2014-2015 Clerkship Application Thread - OP Updated 04/19/13 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyone interviewing with Bacharach recently or soon? I did this week, and I thought it went well. But he indicated that he's interviewing with others and he has some tough decisions to make.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone interviewing with Bacharach recently or soon? I did this week, and I thought it went well. But he indicated that he's interviewing with others and he has some tough decisions to make.

I know at least one (HYS) person interviewing with him this week. Bacharach seems like a smart and courteous guy who will make a great judge. Good luck!

[ph14]

Henderson - D.C. Circuit full for 2014-15.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone interviewing with Bacharach recently or soon? I did this week, and I thought it went well. But he indicated that he's interviewing with others and he has some tough decisions to make.

I know at least one (HYS) person interviewing with him this week. Bacharach seems like a smart and courteous guy who will make a great judge. Good luck!

That's not great news for me But seriously, thanks for the info, I appreciate it. Now I can know not to have my expectations up.

And yeah, he was really nice and smart. Would love to work for him.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone interviewing with Bacharach recently or soon? I did this week, and I thought it went well. But he indicated that he's interviewing with others and he has some tough decisions to make.

I know of one person who was recently offered (and accepted) a position for 2014.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone interviewing with Bacharach recently or soon? I did this week, and I thought it went well. But he indicated that he's interviewing with others and he has some tough decisions to make.

I know of one person who was recently offered (and accepted) a position for 2014.

Ok, thanks for the tip.

[nevdash]

Hey dudes, checking in. Glad to see this new forum exists, and glad to see some familiar faces from Legal Employment.

School range: T30
Rank: Top 15% as of last year (though I copped dat 4.0 last semester, so fingers crossed for top 10% now)
LR?: Yeah; no e-board
Published?: Nope
Recs: COA judge for whom I externed, two profs
2L/3L/Alum?: 3L
Where applying?: COAs broadly
Any other factors: Beginning a two-year D.Ct. clerkship in a non-competitive Texas district next year, so applying for 2015. Hoping to clerk for the awesome judge who wrote one of my recs, but obviously not putting all my eggs in that basket.

So we just got our grades back and I ended up barely graduating magna/top 10%. My ultimate goal is to end up at a big firm back in California (where I grew up and went to undergrad), and I had hoped that going to a COA after my first clerkship could help with that. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the more I doubt that barely top 10% will cut it with COA judges, even as an alum. Do you guys think it would be worth it to also apply to D.Ct. judges in California after my first clerkship? Or would 3-4 years clerking at the D.Ct. level look kind of weird/dumb?

[Anonymous User]

Hey dudes, checking in. Glad to see this new forum exists, and glad to see some familiar faces from Legal Employment.

School range: T30
Rank: Top 15% as of last year (though I copped dat 4.0 last semester, so fingers crossed for top 10% now)
LR?: Yeah; no e-board
Published?: Nope
Recs: COA judge for whom I externed, two profs
2L/3L/Alum?: 3L
Where applying?: COAs broadly
Any other factors: Beginning a two-year D.Ct. clerkship in a non-competitive Texas district next year, so applying for 2015. Hoping to clerk for the awesome judge who wrote one of my recs, but obviously not putting all my eggs in that basket.

So we just got our grades back and I ended up barely graduating magna/top 10%. My ultimate goal is to end up at a big firm back in California (where I grew up and went to undergrad), and I had hoped that going to a COA after my first clerkship could help with that. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the more I doubt that barely top 10% will cut it with COA judges, even as an alum. Do you guys think it would be worth it to also apply to D.Ct. judges in California after my first clerkship? Or would 3-4 years clerking at the D.Ct. level look kind of weird/dumb?

I don't think so, it could very well be a good idea. California district court judges will, in all likelihood, have more connections to the California job market than a COA judge in the 3rd Circuit (just picked a random one) would. If employers asked you why you clerked so much, explain that the first time around, you accepted the first offer you got, and the second time around, you clerked in California b/c that was your target market. It's a credible explanation, people won't think you're doing it just to duck out of practice.

[ClerkAdvisor]

Hey dudes, checking in. Glad to see this new forum exists, and glad to see some familiar faces from Legal Employment.

