Value of a Federal Clerkship Forum

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Value of a Federal Clerkship

Post by Anonymous User » Fri May 16, 2014 3:35 pm

I just graduated top 5% at a t-80 school. I've got a clerkship in a local trial court lined up for the year, and I have 3 interviews lined up with federal district court judges for the following year, none of which is in a top district.

I am basically clueless on the value of a federal district court clerkship. Is taking a clerkship (even if its in an out-of-the-way state) a good career move? If the clerkship was, say, in Oklahoma or Nebraska...etc, does it look good to employers in Chicago, DC, Boston...etc?

Any advice would be helpful.

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Re: Value of a Federal Clerkship

Post by Anonymous User » Fri May 16, 2014 3:38 pm

Generally it'll be worth it, but you should be willing to work in the market the clerkship is in. In my market, top 5% at the local Tier 2 + a federal clerkship is a way to get a good regional firm.

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Re: Value of a Federal Clerkship

Post by Anonymous User » Fri May 16, 2014 7:46 pm

D. Ct. clerk here. The consensus seems to be that it all depends. You are much, much more likely to get work in the district you clerk in from what I can gather. This is especially true for small/secondary cities because the pool is more limited in a way that works in your favor.

But I would 100% encourage you to do a clerkship. I personally can't think of a better job. I love every single thing I work on and learn an unbelievable amount every day. If you want to litigate, I think the amount you learn more than makes up for other drawbacks (namely, the pay, which could be better).

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Re: Value of a Federal Clerkship

Post by middlemarch » Fri May 16, 2014 8:22 pm

1. For people who already did a SA in Biglaw and have an offer, where the clerkship is doesn't matter--a V20 firm will be fine with you clerking in Oklahoma even if they don't have offices in Oklahoma.

However, some districts are undeniably more selective and prestigious than others: e.g., in no particular order, SDNY, EDNY, D.D.C., N.D. Ill., N.D. Cal., C.D. Cal., D. Mass, D. N.J., E.D. Pa., E.D. Tex., E.D. Va.

2. What if you didn't have a SA and top credentials from law school, factoring in the strength of your school, and you're looking for a Biglaw job after clerking? For those listed districts, and perhaps a few others, there's national reach and clerking there will certainly help inside their respective states and probably help you land a Biglaw or prestigious government job even well outside that district (e.g. a New York firm would look favorably upon a N.D. Cal. clerkship). That's generally because national firms will see a lot of litigation in those venues even if they don't have clients or offices there. Most of the other district courts have more regional pull. So clerking in Oklahoma is really great if you want to work in Oklahoma and maybe a couple surrounding states, but the clerkship will appear less shiny to firms in major markets.

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Re: Value of a Federal Clerkship

Post by ClerkAdvisor » Fri May 16, 2014 9:37 pm

middlemarch wrote:1. For people who already did a SA in Biglaw and have an offer, where the clerkship is doesn't matter--a V20 firm will be fine with you clerking in Oklahoma even if they don't have offices in Oklahoma.

However, some districts are undeniably more selective and prestigious than others: e.g., in no particular order, SDNY, EDNY, D.D.C., N.D. Ill., N.D. Cal., C.D. Cal., D. Mass, D. N.J., E.D. Pa., E.D. Tex., E.D. Va.

2. What if you didn't have a SA and top credentials from law school, factoring in the strength of your school, and you're looking for a Biglaw job after clerking? For those listed districts, and perhaps a few others, there's national reach and clerking there will certainly help inside their respective states and probably help you land a Biglaw or prestigious government job even well outside that district (e.g. a New York firm would look favorably upon a N.D. Cal. clerkship). That's generally because national firms will see a lot of litigation in those venues even if they don't have clients or offices there. Most of the other district courts have more regional pull. So clerking in Oklahoma is really great if you want to work in Oklahoma and maybe a couple surrounding states, but the clerkship will appear less shiny to firms in major markets.
This sounds about right... I'd say that DMass, DNJ, and DDC are probably a bit overrated, while EDVA and EDTX have some extra-value because some of their local rules/practices that make the courts a bit unique. And I'd probably add DDel to the list because of their heavy patent docket.

