Clerks Taking Questions Forum

[Anonymous User]

I posted this as a separate thread, but perhaps this is a better thread to post.

I am at a T14, with 3.5 GPA. I have a district court clerkship already lined up, after 1 year in BL. I want to do a COA, is it even worth trying? I am Fedsoc and was on the board. Secondary journal but also did HJLPP (guest editor, obviously not at Harvard lol). I am willing to pretty much be anywhere. I went to a state school in the 8th Circuit (not a good state school, but flagship) and also worked in the 8th Circuit. My school and DCT is not on the 8th though. Also, I grew up in CA, so that does not help me lol.

[Anonymous User]

I posted this as a separate thread, but perhaps this is a better thread to post.

I am at a T14, with 3.5 GPA. I have a district court clerkship already lined up, after 1 year in BL. I want to do a COA, is it even worth trying? I am Fedsoc and was on the board. Secondary journal but also did HJLPP (guest editor, obviously not at Harvard lol). I am willing to pretty much be anywhere. I went to a state school in the 8th Circuit (not a good state school, but flagship) and also worked in the 8th Circuit. My school and DCT is not on the 8th though. Also, I grew up in CA, so that does not help me lol.

I am the CLS student above so grain of salt but I personally know people with those/around those stats and COA clerkships with some of the more ideological Trump appointees.

[Anonymous User]

I posted this as a separate thread, but perhaps this is a better thread to post.

I am at a T14, with 3.5 GPA. I have a district court clerkship already lined up, after 1 year in BL. I want to do a COA, is it even worth trying? I am Fedsoc and was on the board. Secondary journal but also did HJLPP (guest editor, obviously not at Harvard lol). I am willing to pretty much be anywhere. I went to a state school in the 8th Circuit (not a good state school, but flagship) and also worked in the 8th Circuit. My school and DCT is not on the 8th though. Also, I grew up in CA, so that does not help me lol.

I am the CLS student above so grain of salt but I personally know people with those/around those stats and COA clerkships with some of the more ideological Trump appointees.

You could be competitive for some judges on the 8th. Especially ones in the state you went to undergrad in—you’re probably out of luck with the Minnesota or Iowa judges due to grades but based on your description I doubt you went to school there. (Though come to think of it Kobes is an Iowan and hires a lot of Iowans.) As always with ties the stronger the better though, and demonstrated intent to practice locally is stronger than anything else.

[Anonymous User]

I posted this as a separate thread, but perhaps this is a better thread to post.

I am at a T14, with 3.5 GPA. I have a district court clerkship already lined up, after 1 year in BL. I want to do a COA, is it even worth trying? I am Fedsoc and was on the board. Secondary journal but also did HJLPP (guest editor, obviously not at Harvard lol). I am willing to pretty much be anywhere. I went to a state school in the 8th Circuit (not a good state school, but flagship) and also worked in the 8th Circuit. My school and DCT is not on the 8th though. Also, I grew up in CA, so that does not help me lol.

I am the CLS student above so grain of salt but I personally know people with those/around those stats and COA clerkships with some of the more ideological Trump appointees.

You could be competitive for some judges on the 8th. Especially ones in the state you went to undergrad in—you’re probably out of luck with the Minnesota or Iowa judges due to grades but based on your description I doubt you went to school there. (Though come to think of it Kobes is an Iowan and hires a lot of Iowans.) As always with ties the stronger the better though, and demonstrated intent to practice locally is stronger than anything else.

Thank you both for your reply. Is Kobes, Erickson, Gruender, and Grasz grade sensitive? I know Stas is but unsure of the other ones.

[Anonymous User]

I posted this as a separate thread, but perhaps this is a better thread to post.

I am at a T14, with 3.5 GPA. I have a district court clerkship already lined up, after 1 year in BL. I want to do a COA, is it even worth trying? I am Fedsoc and was on the board. Secondary journal but also did HJLPP (guest editor, obviously not at Harvard lol). I am willing to pretty much be anywhere. I went to a state school in the 8th Circuit (not a good state school, but flagship) and also worked in the 8th Circuit. My school and DCT is not on the 8th though. Also, I grew up in CA, so that does not help me lol.

I am the CLS student above so grain of salt but I personally know people with those/around those stats and COA clerkships with some of the more ideological Trump appointees.

You could be competitive for some judges on the 8th. Especially ones in the state you went to undergrad in—you’re probably out of luck with the Minnesota or Iowa judges due to grades but based on your description I doubt you went to school there. (Though come to think of it Kobes is an Iowan and hires a lot of Iowans.) As always with ties the stronger the better though, and demonstrated intent to practice locally is stronger than anything else.

