Targeting Districts using docket statistics (or other ways?) Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm trying to decide which districts courts to apply to. Here's my situation: I have a CoA clerkship, but am interested in doing trial work and would like to do a district court clerkship after the CoA. That said, after thinking about the delay/lower pay, I think I'd really like to target my applications to places where I'd learn a lot. (I'm not really concerned with prestige/making my resume better at this point—just learning as much as I can.)

But I'm having trouble distinguishing judges/districts with the data I have available. TLS wisdom leads me to think I'd learn a lot in S.D.N.Y., ND Ill., and E.D. Va (the rocket docket). Also, N.D. Ca and C.D. Ca might also be good, though I can't tell how much of the competitiveness of those districts is driven by people wanting to live in CA. I'd heard that D.D.C./E.D.N.Y. might not be as good despite how competitive they are, because they have dockets that focus on areas I'm not that interested in (regulatory for D.D.C. and drugs/criminal for E.D.N.Y.) Is that all right? I also plan to apply for clerkships in the market I'd like to practice in, since I know that can be a good learning experience in other ways.

But, beyond that collected TLS wisdom, I'm somewhat at a loss. One idea I'd had was looking at the Federal case management statistics (http://www.uscourts.gov/Statistics/Fede ... -2014.aspx) to see which courts have the highest case load. (On the theory that I'd learn more if we're handling more cases.) Is that a good idea, or are those statistics too misleading to be helpful?

I'd appreciate any advice anyone has—even if it's to say that I'm dumb and that a clerkship is a clerkship, so I should stop trying to distinguish between the sort of experience I'd be likely to have.

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Current district clerk here. I'll say that it's a little unusual (i.e., it feels a little artificial) to separate out the prestige factor of different districts. There is a significant difference between S.D.N.Y. and my district in terms of prestige, and the experience is different, but I really don't know that the experience is "better" in S.D.N.Y. than my district. My judge--and I'm not just being partisan/loyal here--is better (as in, objectively more impressive in his/her pre-judicial accomplishments and pedigree) than almost everyone on S.D.N.Y., and I've learned a ton from him/her . . . but I'd still be clerking at S.D.N.Y. if I could've swung it.

I think the stats are worthless, except for confirming what you already know, e.g., where the patent dockets are. I work in a border district (with Mexico), and my district/judge handles a TON of immigration cases, illegal re-entries, etc.--enough to overwhelm the stats. But I have never, not even once, worked on an immigration case or an illegal re-entry. The cases aren't legally intensive, they don't take up much time, and it seems like 99.97% of them plead out quickly, especially with this new fast-track program the DOJ has.

On the flip side, my district has a quantity/proportion of class actions that's less than S.D.N.Y./E.D.N.Y./N.D. Ill./etc., but our class actions tend to be very procedurally interesting, if you love complex civil lit (like I do!). While big-city class actions tend to be securities cases, where certification is so obvious that defendants will literally waive their right to a certification hearing (dead serious), we get a lot of oil and gas cases, where commonality/predominance/superiority present genuinely interesting, close, intellectually challenging questions. (E.g., Are these 3,500 oil lease holders similarly situated enough to be managed as class where they've been shorted on royalties by ExxonMobil?) D. Minn. does a lot of MDLs, which are supposedly fascinating to work on as an attorney, but really not much in the way of action as a law clerk (this is hearsay; I've never worked on one).

I guess maybe a fairer statement than "the raw stats are worthless" would be that their probative value is scant next to asking present/past clerks or the judge him/herself what type of work consumes the most judicial time. Or, since that approach takes a pretty big investment of resources, considering the type of case you find most interesting, and figuring out where said case tends to be.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I don't think you're really going to learn more in a high volume district, for the reasons the poster above me gives. Very high-volume districts are likely to have a lot of relatively routine cases churning through the process that a law clerk won't be involved with. And really, I don't think any district has judges who are sitting around twiddling their thumbs without enough to do. Again, I'll second the person above me and suggest that talking to clerks/judges in specific districts will be able to give you a better idea of what you'd learn.

Keep in mind, too, that there are differences not just between districts but between judges, both in terms of dockets and what a law clerk does. That is, I never did a social security case or habeas, because those went to the magistrate judges in my district, but I believe that's not true of every district. Similarly, some judges will give clerks criminal law stuff to do, and some won't. So those kind of differences affect your experience as much as, if not more, than the district docket.

[Anonymous User]

Again, I'll second the person above me and suggest that talking to clerks/judges in specific districts will be able to give you a better idea of what you'd learn.

Thanks for the advice. I hear you.

So is there any way I can learn more without talking to judges/clerks/former clerks? I know a few former clerks, but not that many. And I hate to start blindly emailing my school's alums/attorneys at my SA firm that I never met. I mean, I'd do that if I got an interview, but sending blind emails when I'm just thinking of applying seems like it might be going too far.

I'm looking for some way to do initial research on paper/internet/etc. Is that just not possible?

[A. Nony Mouse]

To be honest, I don't know how you'd do that kind of research on paper. Which isn't to say it's not possible, just that I don't know how. FWIW, most people are happy to talk about their judge and their experience clerking.

I also tend to think that a clerkship is a clerkship is a clerkship, in terms of the learning experience - the differences aren't so great that you need to break them down by the kinds of opportunities they present (apart from the more obvious things like prestige or specialized courts or famous judges, that kind of thing).

But someone else may have more helpful ideas than I do.

[tww909]

You mentioned you're interested in trial work, but didn't specify what kind. Any idea? I may be able to come up with some specific judges and/or districts if you have a more specific notion.

You might also try the almanac of the federal judiciary once you have an idea of some districts you're interested in. A scan at the opinions listed in there can give you a sense of what a specific judge is interested in.

[Anonymous User]

You mentioned you're interested in trial work, but didn't specify what kind. Any idea? I may be able to come up with some specific judges and/or districts if you have a more specific notion.

I'm not really sure. Mostly, my dream job would be to be the sort of litigator from 50 years ago that does a little of everything—a job that I know doesn't really exist these days (though I plan to work at a firm where I can avoid specializing at least for a couple of years). I'm more drawn to statutory/common law areas, and less to administrative/regulatory, if that helps any.

The biggest draw of litigation (to me) is the chance to do a lot of writing. That pushes me away from white collar and (some) regulatory work. But it doesn't push me much in a particular direction.

You might also try the almanac of the federal judiciary once you have an idea of some districts you're interested in. A scan at the opinions listed in there can give you a sense of what a specific judge is interested in.

Thanks, I will take a look at that.

[Anonymous User]

I'm the first responder in the thread.

Search Westlaw for ju(jones) to see opinions written by Judge Jones. Narrow by date to see what they've written in the last year, etc. Figure out the type of judge they are, how they handle cases, whether they like to write (there is a TON of discretion on this), etc. If you're interested in class actions, search: ju(jones) & "class certification" & "rule 23". You know how it goes.