What are good questions to ask a former clerk as preparation Forum

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What are good questions to ask a former clerk as preparation

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jun 25, 2014 4:17 pm

I'm starting a COA clerkship this fall, and am going to speak with a couple of my judge's old clerks to make sure I'm fully prepared.

What are some questions that you wish you had asked, or that you would hope someone would ask before starting to work for your judge?

I'm going to ask questions about working style, if there's anything he wishes he had read before starting (e.g., local rules, select opinions by the judge), etc, but those will be vague and I'm hoping for some insight on more specific questions.

Also I'll probably ask where I should live since I have no idea :lol:
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emciosn

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Re: What are good questions to ask a former clerk as preparation

Post by emciosn » Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:46 pm

I would ask about pet peeves of the judge, especially when it comes to writing. There are just certain stylistic elements, etc. that vary from judge to judge. For instance whether the judge says "me/I/we" in opinions as opposed to "the Court," or whether the judge refers to litigants by name (Mr./Ms. Smith as opposed to Appellant/Appellee) or even stuff like whether the judge uses the Oxford comma. I think most judges expect to teach new clerks what they do and do not like to see in opinions but if you had some insight and could get some of the easy stuff right from the start it would be a way to make a good first impression.

I would ask about chambers norms--when people get in/leave (probably whenever the judge leaves), how long to take for lunch, vacation days (if any), dress code, etc.

I'm sure there is more but that is what comes to mind right away.
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