Thank you both for your reply. Is Kobes, Erickson, Gruender, and Grasz grade sensitive? I know Stas is but unsure of the other ones.

[Anonymous User]

I posted this as a separate thread, but perhaps this is a better thread to post.

I am at a T14, with 3.5 GPA. I have a district court clerkship already lined up, after 1 year in BL. I want to do a COA, is it even worth trying? I am Fedsoc and was on the board. Secondary journal but also did HJLPP (guest editor, obviously not at Harvard lol). I am willing to pretty much be anywhere. I went to a state school in the 8th Circuit (not a good state school, but flagship) and also worked in the 8th Circuit. My school and DCT is not on the 8th though. Also, I grew up in CA, so that does not help me lol.

I am the CLS student above so grain of salt but I personally know people with those/around those stats and COA clerkships with some of the more ideological Trump appointees.

You could be competitive for some judges on the 8th. Especially ones in the state you went to undergrad in—you’re probably out of luck with the Minnesota or Iowa judges due to grades but based on your description I doubt you went to school there. (Though come to think of it Kobes is an Iowan and hires a lot of Iowans.) As always with ties the stronger the better though, and demonstrated intent to practice locally is stronger than anything else.

Thank you both for your reply. Is Kobes, Erickson, Gruender, and Grasz grade sensitive? I know Stas is but unsure of the other ones.

FWIW Erickson has interviewed candidates from my T14 who graduated without any honors, including one candidate who was likely in the bottom quartile of their class.

[clerk26abc]

I'm interviewing on plan (rising 3L). I got an offer from a district and an offer from a circuit judge yesterday for the following year, very excited! My question is... how do I go about the rest of my summer at my firm? I don't know if I'll come back after my two years clerking, especially because my firm is across the country from my clerkships. How do I approach this? Thank you!

[Anonymous User]

I'm interviewing on plan (rising 3L). I got an offer from a district and an offer from a circuit judge yesterday for the following year, very excited! My question is... how do I go about the rest of my summer at my firm? I don't know if I'll come back after my two years clerking, especially because my firm is across the country from my clerkships. How do I approach this? Thank you!

also sorry double post! my firm knows about me interviewing, obviously, and they know I got these offers. I just feel bad about not coming back for several years if ever when I go to lunches and stuff with my summer mentors

[Anonymous User]

I'm interviewing on plan (rising 3L). I got an offer from a district and an offer from a circuit judge yesterday for the following year, very excited! My question is... how do I go about the rest of my summer at my firm? I don't know if I'll come back after my two years clerking, especially because my firm is across the country from my clerkships. How do I approach this? Thank you!

also sorry double post! my firm knows about me interviewing, obviously, and they know I got these offers. I just feel bad about not coming back for several years if ever when I go to lunches and stuff with my summer mentors

Congrats! Assuming you are a litigation summer, it will be fine. This is extremely normal, and most firms prefer you do the clerkships before you start rather than leave after a year or two. You are still very likely to get a return offer with a bonus and two years of class credit. And when it comes up with attorneys, just say you're excited for the clerkship as a learning experience and that you look forward to hopefully returning to the firm after the clerkship (I.e., signal that you're still hoping for a return offer). I would proactively tell the recruitment contacts since they knew about the interviews, and again, stress you'd like to return to the firm afterwards. Assuming you get an offer, I personally would accept it since (1) it sounds like there are unlikely to be conflicts issues, and (2) even if you're not sure you'll end up back there, it provides job security. You can still apply to other firms if you want, even if just to negotiate your clerkship bonus. (It does without saying, but don't mention that last part to your firm. It's normal, but firms don't love it, obviously.)

Clerking post-grad is completely normal and the firm will either be excited about it (if they think you might return – no one assumes you'll end up where your clerkships are, since they're federal) or, at worst, ambivalent. Summers clerking and not returning is just the cost of doing business. My only advice is show a lot of enthusiasm and express interest in coming back to the firm post-clerkship.

[cls2k25!]

Looking for advice on where to apply to clerkships/how competitive I am. ~3.9 GPA from CLS (top 2-4%), solid w/e, secondary journal, will have 1 year of public service work experience post-law school. Hoping to clerk 2/3/9/DC and/or SDNY/EDNY/DDC, but would go basically anywhere for the right judge. Clerkship office isn't helpful at all, just pushing me to apply everywhere. Worried mostly about not being on journal since vast majority of judges I looked at write that it's preferred. Would be grateful for general thoughts on competitiveness, but especially for judge recs that might care less about journal