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Forcing a hand
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:55 pm
by Anonymous User
So y'all have mentioned how if you get an interview, its fine to call other judges in the area to see if they're also interested in interviewing you when you go to interview with the initial judge.
What do you guys think of then just calling chambers for a judge you want to clerk for and telling them you're gonna be in town sometime in the future and that if the judge has any interest you would appreciate an interview, even though you don't have set plans or another interview offer? Basically, it would be a bluff (and a lie) to tell chambers you have plans to be in the area when you in fact don't but I'm somewhat entertaining this idea.
Is this a horrifically bad idea?
Re: Forcing a hand
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:57 pm
by Citizen Genet
Anonymous User wrote:So y'all have mentioned how if you get an interview, its fine to call other judges in the area to see if they're also interested in interviewing you when you go to interview with the initial judge.
What do you guys think of then just calling chambers for a judge you want to clerk for and telling them you're gonna be in town sometime in the future and that if the judge has any interest you would appreciate an interview, even though you don't have set plans or another interview offer? Basically, it would be a bluff (and a lie) to tell chambers you have plans to be in the area when you in fact don't but I'm somewhat entertaining this idea.
Is this a horrifically bad idea?
Re: Forcing a hand
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:59 pm
by Anonymous User
Citizen Genet wrote:Anonymous User wrote:So y'all have mentioned how if you get an interview, its fine to call other judges in the area to see if they're also interested in interviewing you when you go to interview with the initial judge.
What do you guys think of then just calling chambers for a judge you want to clerk for and telling them you're gonna be in town sometime in the future and that if the judge has any interest you would appreciate an interview, even though you don't have set plans or another interview offer? Basically, it would be a bluff (and a lie) to tell chambers you have plans to be in the area when you in fact don't but I'm somewhat entertaining this idea.
Is this a horrifically bad idea?
OP here, msg received. Idea scrapped.
Re: Forcing a hand
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:59 pm
by Citizen Genet
And here's why. More likely than not, they'll ask what you're in town for. If you don't have something serious (an interview with another judge or a firm) then they'll assume it's this kind of ploy.
Re: Forcing a hand
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:00 pm
by ph14
Anonymous User wrote:Citizen Genet wrote:Anonymous User wrote:So y'all have mentioned how if you get an interview, its fine to call other judges in the area to see if they're also interested in interviewing you when you go to interview with the initial judge.
What do you guys think of then just calling chambers for a judge you want to clerk for and telling them you're gonna be in town sometime in the future and that if the judge has any interest you would appreciate an interview, even though you don't have set plans or another interview offer? Basically, it would be a bluff (and a lie) to tell chambers you have plans to be in the area when you in fact don't but I'm somewhat entertaining this idea.
Is this a horrifically bad idea?
OP here, msg received. Idea scrapped.
I agree that you should not lie to a federal judge. But you could try to get some attention to your application through a targeted professor phone call.
Re: Forcing a hand
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:07 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:So y'all have mentioned how if you get an interview, its fine to call other judges in the area to see if they're also interested in interviewing you when you go to interview with the initial judge.
What do you guys think of then just calling chambers for a judge you want to clerk for and telling them you're gonna be in town sometime in the future and that if the judge has any interest you would appreciate an interview, even though you don't have set plans or another interview offer? Basically, it would be a bluff (and a lie) to tell chambers you have plans to be in the area when you in fact don't but I'm somewhat entertaining this idea.
Is this a horrifically bad idea?
Even apart from the problem with lying to a judge, there are risks with this strategy. When my judge is in "clerk hiring mode," he's relatively open-minded about considering which applicants to bring in for an interview. But when he's not thinking about hiring clerks, he's only going to bother to interview someone if they're exceptionally qualified. In other words, your credentials have to be good enough to make him put down what he's doing and think: "This applicant is really a catch. I better interview him right away."
So if you "force his hand" when he's not in interview mode, and if he looks at your app and thinks "eh," there's a possibility that you could get tossed in the reject pile even though you might have had a chance if you were considered as part of a systematic review process.
Even if you have a legitimate reason to be in the judge's city, your "force his hand" approach is not without risk.