CoA clerk taking questions Forum

[Anonymous User]

Reviving this thread to ask a few questions. I have a District Court clerkship lined up for 2021-2023. Interested in COA for 2023-2024. I was thinking of applying to some judges before the wave of applications from the 2L summer hiring plan. That means I'll be applying without having started my District Court clerkship. Should my cover letter be different than the one I wrote for district courts? Should I emphasize more appellate stuff as opposed to general litigation stuff? Or keep it much shorter and let my 2021-2023 clerkship do the talking? Any other general advice? Thanks all

[Anonymous User]

Shorter is almost always fine. We didn't really look at cover letters unless there was something unusual about a resume that needed explaining. A district court clerkship on your resume speaks for itself and there's no need to highlight it any further in your cover letter, except perhaps to note its end date so the CoA judge knows when you'd be available to begin a new clerkship.

Feel free to fire away with any other questions.

[Anonymous User]

Shorter is almost always fine. We didn't really look at cover letters unless there was something unusual about a resume that needed explaining. A district court clerkship on your resume speaks for itself and there's no need to highlight it any further in your cover letter, except perhaps to note its end date so the CoA judge knows when you'd be available to begin a new clerkship.

Feel free to fire away with any other questions.

Is it too late to start applying to off-plan judges? Even if my CL indicates I am open to working any term? I don’t know if I should do this in March (when I’ll have the materials ready) or wait until the next cycle.

[Anonymous User]

Shorter is almost always fine. We didn't really look at cover letters unless there was something unusual about a resume that needed explaining. A district court clerkship on your resume speaks for itself and there's no need to highlight it any further in your cover letter, except perhaps to note its end date so the CoA judge knows when you'd be available to begin a new clerkship.

Feel free to fire away with any other questions.

Is it too late to start applying to off-plan judges? Even if my CL indicates I am open to working any term? I don’t know if I should do this in March (when I’ll have the materials ready) or wait until the next cycle.

This is going to be very YMMV but as a general matter, no I don't think it's too late. Obviously some judges hire outrageously far in advance, but there are plenty of off-plan judges (mine included) that have not yet hired for 2023.

I also agree that shorter is better for cover letters. I would mention the term and if applying for COA judges on the same circuit, the name of your DJ.

[beepboopbeep]

Shorter is almost always fine. We didn't really look at cover letters unless there was something unusual about a resume that needed explaining. A district court clerkship on your resume speaks for itself and there's no need to highlight it any further in your cover letter, except perhaps to note its end date so the CoA judge knows when you'd be available to begin a new clerkship.

Feel free to fire away with any other questions.

Agreed. The one thing I'd add and have said in similar threads before is to put it in your cover letter if you have a geographic connection to the area you're applying that isn't obvious from your resume (eg: you went to high school there; SO is moving to the area for work; etc.) A decent contingent of judges hope to hire clerks who will join the local community of lawyers after clerking.

Re: above anon: I'd include the name of your DJ even if applying out of circuit. You don't know who might have random connections across the judiciary, whether from law school, sitting by designation, etc.

[purplegoldtornado]

Shorter is almost always fine. We didn't really look at cover letters unless there was something unusual about a resume that needed explaining. A district court clerkship on your resume speaks for itself and there's no need to highlight it any further in your cover letter, except perhaps to note its end date so the CoA judge knows when you'd be available to begin a new clerkship.

Feel free to fire away with any other questions.

Agreed. The one thing I'd add and have said in similar threads before is to put it in your cover letter if you have a geographic connection to the area you're applying that isn't obvious from your resume (eg: you went to high school there; SO is moving to the area for work; etc.) A decent contingent of judges hope to hire clerks who will join the local community of lawyers after clerking.

Re: above anon: I'd include the name of your DJ even if applying out of circuit. You don't know who might have random connections across the judiciary, whether from law school, sitting by designation, etc.

What if we have no connections at all? If I live in Nebraska and am applying to Delaware, for example, should I have to address that elephant in the room of why I’d want to go there?

[nixy]

If there’s something specific about the place you’re applying that you can point to, sure. I think there are diminishing returns to making something up, so if you’re applying there because you’re willing to go anywhere, and there is no other connection, I probably wouldn’t bother.

[Anonymous User]

Yes, many off-plan judges are still hiring and some will still be hiring when the Plan comes around. Not too late. There’s a partial list of them on the 2022-23 thread.

Agree with beep to include DJ’s name no matter what. A random example of that: I know Robert Pratt, who went to Creighton Law and never left Iowa, is well-connected on CA9 because of sitting by designation. You just never know. Plus they may just know of your judge by reputation and IMO leaving it off is weird and would attract more attention.

No need to include an explanation when applying far away if you don’t have ties. If you do have ties, explain them, but it’s not expected for COAs as much as it is for DJs.

[mjb447]

Agree - you can change your cover letter to emphasize "appellate stuff" if it's somehow a compelling part of your narrative beyond what your resume already says, but you're probably not going to suffer any if you don't. Similarly, if there's something really drawing you to the area (especially, again, if it's not obvious from other part of the application), say so, but making something up or trying to spin a very weak connection into something meaningful is unnecessary and could hurt you if you come off as disingenuous.

Include the name of the judge you're clerking for and the term somewhere in your application. I put mine in my cover letter in addition to my resume to highlight it, on the theory that it's one of a small number of positions that can meaningfully improve your chances all by itself, but it's not strictly necessary.

[beepboopbeep]

Agree with all three posts above this