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I am anticipating being hired for a district court clerkship in the near future. It's a one-year clerkship. After I complete it, I have a 4-year service obligation with the Army JAG Corps.

Would a Court of Appeals clerkship be an option after one year in a D.Ct. clerkship and 4 years in the JAG Corps? I know that clerkships are generally closed off to people who have spent more than a few years in practice, but it's also clear that many COA want 2-3 years of practice in their clerks.

It happens. My judge (9th Cir) amongst others like to have some people with experience.

Why do you want to do appellate afterwards? Do you want to teach?

Anonymous User wrote:I am anticipating being hired for a district court clerkship in the near future. It's a one-year clerkship. After I complete it, I have a 4-year service obligation with the Army JAG Corps.

Would a Court of Appeals clerkship be an option after one year in a D.Ct. clerkship and 4 years in the JAG Corps? I know that clerkships are generally closed off to people who have spent more than a few years in practice, but it's also clear that many COA want 2-3 years of practice in their clerks.

Clerkship after JAG Corps would already be a real option, I think the district court would only help. You'd be an awesome candidate if the grades are in range.

Why do you want to do this

Sounds like a great way to get an OLC type gig within the military.

I think, generally, there are 2 major downsides to clerking later than usual (i.e., 4+ years out of law school). First, you've usually advanced to a point where you'll be taking a significant cut in pay. Second, you've usually gotten to a level where you may lose important practice experience. For example, if you leave biglaw as a 4th year associate, you're usually just starting to get real case management responsibilities, take deps, work with clients, etc.

In your situation, neither of these concerns really apply. With respect to pay, I have no idea how much JAGs make, but my guess is that it's fairly comparable to what you'd be making as a fed clerk with 5 years experience. If it's a pay cut, it's probably not a significant one. Also, from what I've heard, JAGs get great experience right off the bat so the loss of real practice experience is probably minimal.

If you'd enjoy COA and want to use it to transition out of JAG and into something else, I say go for it.

baal hadad wrote:Why do you want to do this

+1...

It sounds like a cool plan, and I'm sure it's possible, but what's your goal at the end of this? That's a lot of time to commit to what are essentially temporary jobs.