School range: T30
Rank: Top 15% as of last year (though I copped dat 4.0 last semester, so fingers crossed for top 10% now)
LR?: Yeah; no e-board
Published?: Nope
Recs: COA judge for whom I externed, two profs
2L/3L/Alum?: 3L
Where applying?: COAs broadly
Any other factors: Beginning a two-year D.Ct. clerkship in a non-competitive Texas district next year, so applying for 2015. Hoping to clerk for the awesome judge who wrote one of my recs, but obviously not putting all my eggs in that basket.

So we just got our grades back and I ended up barely graduating magna/top 10%. My ultimate goal is to end up at a big firm back in California (where I grew up and went to undergrad), and I had hoped that going to a COA after my first clerkship could help with that. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the more I doubt that barely top 10% will cut it with COA judges, even as an alum. Do you guys think it would be worth it to also apply to D.Ct. judges in California after my first clerkship? Or would 3-4 years clerking at the D.Ct. level look kind of weird/dumb?

I don't think so, it could very well be a good idea. California district court judges will, in all likelihood, have more connections to the California job market than a COA judge in the 3rd Circuit (just picked a random one) would. If employers asked you why you clerked so much, explain that the first time around, you accepted the first offer you got, and the second time around, you clerked in California b/c that was your target market. It's a credible explanation, people won't think you're doing it just to duck out of practice.

I would strongly disagree with this. 3-4 years of clerking in district courts will not help your career. Especially with 4 years of clerking, you will be substantially behind your peers in developing substantive litigation skills. This will put you at a substantial disadvantage in the hiring market.

[nevdash]

I don't think so, it could very well be a good idea. California district court judges will, in all likelihood, have more connections to the California job market than a COA judge in the 3rd Circuit (just picked a random one) would. If employers asked you why you clerked so much, explain that the first time around, you accepted the first offer you got, and the second time around, you clerked in California b/c that was your target market. It's a credible explanation, people won't think you're doing it just to duck out of practice.

I would strongly disagree with this. 3-4 years of clerking in district courts will not help your career. Especially with 4 years of clerking, you will be substantially behind your peers in developing substantive litigation skills. This will put you at a substantial disadvantage in the hiring market.

Thanks for the responses, guys. ClerkAdvisor, I definitely see what you mean. Would it at least be a borderline decision if the second clerkship was a one-year instead of two-year? And is there any way to tell a firm in advance of interviewing that I'd be OK coming in as a second- or third-year associate instead of a fourth- or fifth-year, even if I have three or four years of clerking experience? If so, would that make a difference? I just feel like I have to do something above the credentials I have now in order to break into a California firm, but maybe I just shouldn't get my hopes up about CA and apply way more broadly to TX firms and the state where I went to law school?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if Sri Srinivasan is accepting apps yet?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if Sri Srinivasan is accepting apps yet?

Interested in this, as well as timeline for 2015-2016 D.C. Circuit more generally. Would sending applications this summer, particularly if one will be in D.C., make sense?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if Sri Srinivasan is accepting apps yet?

Interested in this, as well as timeline for 2015-2016 D.C. Circuit more generally. Would sending applications this summer, particularly if one will be in D.C., make sense?

Looks like the Senate will be voting on the Srinivasan nomination sometime between tomorrow and Saturday.

[GertrudePerkins]

Looks like the Senate will be voting on the Srinivasan nomination sometime between tomorrow and Saturday.

Aaaaand, he's in! No idea what his clerking situation is, but hey, at least supply (i.e., of clerkship slots) has been expanded, albeit infinitesimally.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone interviewing with Bacharach recently or soon? I did this week, and I thought it went well. But he indicated that he's interviewing with others and he has some tough decisions to make.

I know at least one (HYS) person interviewing with him this week. Bacharach seems like a smart and courteous guy who will make a great judge. Good luck!

Just got the rejection letter from Bacharach. Congrats to whomever got it.

I think I should have transferred to HYS when I had the chance. 0-2 in COA interviews so far from the very top of the class at a T20.

