2017-2018 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

8 COA interview offers ... 0 present clerkship offers.

I don't think I can do this anymore. As far as I can tell there isn't anything overtly wrong with my interview skills either (practice interviews with commentary provided, high success rate interviewing for other things in the past, strong oratory experiences, etc). Good luck to everyone else.

(Same anon) Sooo I just got my COA offer....guess miracles do happen

[lavarman84]

Congrats, Anon!

[Goldie]

I have 3 professor letters of recommendation and a judge letter of recommendation. For those judgess who don't otherwise indicate a limit on letters of recommendation, is it beneficial to send all 4 or should I drop one of the professor letters that is based almost solely on grade (the other two professors I've worked closely with in some capacity)?

So I submitted 4 letters to a bunch of my professors, but I had no way of differentiating between them (which letters would be the strongest.) My judge even got a fifth. I don't think that hurt. But, if you think one is going to be of a noticeably lesser quality than the others, it probably wouldn't hurt to drop it.

[Goldie]

8 COA interview offers ... 0 present clerkship offers.

I don't think I can do this anymore. As far as I can tell there isn't anything overtly wrong with my interview skills either (practice interviews with commentary provided, high success rate interviewing for other things in the past, strong oratory experiences, etc). Good luck to everyone else.

(Same anon) Sooo I just got my COA offer....guess miracles do happen

Go you! That's so awesome.

[Anonymous User]

T14 2L who just landed on 2/9/DC after almost a year of complete radio silence. No district experience. Keep hoping against hope!

[Anonymous User]

Landed 9th/2nd after 3 months of silence.

[deuceindc]

Not sure if I should be heartened or horrified. In any case - congrats, y'all!

[Anonymous User]

Hoping someone can offer a little advice. I have been intending to apply to clerkships for a while but because of being busy/other issues, I just haven't been able to apply to many yet (as in less than 20).

I'm a 2L at a school in the 30's/40's in the South, top 5-10%, law review board position, some pre-law school WE, internship with a federal magistrate last summer, and biglaw SA in Delaware lined up this summer. Unfortunately, my school doesn't have great federal clerkship placement even for its peers.

Is it worth applying to 2017 district courts at this point? Are they all taken up/would I even be competitive? Or should I consider magistrate judge clerkships?

[EzraFitz]

T14 2L who just landed on 2/9/DC after almost a year of complete radio silence. No district experience. Keep hoping against hope!

How often did you send out apps? All throughout the year, or was that a year of waiting from the last app sent and you still got tapped?

[naenae2745]

.

[Jchance]

^

lmao.

[Anonymous User]

On a more serious note, is there still time to gun for a 2017- Circuit clerkship with a 2016-17 district court clerkship?

[BlackAndOrange84]

On a more serious note, is there still time to gun for a 2017- Circuit clerkship with a 2016-17 district court clerkship?

My impression is yes. I know a 3L student with a 2016 district who has gotten 4 circuit interviews just in the last week and a half for 2017. But you'd definitely want to move quickly.

[Anonymous User]

Any news on Judge Thomas (9th circuit)?

[Anonymous User]

Thacker (4th Cir.) is full (2017-18).

[Anonymous User]

I know this is very very late in the game, but are there any feeders who are still hiring for 2017?

[nothingtosee]

I know this is very very late in the game, but are there any feeders who are still hiring for 2017?

no

[jbagelboy]

I know this is very very late in the game, but are there any feeders who are still hiring for 2017?

no

Lol

[Emma.]

I know this is very very late in the game, but are there any feeders who are still hiring for 2017?

no

[Anonymous User]

What do you do if your school won't let you read your rec letters? Seems like a significant disadvantage...

[Anonymous User]

What do you do if your school won't let you read your rec letters? Seems like a significant disadvantage...

It's really not. You should be able to tell how good of a relationship you have with the professor to know if their letter is actually nice or just boilerplate. Maybe my school is weird too, but unless our professor sends you your letter to read, you can't see it.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I don't know of any school that will let you see your rec letters. That's between you and the letter-writer - some will give you a copy, some (probably more) won't. I don't think it looks good to ask and I don't think there's any expectation that you should be able to see a letter. I'm also not sure how it disadvantages you not to see them. If you're really concerned that one of your letters is hurting you, don't use it/get another one. You might be able to ask your clerkship coordinator person to look at a letter and tell you whether you should ditch it (but I would only do this if you have some evidence that a letter might be hurting you, not out of general paranoia - if a prof agrees to write for you they're going to write a positive letter and if they can't they will just decline.)

[Anonymous User]

Any word on Janet Hall of the District of Connecticut?

[Anonymous User]

I think it might be time to stick a fork in this thread or start a new one. I have an 18-19 clerkship lined up and an interview coming up for 19-20...

[EzraFitz]

Just because feeders and a lot of COA are done does not mean this is foreclosed. There are TONS of Districts that are finally wrapping up 2016 and will start 2017 soon enough (many this summer looking to 2Ls who have 2 years of grades).