Post clerkship recruiting: Bad year, bad sample, or TLS myth Forum

[09042014]

If the clerkship can only get you biglaw when you already had it, that would in line with it not being all that great of a credential.

[Anonymous User]

I think clerking has absolutely helped me get PI interviews I otherwise would not have.

[legalese_retard]

Finally scored a phone interview with a 3-person foreclosure firm. The pay is $45K/year, but the billable requirements are less than 2,000 hours per year.

[09042014]

Finally scored a phone interview with a 3-person foreclosure firm. The pay is $45K/year, but the billable requirements are less than 2,000 hours per year.

how much less.

You are at a full AIII clerkship right. No magestrate?

[legalese_retard]

Finally scored a phone interview with a 3-person foreclosure firm. The pay is $45K/year, but the billable requirements are less than 2,000 hours per year.

how much less.

You are at a full AIII clerkship right. No magestrate?

The job posting said between 1800-2000 billables per year. And yes, I am clerking for an active AIII judge.

[09042014]

Finally scored a phone interview with a 3-person foreclosure firm. The pay is $45K/year, but the billable requirements are less than 2,000 hours per year.

how much less.

You are at a full AIII clerkship right. No magestrate?

The job posting said between 1800-2000 billables per year. And yes, I am clerking for an active AIII judge.

Jesus man, 1800 for 45k is pretty bad. But good luck, a job is a job.

What did you do during 2L summer?

[legalese_retard]

Finally scored a phone interview with a 3-person foreclosure firm. The pay is $45K/year, but the billable requirements are less than 2,000 hours per year.

how much less.

You are at a full AIII clerkship right. No magestrate?

The job posting said between 1800-2000 billables per year. And yes, I am clerking for an active AIII judge.

Jesus man, 1800 for 45k is pretty bad. But good luck, a job is a job.

What did you do during 2L summer?

Summered for a mid-sized firm and interned for a different district judge. The firm no-offered me because the practice group I was assigned to didn't have any work (plus I found out that the entire group was recently disbanded).

[legalese_retard]

Finally scored a phone interview with a 3-person foreclosure firm. The pay is $45K/year, but the billable requirements are less than 2,000 hours per year.

Well the phone interview was a bust. The person who called me was the office manager and was confused why the partner wanted her to interview me. She started off saying that being a secretary for a judge might provide decent experience, but she did not think the experience was enough to be hired as an attorney. I tried to explain that I was a law clerk and not a secretary, but she didn't understand the distinction. Since I did well in law school, she said would recommend me for an unpaid internship with the firm for a few months that would hopefully lead to a full-time position in January.

After the "interview" was over, I went to Starbucks and picked up a job application.

[Anonymous User]

Finally scored a phone interview with a 3-person foreclosure firm. The pay is $45K/year, but the billable requirements are less than 2,000 hours per year.

Well the phone interview was a bust. The person who called me was the office manager and was confused why the partner wanted her to interview me. She started off saying that being a secretary for a judge might provide decent experience, but she did not think the experience was enough to be hired as an attorney. I tried to explain that I was a law clerk and not a secretary, but she didn't understand the distinction. Since I did well in law school, she said would recommend me for an unpaid internship with the firm for a few months that would hopefully lead to a full-time position in January.

After the "interview" was over, I went to Starbucks and picked up a job application.

Sorry to hear about your difficulty, are you in a flyover clerkship? Has your judge been willing to help at all?

[legalese_retard]

Sorry to hear about your difficulty, are you in a flyover clerkship? Has your judge been willing to help at all?

Clerking for a federal district judge in TX. Both of the judges I clerked for have, but all of their contacts are at firms that aren't hiring.

[Anonymous User]

Sorry to hear about your difficulty, are you in a flyover clerkship? Has your judge been willing to help at all?

Clerking for a federal district judge in TX. Both of the judges I clerked for have, but all of their contacts are at firms that aren't hiring.

