2016-2017 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

Please post if you hear from Chutkan about interviews this week! She set her deadline to notify people as 10/20. Very anxious over here.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know what kind of stats are competitive for Wood on the 7th? Does she hire exclusively through connected profs?

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know what kind of stats are competitive for Wood on the 7th? Does she hire exclusively through connected profs?

I know that for UChicago students you'd need to be in the top 5%, and likely in the top handful of students, in order to be competitive. I'm sure it is similar for other top schools.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know what kind of stats are competitive for Wood on the 7th? Does she hire exclusively through connected profs?

I know that for UChicago students you'd need to be in the top 5%, and likely in the top handful of students, in order to be competitive. I'm sure it is similar for other top schools.

Figured as much. Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have an idea what's going on with Hardiman (3d Cir.)? His 2016 posting expired a few days ago. Is he done?

[KD35]

Also, why is Niemeyer listed as done? I'm pretty sure he recently updated his OSCAR posting and isn't listed as done.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have an idea what's going on with Hardiman (3d Cir.)? His 2016 posting expired a few days ago. Is he done?

I applied to him last week. My status on OSCAR reads "Expired." Guessing that means he's done.

[Anonymous User]

Also, why is Niemeyer listed as done? I'm pretty sure he recently updated his OSCAR posting and isn't listed as done.

The update is for 2015-2016 term.

"To cover a maternity leave for one of his law clerks, Judge Niemeyer is looking to hire a full-time law clerk to fill a paid position from March 1, 2015, to August 1, 2015, a period that will include two sessions of oral argument in Richmond, Virginia. Applications should be submitted via hard copy and should include a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, writing sample, and a list of references."

[Lavitz]

Also, why is Niemeyer listed as done? I'm pretty sure he recently updated his OSCAR posting and isn't listed as done.

Because anon says so.

Niemeyer is done for 2016.

/shrug

[Anonymous User]

Also, why is Niemeyer listed as done? I'm pretty sure he recently updated his OSCAR posting and isn't listed as done.

Because my rejection letter says he's done for 2016.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know what kind of stats are competitive for Wood on the 7th? Does she hire exclusively through connected profs?

I know that for UChicago students you'd need to be in the top 5%, and likely in the top handful of students, in order to be competitive. I'm sure it is similar for other top schools.

Figured as much. Thanks.

FWIW, one of my recommenders was a former Wood clerk and had told me that to be competitive I should get my grades "just a bit higher" - at the time I was sitting around 3.7 from mid t14, which I think was top 12% or so. Figure she probably considers top 10%.

[Anonymous User]

Please post if you hear from Chutkan about interviews this week! She set her deadline to notify people as 10/20. Very anxious over here.

Make that sometime later this week.

[Anonymous User]

Please post if you hear from Chutkan about interviews this week! She set her deadline to notify people as 10/20. Very anxious over here.

Make that sometime later this week.

Got that email too. I had just about given up hope. Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know what kind of stats are competitive for Wood on the 7th? Does she hire exclusively through connected profs?

I know that for UChicago students you'd need to be in the top 5%, and likely in the top handful of students, in order to be competitive. I'm sure it is similar for other top schools.

Figured as much. Thanks.

FWIW, one of my recommenders was a former Wood clerk and had told me that to be competitive I should get my grades "just a bit higher" - at the time I was sitting around 3.7 from mid t14, which I think was top 12% or so. Figure she probably considers top 10%.

I graduated top 2%, but from a T25. Everyone so far has mentioned T14s, which supports my suspicion that she doesn't hire outside of there. Thanks for the input!

Side note/rant: those stats put me in a really weird spot. My school isn't good enough to interest the judges who only hire from the T14, and judges who hire outside there are often willing to dip into TTs, so I'm competing with all those kids. I feel like there's no spot on the spectrum that I can lay claim to (not that anyone can do that in this crazy game). It's frustrating. Hoping I'm more successful as an alumnus than I was as a 2L.

[Anonymous User]

Side note/rant: those stats put me in a really weird spot. My school isn't good enough to interest the judges who only hire from the T14, and judges who hire outside there are often willing to dip into TTs, so I'm competing with all those kids. I feel like there's no spot on the spectrum that I can lay claim to (not that anyone can do that in this crazy game). It's frustrating. Hoping I'm more successful as an alumnus than I was as a 2L.

Yeah, that is tough. To confirm your suspicions, at least with one data point, my (very selective CoA) judge quite regularly hired outside the T-14, but basically viewed every school ranked between 10 and 50 the same. For those schools you'd have to be at the very top of your class to be a contender, but someone coming from, say UCLA would have almost no advantage over someone with the same grades coming from UC Boulder.

[Anonymous User]

For those schools you'd have to be at the very top of your class to be a contender, but someone coming from, say UCLA would have almost no advantage over someone with the same grades coming from UC Boulder.

This simultaneously makes me feel better and exasperated.

Thanks for the data point, though! I hope I happen to apply to your judge.

[Anonymous User]

For those schools you'd have to be at the very top of your class to be a contender, but someone coming from, say UCLA would have almost no advantage over someone with the same grades coming from UC Boulder.

This simultaneously makes me feel better and exasperated.

Thanks for the data point, though! I hope I happen to apply to your judge.

He's long been full for 2016. But I imagine there are similar judges out there.

[Anonymous User]

/

[mcweanis]

wait, what in the actual eff?
wasn't the on plan deadline for 2014 in august 2013? has the process already moved back 9 more months? i thought i had until at least february march to apply for 2016 positions.

[BVest]

Plan is non-existent now.

[andythefir]

wait, what in the actual eff?
wasn't the on plan deadline for 2014 in august 2013? has the process already moved back 9 more months? i thought i had until at least february march to apply for 2016 positions.

The plan was a good faith effort to make more hiring more accessible to people not in the know. Pre-2013 it seemed to be how a lot of district judges did their hiring. 2013 split the baby because the judges who wanted to participate in the plan started feeling like they were getting left behind and hurried up and hired before the plan date. People like me who thought that the plan was a real thing ended up looking like Wile E Coyote, applying to spots that weren't there. One judge I applied to said on OSCAR that he would only accept on-plan OSCAR applications, then filled both spots with paper applications before the OSCAR date.

Even when the plan was still in place most of the elite judges hired in the fall 2 years before the term was to start. It seems to me OSCAR, and its plan, are and always have been for suckers. Serious applicants have always applied paper.

[VulcanVulcanVulcan]

Serious applicants have always applied paper.

Highly underappreciated aspect of clerkship applications.

[A. Nony Mouse]

wait, what in the actual eff?
wasn't the on plan deadline for 2014 in august 2013? has the process already moved back 9 more months? i thought i had until at least february march to apply for 2016 positions.

There will still be judges who want to see 3 semesters of grades, but things have been moving earlier and earlier.

[minnbills]

So I had my third clerkship interview today. I thought it went pretty well but I am having a hard time gauging how I did. I know that each Judge is different but it is just so hard to tell sometimes.

[Anonymous User]

I know it varies by judge, but can anyone speak to how long after finalizing an application do judges get back for interviews?