Top Law Schools

2L who is going to strike out at big law 2L from the looks at it. I'm thinking bout clerking but I think i would do it in 2017 since I've appear to have missed the boat. i'm also planning on recs from 2L professors. 1L i really didnt invest in professor relationships which was totally my fault, but I'm doing a turn around this year. I'm at a T20 w/ law review and top 1/3rd grades, so hopefully I'd have a chance at state clerkships (i realize federal is not realistic for me at this point, unless i get my grades up).

are judges weary of hiring someone who will not work in big law before coming? at this point im looking at small/midlaw firms to work at.

EDIT: by 2017 i mean starting in fall 2017, not fall 2016.

Massmail. It's too early to know you struck out. Also, most district court judges haven't even looked at applicants for 2016-2017. Your grades first semester have to be spectacular but don't count yourself out for that so quickly.

Judges as a whole don't really care what job you did/are going to do. Individual judges may favor people going to particular jobs, but a lot of judges come out of non-biglaw backgrounds and don't care about biglaw. A judge coming out of biglaw may care (or more likely may favor candidates associated with their former firm), but I also know judges who favor legal aid candidates or people going into prosecution or whatever other things they did, and most judges won't care at all if they like the rest of your qualifications. I think it looks better to have some kind of work lined up than not, but no, judges aren't at all biglaw or bust.

Also, a lot of state clerkships seem to take applications during second semester 2L, so you'd have a semester to make connections with profs.

Anonymous User wrote:2L who is going to strike out at big law 2L from the looks at it. I'm thinking bout clerking but I think i would do it in 2017 since I've appear to have missed the boat. i'm also planning on recs from 2L professors. 1L i really didnt invest in professor relationships which was totally my fault, but I'm doing a turn around this year. I'm at a T20 w/ law review and top 1/3rd grades, so hopefully I'd have a chance at state clerkships (i realize federal is not realistic for me at this point, unless i get my grades up).

are judges weary of hiring someone who will not work in big law before coming? at this point im looking at small/midlaw firms to work at.

EDIT: by 2017 i mean starting in fall 2017, not fall 2016.

I know plenty of district and circuit judges who have not yet hired for 2016... Hell, most only finished hiring their 2015 clerks in the past 6 months.

oh ok i saw some judges completed hiring so i assumed that process was in full swing. its good to know i dont need to go into big law to have a chance at a clerkship.

As a poster above said, 2016-17 hiring is just heating up; no need to focus on 17-18. Some feeders and very selective district court judges have hired for 16-17, but most judges haven't begun interviews yet. It looks like the 2d is moving/has already moved, the DC Cir is moving, and the 9th is moving. Aside from those circuits, most other circuits haven't begun interviewing candidates. Some district court judges only wrapped up 15-16 hiring within the last month or so. There will probably be district court openings through next August.

Anonymous User wrote:2L who is going to strike out at big law 2L from the looks at it. I'm thinking bout clerking but I think i would do it in 2017 since I've appear to have missed the boat. i'm also planning on recs from 2L professors. 1L i really didnt invest in professor relationships which was totally my fault, but I'm doing a turn around this year. I'm at a T20 w/ law review and top 1/3rd grades, so hopefully I'd have a chance at state clerkships (i realize federal is not realistic for me at this point, unless i get my grades up).

are judges weary of hiring someone who will not work in big law before coming? at this point im looking at small/midlaw firms to work at.

EDIT: by 2017 i mean starting in fall 2017, not fall 2016.

D. ct. clerk here. My judge does not care about biglaw experience at all (I didn't have it, nor did 7/8 of past and current clerks that I know of).

I do know that some judges want clerks to have litigation experience beforehand. I've always wondered how they view experience. It's hard to gauge whether they'd consider big law a plus or a minus given that it's widely known that most associates barely do any significant work.