Is it a flyover location though? Like if you are clerking for a judge in Houston that would be scary you are having this much trouble. Del rio, maybe more understandable

[A. Nony Mouse]

Sorry to hear about your difficulty, are you in a flyover clerkship? Has your judge been willing to help at all?

Clerking for a federal district judge in TX. Both of the judges I clerked for have, but all of their contacts are at firms that aren't hiring.

Is it a flyover location though? Like if you are clerking for a judge in Houston that would be scary you are having this much trouble. Del rio, maybe more understandable

I think it's probably scary for legalese_retard regardless.

[legalese_retard]

Sorry to hear about your difficulty, are you in a flyover clerkship? Has your judge been willing to help at all?

Clerking for a federal district judge in TX. Both of the judges I clerked for have, but all of their contacts are at firms that aren't hiring.

Is it a flyover location though? Like if you are clerking for a judge in Houston that would be scary you are having this much trouble. Del rio, maybe more understandable

I'm not in one of the major cities, but not in a remote location like Del Rio or Lubbock. Most of the attorneys that have cases in my court are from the major cities because we are so close.

[Anonymous User]

Sorry to hear about your difficulty, are you in a flyover clerkship? Has your judge been willing to help at all?

Clerking for a federal district judge in TX. Both of the judges I clerked for have, but all of their contacts are at firms that aren't hiring.

Is it a flyover location though? Like if you are clerking for a judge in Houston that would be scary you are having this much trouble. Del rio, maybe more understandable

I'm not in one of the major cities, but not in a remote location like Del Rio or Lubbock. Most of the attorneys that have cases in my court are from the major cities because we are so close.

Really sorry you're having such trouble. What's the docket like in your courthouse? I'm clerking for a district judge in one of the Texas border cities, and we handle a ton of criminal stuff. My plan is to apply to firms as well as any criminal-related gov job. And I don't just mean applying for lawyer positions in prosecution/defense, but also any federal law enforcement position where a JD would be at all beneficial. If your docket is anything like ours, I think you could spin the clerkship into a job like that. Even if you don't like criminal work, it's better than Starbucks.

(Different anon from above)

[legalese_retard]

Really sorry you're having such trouble. What's the docket like in your courthouse? I'm clerking for a district judge in one of the Texas border cities, and we handle a ton of criminal stuff. My plan is to apply to firms as well as any criminal-related gov job. And I don't just mean applying for lawyer positions in prosecution/defense, but also any federal law enforcement position where a JD would be at all beneficial. If your docket is anything like ours, I think you could spin the clerkship into a job like that. Even if you don't like criminal work, it's better than Starbucks.

(Different anon from above)

Most of my civil cases involved patent, regulatory (EPA, EEOC), constitutional (school, prison), bankruptcy appeal, and general tort claims brought through diversity of citizenship. The criminal docket has not been as active insomuch as cases going to trial. I'll have to deal with an intense suppression motion every now and then, but it's mostly sentencings and revocations.

[rpupkin]

Really sorry you're having such trouble. What's the docket like in your courthouse? I'm clerking for a district judge in one of the Texas border cities, and we handle a ton of criminal stuff. My plan is to apply to firms as well as any criminal-related gov job. And I don't just mean applying for lawyer positions in prosecution/defense, but also any federal law enforcement position where a JD would be at all beneficial. If your docket is anything like ours, I think you could spin the clerkship into a job like that. Even if you don't like criminal work, it's better than Starbucks.

(Different anon from above)

Most of my civil cases involved patent, regulatory (EPA, EEOC), constitutional (school, prison), bankruptcy appeal, and general tort claims brought through diversity of citizenship. The criminal docket has not been as active insomuch as cases going to trial. I'll have to deal with an intense suppression motion every now and then, but it's mostly sentencings and revocations.

What % of your case load is patent? You're obviously not in EDTX with that kind of mixed caseload, but you may have worked on enough patent cases to get an interview with a Texas firm that does patent litigation. Have you considered playing up the patent angle more?