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Re: Value of a Federal Clerkship

Post by Anonymous User » Fri May 16, 2014 11:58 pm

ClerkAdvisor wrote:
middlemarch wrote:1. For people who already did a SA in Biglaw and have an offer, where the clerkship is doesn't matter--a V20 firm will be fine with you clerking in Oklahoma even if they don't have offices in Oklahoma.

However, some districts are undeniably more selective and prestigious than others: e.g., in no particular order, SDNY, EDNY, D.D.C., N.D. Ill., N.D. Cal., C.D. Cal., D. Mass, D. N.J., E.D. Pa., E.D. Tex., E.D. Va.

2. What if you didn't have a SA and top credentials from law school, factoring in the strength of your school, and you're looking for a Biglaw job after clerking? For those listed districts, and perhaps a few others, there's national reach and clerking there will certainly help inside their respective states and probably help you land a Biglaw or prestigious government job even well outside that district (e.g. a New York firm would look favorably upon a N.D. Cal. clerkship). That's generally because national firms will see a lot of litigation in those venues even if they don't have clients or offices there. Most of the other district courts have more regional pull. So clerking in Oklahoma is really great if you want to work in Oklahoma and maybe a couple surrounding states, but the clerkship will appear less shiny to firms in major markets.
This sounds about right... I'd say that DMass, DNJ, and DDC are probably a bit overrated, while EDVA and EDTX have some extra-value because some of their local rules/practices that make the courts a bit unique. And I'd probably add DDel to the list because of their heavy patent docket.
Saying DMass and DDC are overrated is a pretty bold statement. Care to elaborate?

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Re: Value of a Federal Clerkship

Post by ClerkAdvisor » Sat May 17, 2014 12:11 am

Anonymous User wrote:
ClerkAdvisor wrote:
middlemarch wrote:1. For people who already did a SA in Biglaw and have an offer, where the clerkship is doesn't matter--a V20 firm will be fine with you clerking in Oklahoma even if they don't have offices in Oklahoma.

However, some districts are undeniably more selective and prestigious than others: e.g., in no particular order, SDNY, EDNY, D.D.C., N.D. Ill., N.D. Cal., C.D. Cal., D. Mass, D. N.J., E.D. Pa., E.D. Tex., E.D. Va.

2. What if you didn't have a SA and top credentials from law school, factoring in the strength of your school, and you're looking for a Biglaw job after clerking? For those listed districts, and perhaps a few others, there's national reach and clerking there will certainly help inside their respective states and probably help you land a Biglaw or prestigious government job even well outside that district (e.g. a New York firm would look favorably upon a N.D. Cal. clerkship). That's generally because national firms will see a lot of litigation in those venues even if they don't have clients or offices there. Most of the other district courts have more regional pull. So clerking in Oklahoma is really great if you want to work in Oklahoma and maybe a couple surrounding states, but the clerkship will appear less shiny to firms in major markets.
This sounds about right... I'd say that DMass, DNJ, and DDC are probably a bit overrated, while EDVA and EDTX have some extra-value because some of their local rules/practices that make the courts a bit unique. And I'd probably add DDel to the list because of their heavy patent docket.
Saying DMass and DDC are overrated is a pretty bold statement. Care to elaborate?
Not really a bold statement. As far as DDC goes, it's not a very popular place for filing big suits. Most DC firms litigate outside DC, not inside DC; most agency challenges are in DC Cir, not DDC. It's also one of the slowest federal courts, taking 43.5 months from time of filing to trial (I think its the second slowest district in the US). On the criminal side, many terrorism and espionage cases go to EDVA and SDNY/EDNY, not DDC.

As far as DMass goes, its popular for clerking because of its proximity to Harvard, but otherwise is just an average East Coast district.

Honestly, a clerkship on either SDTX or NDTX would be just as interesting and valuable.

Also, why anon?

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