in their firm. If they like you they will then probably feel a sense of urgency if they are looking to hire at the moment.

[Anonymous User]

Applying to post-clerkship associate positions. Thoughts on leveraging an interview with one firm to get interviews at others? I got a screener interview with a top big law firm in a major market, but I’m still waiting to hear back from other firms, including boutiques. Is it a good idea to let these other firms know about my interview in an attempt to get interview offers, or is that not a thing? What would be the best way to do so?

I did two things that were helpful.

Once I scheduled my first in-person interview, I emailed all the other firms in my target city and said "I will be interviewing in [city] on [dates]. Please let me know if you would like to schedule an in-person interview during that time." That got several bites.

Once I got my first offer, I emailed all the other firms I was interested in and said something like "I wanted to let you know that I received an offer from another firm. They have requested a decision by [date]. In light of that, is there any way we can move my application forward? I am very interested in [firm] but would not feel comfortable declining that offer without another job in hand." This also worked well.

Nothing firm, no pressure, just keeping them updated.

[Anonymous User]

How big of a deal is it if I can't take Fed Courts? Just got the news that I'm waitlisted for it next semester as a 3L.

Personally, I'd rather take the class on natural resources law offered at the same time because that seems more interesting, but everyone keeps telling me Fed Courts is imperative for clerking, so I don't know what to think...

I never took fed courts nor admin and am clerking in one of EDNY/CDCal/NDIll/DMass

[Anonymous User]

How big of a deal is it if I can't take Fed Courts? Just got the news that I'm waitlisted for it next semester as a 3L.

Personally, I'd rather take the class on natural resources law offered at the same time because that seems more interesting, but everyone keeps telling me Fed Courts is imperative for clerking, so I don't know what to think...

I never took fed courts nor admin and am clerking in one of EDNY/CDCal/NDIll/DMass

Adding to this. Took neither. Clerked on district and circuit (but the district court was in a small location and the circuit was in a much larger one).

[Anonymous User]

How big of a deal is it if I can't take Fed Courts? Just got the news that I'm waitlisted for it next semester as a 3L.

Personally, I'd rather take the class on natural resources law offered at the same time because that seems more interesting, but everyone keeps telling me Fed Courts is imperative for clerking, so I don't know what to think...

I never took fed courts nor admin and am clerking in one of EDNY/CDCal/NDIll/DMass

Adding to this. Took neither. Clerked on district and circuit (but the district court was in a small location and the circuit was in a much larger one).

Just as a contrary data point, I clerked on CA2, and my judge viewed it as a big negative to have not taken Fed Courts. (For applicants who'd finished law school; I got hired as a 2L and hadn't taken it yet, but in my interview the clerks stressed that it was basically mandatory.)

[Anonymous User]

Had a judge call me on Friday and ask for a twenty-minute interview with just her and her career clerk. So far, all the interviews I've had have been roughly an hour to an hour and a half with lots of time with the clerks.

What do these ultra short interviews tend to look like? I'm assuming it's pure fit, but twenty minutes of questions isn't going to give either side a lot of info so I'm very confused as to how this would be different/how I might prepare differently for this interview/what to expect. She's a Biden appointee so new enough that I don't have a lot to go on.

Anyone run into these ultra-short interviews before?

[Anonymous User]

Had a judge call me on Friday and ask for a twenty-minute interview with just her and her career clerk. So far, all the interviews I've had have been roughly an hour to an hour and a half with lots of time with the clerks.

What do these ultra short interviews tend to look like? I'm assuming it's pure fit, but twenty minutes of questions isn't going to give either side a lot of info so I'm very confused as to how this would be different/how I might prepare differently for this interview/what to expect. She's a Biden appointee so new enough that I don't have a lot to go on.

Anyone run into these ultra-short interviews before?

This is a good sign because it involves the judge. Super short interviews without the judge tend to be screeners. Super short interviews with the judge tend to indicate that the judge places most value on things like grade/resume/recs and less so on the interview and just wants to get a feel for you to confirm no obvious red flags. Of course, things may vary, but this is a good sign.

When I did this it was super casual and I got an offer at the end.

