starting clerkship before bar?? helppp Forum

[Anonymous User]

got the job. obviously took it. thanks to all for the advice.

Congrats OP!

I'm actually fairly jealous lol. I had decent credentials, applied only to all the fed judges in my home state (secondary market even) and didn't get a nibble. Another friend of mine was about top 15% at our T25, was EIC of a secondary journal, applied to over a 150 judges nationwide, and also didn't get a nibble.

So congrats, enjoy your time clerking! And I don't know how you feel about fedgov, but also apply for DOJ honors when the application period comes around, a clerkship should put you in the running at least.

[sundance95]

I recently started a clerkship where they needed people ASAP. That was explicitly made known from the beginning, and it really affected the hiring process. By that I mean my co-clerk and I probably would have had no shot otherwise.

I cannot emphasize how much I love clerking. This is truly a once in a lifetime chance. If I were you, I would do it with no questions asked. I lost a lot of money due to breaking my lease and moving far on a whim, but it was certainly worth it.

But if you really have to hesitate about it, it's totally fine to ask about start dates.

How do such clerkships become available? Old clerk leaves or something unfortunate like that? How do you even find out about them?

Ps... this is pokemon. Did not mean anon.

There was a sizable group of judges that were recently confirmed in the aftermath of the Senate filibuster rule change; those judges sometimes found themselves scrambling to fill positions. I interviewed for a clerkship this summer that I thought I might have to start within three weeks (which would have nixed my bar exam as well); fortunately that was not the case, much like OP's situation. Many congrats to OP!

[Anonymous User]

I recently started a clerkship where they needed people ASAP. That was explicitly made known from the beginning, and it really affected the hiring process. By that I mean my co-clerk and I probably would have had no shot otherwise.

I cannot emphasize how much I love clerking. This is truly a once in a lifetime chance. If I were you, I would do it with no questions asked. I lost a lot of money due to breaking my lease and moving far on a whim, but it was certainly worth it.

But if you really have to hesitate about it, it's totally fine to ask about start dates.

How do such clerkships become available? Old clerk leaves or something unfortunate like that? How do you even find out about them?

Ps... this is pokemon. Did not mean anon.

Judge had 2 career clerks that left for jobs they unexpectedly got at the same time that required them starting with about 2-3 weeks of notice. I applied at 6AM right after getting the OSCAR email (it took exactly 2 minutes to apply--just switched salutation in a stock clerkship CL I had), the career clerk interviewed me that day by phone, and the judge interviewed me two days later and offered me it on the spot. My co-clerk basically did the same.

I got really fucking lucky.

[objctnyrhnr]

i too feel incredibly lucky.