Top Law Schools

I've seen some concern here that when someone does a district court clerkship and then two court of appeals clerkships, they become less attractive to firms because the firms are reluctant to hire a new associate with no real litigation experience who will come in as a 4th year associate.

I recently was hired for a two-year clerkship and am considering sending out applications for court of appeals clerkships. If I am hired by a court of appeals (a longshot) for a third year of clerking, should I be concerned about my BigLaw prospects post-clerkship?

Many firms just won't give you a third year of class credit for another yr clerk (unless it's SCOTUS)

Should you be concerned . . . sure, but only in the way that everyone who doesn't have a biglaw job should be somewhat concerned about their ability to get one. Should you be so concerned that you don't apply for COA? No way. You would still be an extremely attractive candidate to firms that value clerkship experience. It's also different to do two judges for three years than to do three judges for three years. I think firms are most skeptical about whether clerks are "ready to get to work" when they've applied for three separate clerkships, and particularly when they've done two separate clerkships at the same court level. If you wanted to do three one-year D. Ct. clerkships in a row, you'd have real cause for concern, but that's not the case here.

You will just need to be careful about how you approach the negotiation with your prospective biglaw employer. You should definitely expect to come in as a third-year associate and you will not get more than a ~70k bonus for all three years of clerking. If you're okay with that, then go for COA. The select few who get D. Ct. and COA clerkships pretty much have it made in the shade.