[Anonymous User]

Super inside baseball question, but I've heard many times that the justices really disliked Tom Goldstein/Goldstein & Russell--any of our resident SCOTUS clerks have any idea why?

[Anonymous User]

Super inside baseball question, but I've heard many times that the justices really disliked Tom Goldstein/Goldstein & Russell--any of our resident SCOTUS clerks have any idea why?

I'm not a Supreme Court clerk by any means but you might be interested in this article if you haven't read it. TLDR: Roberts really thinks it's important to maintain SCOTUS as a hyperexclusive, connections-based club. Goldstein did more than anyone else during his career to democratize and commercialize the process of ending up arguing before SCOTUS. Those approaches are necessarily in conflict.

https://newrepublic.com/article/64619/the-hustler

[Anonymous User]

How do you prepare for substantive interviews? Had one yesterday and the judge opened with asking me my thoughts on substantive due process--an area that I have never really dealt with before. I definitely flubbed the answer and the judge kept pushing me with hypotheticals for a solid hour.

Besides getting a handle on SDP, how else should you prepare? This was my first COA interview and I'm low-key freaking out because I have a couple more scheduled and don't have strong opinions on a lot of the more culture-war-y parts of the doctrine.

[Anonymous User]

Got offered a D.Ct clerkship in a flyover state for two years, stating in late 2025. Cold applied broadly because I’m completely average at a T14 and fully lucked out. At the moment, I a big law job in the litigation group of a V20 when I graduate this year.

Worth going to clerk for two years, even in a less influential district far from my big law office? Subjectively, I’d love to because I just really want to clerk, and I can take the financial hit. Objectively, I’m a little worried about taking two years off and whether I’ll be behind re experience and office networking when I go back to the firm. Anyone have a sense whether the firm would look favorably on this type of clerkship?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous User]

Got offered a D.Ct clerkship in a flyover state for two years, stating in late 2025. Cold applied broadly because I’m completely average at a T14 and fully lucked out. At the moment, I a big law job in the litigation group of a V20 when I graduate this year.

Worth going to clerk for two years, even in a less influential district far from my big law office? Subjectively, I’d love to because I just really want to clerk, and I can take the financial hit. Objectively, I’m a little worried about taking two years off and whether I’ll be behind re experience and office networking when I go back to the firm. Anyone have a sense whether the firm would look favorably on this type of clerkship?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I lean towards yes this being worth it. However, completely average at a T14 with a few years of biglaw under your belt is competitive for more competitive districts if you're willing to wait. Hell with some other hook (URM/cnnections/professor call/etc) I know people who can get SDNY/EDNY/DDC.

[lavarman84]

How do you prepare for substantive interviews? Had one yesterday and the judge opened with asking me my thoughts on substantive due process--an area that I have never really dealt with before. I definitely flubbed the answer and the judge kept pushing me with hypotheticals for a solid hour.

Besides getting a handle on SDP, how else should you prepare? This was my first COA interview and I'm low-key freaking out because I have a couple more scheduled and don't have strong opinions on a lot of the more culture-war-y parts of the doctrine.

There isn't really general advice for this. The best shot you have is talking to former clerks who can give you insight into the sort of questions the judge likes to ask. Otherwise, you do your best. You could try looking for major opinions from recent years from the judge or big issues that came before SCOTUS, but there's no real way to guess what they'll ask about if you don't have inside information.

[Anonymous User]

Okay so I’m in a bit of a pickle:

I just got a second-round COA interview for my top-choice judge for the end of this week. But, I’m supposed to interview with a district court judge for the same year tomorrow. If I didn’t have the COA opportunity in the cards I’d probably take the district interview, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accept the district court clerkship if offered. Should I withdraw my application?

Also, I’m still waiting to hear back after first rounds from a couple other COA judges who I didn’t like quite as much, but are pretty close and I would happily clerk for. Should I inform them of the upcoming final round interview?

[Anonymous User]

Okay so I’m in a bit of a pickle:

I just got a second-round COA interview for my top-choice judge for the end of this week. But, I’m supposed to interview with a district court judge for the same year tomorrow. If I didn’t have the COA opportunity in the cards I’d probably take the district interview, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accept the district court clerkship if offered. Should I withdraw my application?

