Bankruptcy Clerkships in Big Chapter 11 Markets Forum

[patriot888]

All,

I plan to apply exclusively to bankruptcy clerkships. Of course, I prefer big Chapter 11 markets/judges. At this point, I do not think I will be competitive for a SDNY- or DE-type clerkship. However, I think I am too competitive for simply "flyover" consumer districts. Therefore, I will avoid the middle-of-nowhere consumer districts.

How do I know which judges/districts are "big chapter 11" markets? Should I just focus on the size of the city? Example, Chicago, LA, San Diego, Dallas, Phoenix, etc.?

Is there any sort of available data or strategy to filter big bankruptcy markets?

I highly appreciate your input.

[emciosn]

It is first important to know that DE and SDNY are head and shoulders above every other district for chapter 11 filings--especially now that chapter 11 filings have slowed down. In DE or SDNY you may spend most of your time working on chapter 11s as a clerk but even in a place like Chicago you could spend like 75-90% of your time on consumer stuff. I would say after DE and SDNY the next tier is Chicago, LA and Dallas; after that some of the other cities you mentioned (also maybe Houston and I have heard that maybe EDNY is seeing more chapter 11 activity but I don't know that for sure).

I think that you still have a decent shot of getting biglaw from a big city, non-DE/SDNY bankruptcy clerkship (especially Chicago, Dallas, LA) but your chances are obviously) not as good as coming out of DE/SDNY. I personally have seen some clerks from Chicago and Dallas/Houston bankruptcy judges get some pretty sweet biglaw gigs.

[Anonymous User]

It is first important to know that DE and SDNY are head and shoulders above every other district for chapter 11 filings--especially now that chapter 11 filings have slowed down. In DE or SDNY you may spend most of your time working on chapter 11s as a clerk but even in a place like Chicago you could spend like 75-90% of your time on consumer stuff. I would say after DE and SDNY the next tier is Chicago, LA and Dallas; after that some of the other cities you mentioned (also maybe Houston and I have heard that maybe EDNY is seeing more chapter 11 activity but I don't know that for sure). <br sab="709"><br sab="710">I think that you still have a decent shot of getting biglaw from a big city, non-DE/SDNY bankruptcy clerkship (especially Chicago, Dallas, LA) but your chances are obviously) not as good as coming out of DE/SDNY. I personally have seen some clerks from Chicago and Dallas/Houston bankruptcy judges get some pretty sweet biglaw gigs.

I see. Is it any judge in that city? For example, all the Houston judges are from the "Southern District of Texas", but they are in different divisions. Obviously there is the Houston division, but there is also another division that is not in the "heart of Houston" though it is part of the Southern District of Texas.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, I am clerking for a Houston bankruptcy judge next year and have been told by the clerks that they have several billion dollar ch. 11 filings that take up most of their time right now. So I don't think it's necessarily true that non SDNY or D. Del. clerks spend 75% or more of their time on consumer stuff. Of course I haven't started yet, so that's only what I heard.

[peter2009]

All,

I plan to apply exclusively to bankruptcy clerkships. Of course, I prefer big Chapter 11 markets/judges. At this point, I do not think I will be competitive for a SDNY- or DE-type clerkship. However, I think I am too competitive for simply "flyover" consumer districts. Therefore, I will avoid the middle-of-nowhere consumer districts.

How do I know which judges/districts are "big chapter 11" markets? Should I just focus on the size of the city? Example, Chicago, LA, San Diego, Dallas, Phoenix, etc.?

Is there any sort of available data or strategy to filter big bankruptcy markets?

I highly appreciate your input.

This database allows you to perform searches on the big Ch. 11 cases: http://lopucki.law.ucla.edu/bankruptcy_research.asp

[emciosn]

FWIW, I am clerking for a Houston bankruptcy judge next year and have been told by the clerks that they have several billion dollar ch. 11 filings that take up most of their time right now. So I don't think it's necessarily true that non SDNY or D. Del. clerks spend 75% or more of their time on consumer stuff. Of course I haven't started yet, so that's only what I heard.

Hm well I interviewed with a Houston BK judge a year or so ago and from what I heard during the interview process they were working on a couple bigger chapter 11 cases but really spent the vast majority of their time on consumer issues. The judge indicated this was common for the district. It probably is a matter of the right combination of time and place. You could clerk for a Houston judge and see almost no chapter 11 activity or get "lucky" and have your judge get some big, contentious chapter 11s (note that even if your judge gets a big chapter 11 it may not mean much to you if everyone plays nice--which is probably unlucky).

You just don't know--in DE/SDNY you can be assured that you will get some big chapter 11 experience, in some of the other bigger cities mentioned in this thread you may have to get lucky to get those cases filed while you are there and assigned to your judge. You can certainly get some decent chapter 11 experience with a non-DE/SDNY BK judge it is relatively speaking just more of a crap shoot. I mean, the clerk(s) in Michigan working on the Detroit bankruptcy could not have predicted that the city would file a year and a half ago when they applied.

And none of this is to say working on consumer stuff is all that bad--some interesting stuff does come up, it just deals with smaller $$ amounts.