[legalese_retard]

What % of your case load is patent? You're obviously not in EDTX with that kind of mixed caseload, but you may have worked on enough patent cases to get an interview with a Texas firm that does patent litigation. Have you considered playing up the patent angle more?

Probably 15-20%. I have applied to IP firms and detailed the amount of patent matters I worked on in my cover letters. However, I don't have a science background.

[Anonymous User]

Had a handful of interviews but still can't break through. I'm an alum clerk and hoping I catch a break with an immediate opening somewhere come Sept.

[legalese_retard]

Had a handful of interviews but still can't break through. I'm an alum clerk and hoping I catch a break with an immediate opening somewhere come Sept.

Have you been getting interviews with big law firms?

[Anonymous User]

Had a handful of interviews but still can't break through. I'm an alum clerk and hoping I catch a break with an immediate opening somewhere come Sept.

Have you been getting interviews with big law firms?

Yea, maybe 6 or 7. Almost all have come from networking. 2 were posted positions, and other people got hired for those. 3 of them interviewed me and said "we like you, but arent bringing anyone new in." The other 2 are still kicking around.

[legalese_retard]

Yea, maybe 6 or 7. Almost all have come from networking. 2 were posted positions, and other people got hired for those. 3 of them interviewed me and said "we like you, but arent bringing anyone new in." The other 2 are still kicking around.

Are these firms in the same city as your clerkship? I have been applying to all kinds of firms (big and small) and haven't received a single interview.

[Anonymous User]

Yea, maybe 6 or 7. Almost all have come from networking. 2 were posted positions, and other people got hired for those. 3 of them interviewed me and said "we like you, but arent bringing anyone new in." The other 2 are still kicking around.

Are these firms in the same city as your clerkship? I have been applying to all kinds of firms (big and small) and haven't received a single interview.

I feel your pain. I'd say about half are. How are you going about applying? I try to do a real targeted search and apply through a contact at each place. If I dont know anyone there I usually don't hear back from the Firm.

[legalese_retard]

Yea, maybe 6 or 7. Almost all have come from networking. 2 were posted positions, and other people got hired for those. 3 of them interviewed me and said "we like you, but arent bringing anyone new in." The other 2 are still kicking around.

Are these firms in the same city as your clerkship? I have been applying to all kinds of firms (big and small) and haven't received a single interview.

I feel your pain. I'd say about half are. How are you going about applying? I try to do a real targeted search and apply through a contact at each place. If I dont know anyone there I usually don't hear back from the Firm.

I did a mixture as well. I've been networking and applying through contacts, but it has been difficult because my clerkship is in a different city than most of the firms I am applying to. I was also an associate at a firm before my clerkship, but wasn't doing "substantive" work, which is why I went after the clerkships. I think part of the problem is that firms don't know how to classify me for positions. I am willing to work as a first year associate, but my JD date suggests a more senior position.

[conn09]

Yea, maybe 6 or 7. Almost all have come from networking. 2 were posted positions, and other people got hired for those. 3 of them interviewed me and said "we like you, but arent bringing anyone new in." The other 2 are still kicking around.

Are these firms in the same city as your clerkship? I have been applying to all kinds of firms (big and small) and haven't received a single interview.

I feel your pain. I'd say about half are. How are you going about applying? I try to do a real targeted search and apply through a contact at each place. If I dont know anyone there I usually don't hear back from the Firm.

I did a mixture as well. I've been networking and applying through contacts, but it has been difficult because my clerkship is in a different city than most of the firms I am applying to. I was also an associate at a firm before my clerkship, but wasn't doing "substantive" work, which is why I went after the clerkships. I think part of the problem is that firms don't know how to classify me for positions. I am willing to work as a first year associate, but my JD date suggests a more senior position.

What's your JD date?

[legalese_retard]

What's your JD date?

2010