Also, I’m still waiting to hear back after first rounds from a couple other COA judges who I didn’t like quite as much, but are pretty close and I would happily clerk for. Should I inform them of the upcoming final round interview?

The first dilemma is kind of the eternal issue with clerkship applications and it’s kind of your call. If you know you wouldn’t take the offer tomorrow if it was made and you had to decide before the COA interview, then yeah, probably withdraw your application. Unless you can think of any other way to spin it and want to bank on not getting an immediate exploding offer.

I think you could tell the other COA judges of the upcoming final round interview. I knew someone who interviewed with a judge who directly asked them to check back in before going on other interviews. It can be seen as respectful to give them the chance to make you an offer before going to an interview that might remove you from their hiring pool. They may simply wish you luck with the upcoming interview and nothing more, but you never know.

[Anonymous User]

How do you prepare for substantive interviews? Had one yesterday and the judge opened with asking me my thoughts on substantive due process--an area that I have never really dealt with before. I definitely flubbed the answer and the judge kept pushing me with hypotheticals for a solid hour.

Besides getting a handle on SDP, how else should you prepare? This was my first COA interview and I'm low-key freaking out because I have a couple more scheduled and don't have strong opinions on a lot of the more culture-war-y parts of the doctrine.

For two judges, I spoke with their past clerks beforehand. I didn’t get either position, so I’m not sure how much it helped. But I felt comfortable going on because they told me what to expect.

[Anonymous User]

Okay so I’m in a bit of a pickle:

I just got a second-round COA interview for my top-choice judge for the end of this week. But, I’m supposed to interview with a district court judge for the same year tomorrow. If I didn’t have the COA opportunity in the cards I’d probably take the district interview, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accept the district court clerkship if offered. Should I withdraw my application?

Also, I’m still waiting to hear back after first rounds from a couple other COA judges who I didn’t like quite as much, but are pretty close and I would happily clerk for. Should I inform them of the upcoming final round interview?

The first dilemma is kind of the eternal issue with clerkship applications and it’s kind of your call. If you know you wouldn’t take the offer tomorrow if it was made and you had to decide before the COA interview, then yeah, probably withdraw your application. Unless you can think of any other way to spin it and want to bank on not getting an immediate exploding offer.

I think you could tell the other COA judges of the upcoming final round interview. I knew someone who interviewed with a judge who directly asked them to check back in before going on other interviews. It can be seen as respectful to give them the chance to make you an offer before going to an interview that might remove you from their hiring pool. They may simply wish you luck with the upcoming interview and nothing more, but you never know.

Interestingly my clerkships office (one of HYS) told me to take the interview and just politely turn down any exploding offers received--which seems weird, but it's apparently normal enough for us that other people I know have gotten the same advice.

[Anonymous User]

Okay so I’m in a bit of a pickle:

I just got a second-round COA interview for my top-choice judge for the end of this week. But, I’m supposed to interview with a district court judge for the same year tomorrow. If I didn’t have the COA opportunity in the cards I’d probably take the district interview, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accept the district court clerkship if offered. Should I withdraw my application?

Also, I’m still waiting to hear back after first rounds from a couple other COA judges who I didn’t like quite as much, but are pretty close and I would happily clerk for. Should I inform them of the upcoming final round interview?

The first dilemma is kind of the eternal issue with clerkship applications and it’s kind of your call. If you know you wouldn’t take the offer tomorrow if it was made and you had to decide before the COA interview, then yeah, probably withdraw your application. Unless you can think of any other way to spin it and want to bank on not getting an immediate exploding offer.

I think you could tell the other COA judges of the upcoming final round interview. I knew someone who interviewed with a judge who directly asked them to check back in before going on other interviews. It can be seen as respectful to give them the chance to make you an offer before going to an interview that might remove you from their hiring pool. They may simply wish you luck with the upcoming interview and nothing more, but you never know.

Interestingly my clerkships office (one of HYS) told me to take the interview and just politely turn down any exploding offers received--which seems weird, but it's apparently normal enough for us that other people I know have gotten the same advice.