[Anonymous User]

If you are at the top of your T20 school, you have a really good chance at a clerkship, and the reason you haven't gotten one this cycle probably isn't your school.

The trick of getting a clerkship is to get interviews, and in my experience, that requires three things. First, you need to apply at the right time. Apply too early and you risk getting put to the side in anticipation of the hiring season and not being on the minds of the judge or law clerk in charge. Apply too late and the judge may already have hired. Having a professor make a phone call can help ensure that if you applied too early, your application gets pulled and considered.

Second, you need to have a resume that is interesting and makes sense for the judge to whom you are applying. Try to cull your list of judges to those who actually seem like they might be a good fit for you and try to highlight on your resume what you feel you have in common with that judge. A great way to do this is to talk to former clerks of that judge. Most former clerks are glad to talk to applicants about their judge, especially if you have some sort of tie (same undergrad, same law school, same firm, etc.). And speaking to a former clerk is going to be a bonus for your application because the former clerk will probably mention it to the judge and it conveys a lot of interest. Once you have defined a small list of target judges, make sure that you put stuff on your resume that will jump out to the judge. If you are applying to a catholic/mormon/christian judge and are a member of a catholic/mormon/christian students association, that should be on your resume. If you are applying to a judge who is known for his love of a particular sport and you share that love, that should be on your resume. If you are applying to a judge who is known for being particularly liberal or conservative and you are part of the associated group (ACS/Fed Soc), that should be on your resume. I sorted applicants for my judge this cycle and the hardest applicants to know what to do with are those who have no personality on their resume. You were top of your class, EIC of the law review, and Moot Court Champion? Great. But what we're really looking for is someone who screams "good fit for the judge" on his/her resume. And those "prestige" factors don't give us any insight into the personality of hte applicant.

Third, you need to not have anything in your internet profile that is going to disqualify you from getting an interview. Make sure that your online profile is in good shape. This might seem obvious, but you would not believe the things we find on the internet about clerkship applicants.

If you don't get a clerkship after an interview, it usually means that you were not the best personality fit for the judge of the applicants she/he interviewed. The good news is that you really wouldn't have as great a clerkship experience if you didn't have a good personality fit, so shake yourself off and move on. Try to figure out if you made any obvious interview mistakes (unprepared, disrespectful, overly serious, etc.), and practice your interview skills. If you really are at the top of your class at a T20, you do have a good chance of getting a clerkship, you may just need to apply again next year and try to be more strategic about it.

[Anonymous User]

Would love to hear examples of faux pas in online profiles. Are we talking typical don't have a pics from beach week or parties or is there something more?

[Anonymous User]

Any updates?

[Anonymous User]

Had SDNY and DMD interviews mid-last week.

[Anonymous User]

I too would appreciate examples of online profile mistakes.

[Not Just Filler]

School range: T25-T35
Rank: #2
LR?: yes
Published?: yes (student note; should have second piece published soon)
Recs: professor, practitioner, and state judge
2L/3L/Alum?: alum
Where applying?: D.C. Cir., 2 Cir., 4 Cir.
Any other factors: no

Basically just trying to figure out if I'm even competitive.

[Anonymous User]

School range: T25-T35
Rank: #2
LR?: yes
Published?: yes (student note; should have second piece published soon)
Recs: professor, practitioner, and state judge
2L/3L/Alum?: alum
Where applying?: D.C. Cir., 2 Cir., 4 Cir.
Any other factors: no

Basically just trying to figure out if I'm even competitive.

You are definitely competitive, although DC and 2d are going to be a stretch unless you have an "in." I was basically you and got barely a sniff from those two circuits. If you have a connection to 4th that is your best bet. Consider applying more broadly. Unsolicited recommendation: your recs are probably too practitioner heavy. Replace one with another professor if possible.

[Anonymous User]

Starting to get discouraged. Are all the Circuit Judges done?

[Anonymous User]

Starting to get discouraged. Are all the Circuit Judges done?

Definitely not- several explicitly don't make decisions until they have full year grades and that hasn't happened for most schools.

[lolwat]

Not all, but the pool of circuit judges still hiring is unfortunately definitely smaller at this point.