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I'm in the middle of a two-year D.Ct. clerkship and am applying (albeit with low chances of success) to COA clerkships for 2015. So far, I've only applied to one-year COA clerkships because I am a little concerned that doing a second two-year term will make me look like I've been clerking "too long." Though I know there is utility in clerking at multiple levels, and that COA clerkships open some doors that D.Ct. ones do not, I think coming into a firm or gov't agency with four years of clerkship experience might be tricky, if I could get the interviews for these places at all.

I don't want to be a career clerk. My dream is fedgov, but I would also be thrilled to head into biglaw. My D.Ct. judge has sent people into a couple fed agencies, Manhattan DA, and several biglaw firms.

So, I basically have three questions:

First, is three years too long to clerk, provided that one of those years is at a different court? I will say that my judge's former clerks that went on to one-year COA terms seem to be okay; all three are working in biglaw. They also finished at least two years ago, though, so I'm not sure if the slight market shifts since will impact my potential outcomes.

Second, would four years be too long to clerk, where it was made up of two two-year terms at different courts?

Third, would the dangers of looking like I clerked "too long" outweigh the benefit of clerking at a COA?

Bump.

Four years with district court + COA is good for fedgov.

I have no experience with biglaw, but my impression is that four years is pushing it. Three seems fine.

Most CoA clerkships are only 1 year, so you would be clerking for a total of 3 years, which is totally fine.