Thanks for the info - that's fair enough. I think there are far fewer exploding offers these days than there used to be, especially during the previous Plan era and before everyone learned how to Zoom during covid. An exploding offer really only makes sense when all the judges in the country are interviewing and making offers on the same day, so now that that's not happening (at least not to the extent it used to), judges can calm down and be a little more normal.

[Anonymous User]

Okay so I’m in a bit of a pickle:

I just got a second-round COA interview for my top-choice judge for the end of this week. But, I’m supposed to interview with a district court judge for the same year tomorrow. If I didn’t have the COA opportunity in the cards I’d probably take the district interview, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accept the district court clerkship if offered. Should I withdraw my application?

Also, I’m still waiting to hear back after first rounds from a couple other COA judges who I didn’t like quite as much, but are pretty close and I would happily clerk for. Should I inform them of the upcoming final round interview?

How many judges are doing multiple rounds? Is that just because it's not during plan week so they have the time to?

[Anonymous User]

Okay so I’m in a bit of a pickle:

I just got a second-round COA interview for my top-choice judge for the end of this week. But, I’m supposed to interview with a district court judge for the same year tomorrow. If I didn’t have the COA opportunity in the cards I’d probably take the district interview, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accept the district court clerkship if offered. Should I withdraw my application?

Also, I’m still waiting to hear back after first rounds from a couple other COA judges who I didn’t like quite as much, but are pretty close and I would happily clerk for. Should I inform them of the upcoming final round interview?

How many judges are doing multiple rounds? Is that just because it's not during plan week so they have the time to?

I've had 6 interviews so far this cycle. Of those, all three COA judges had two-stage interview processes (either with current or former clerks for first round), and one of the district judges did it (himself over zoom + himself in person). Haven't had part 2 for any yet, though (first one is early next week). The next COA and District judge up seem to be one-stage.

[Anonymous User]

Okay so I’m in a bit of a pickle:

I just got a second-round COA interview for my top-choice judge for the end of this week. But, I’m supposed to interview with a district court judge for the same year tomorrow. If I didn’t have the COA opportunity in the cards I’d probably take the district interview, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accept the district court clerkship if offered. Should I withdraw my application?

Also, I’m still waiting to hear back after first rounds from a couple other COA judges who I didn’t like quite as much, but are pretty close and I would happily clerk for. Should I inform them of the upcoming final round interview?

Your situation may already be resolved, but in this scenario, depending on how your interview with the district judge is going, you may well have an opportunity to work in that you are in a second round with a COA judge for the same year. The district judge may even ask if you're interviewing elsewhere. In some situations, one judge may offer you a clerkship for a year later if you get the other clerkship--double clerks are valuable to the judge getting the clerk second because, despite the differences between district and circuit, the learning curve is less steep and the clerk is coming in with good experience.

I wouldn't lead with this, but I would be prepared for it to come up in conversation if the interview is going well.

[Anonymous User]

Okay so I’m in a bit of a pickle:

I just got a second-round COA interview for my top-choice judge for the end of this week. But, I’m supposed to interview with a district court judge for the same year tomorrow. If I didn’t have the COA opportunity in the cards I’d probably take the district interview, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accept the district court clerkship if offered. Should I withdraw my application?

Also, I’m still waiting to hear back after first rounds from a couple other COA judges who I didn’t like quite as much, but are pretty close and I would happily clerk for. Should I inform them of the upcoming final round interview?

Your situation may already be resolved, but in this scenario, depending on how your interview with the district judge is going, you may well have an opportunity to work in that you are in a second round with a COA judge for the same year. The district judge may even ask if you're interviewing elsewhere. In some situations, one judge may offer you a clerkship for a year later if you get the other clerkship--double clerks are valuable to the judge getting the clerk second because, despite the differences between district and circuit, the learning curve is less steep and the clerk is coming in with good experience.

I wouldn't lead with this, but I would be prepared for it to come up in conversation if the interview is going well.

It basically resolved itself (DJ said he likely wouldn't be able to get back to me until late next week because of a trial messing up his interview schedule) so the nightmare scenario of an exploding offer didn't come to pass. But in the meantime, another COA judge offered me a final round... for three hours after the first judge. So, uh, I'm going to have a busy day coming up.