Interviewing with two judges at the same court on the same day? Forum

[Anonymous User]

In two weeks, I have two interviews back to back (8 AM, 1 PM) at an appellate court in DC. Two different judges from the same court.

Is there any particular advice anyone has for this scenario? Anything I should be aware of? How open should I be with the judges about the fact that I'm interviewing with another judge on the same court?

[Anonymous User]

It's not that uncommon. Tell them if they ask. If they don't ask, no need to volunteer it unless you get an offer in the first interview and want to wait until after the second interview to answer. (Most judges are cool with this.)

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

It is unlikely they will know. No reason to bring it up, but obviously don't lie or hide it.

[kartelite]

I'm pretty sure firms and judges routinely interview multiple students from the same school on the same day. Why is this a big deal?

[rpupkin]

It is unlikely they will know. No reason to bring it up, but obviously don't lie or hide it.

I disagree that there's no reason to bring it up. When judges all work together in the same building (which is true of both the CADC and the CAFC), they generally like to know when/if their colleagues are interviewing the same clerkship candidate. I think the OP should definitely let both judges know in advance.

[Emma.]

It is unlikely they will know. No reason to bring it up, but obviously don't lie or hide it.

I disagree that there's no reason to bring it up. When judges all work together in the same building (which is true of both the CADC and the CAFC), they generally like to know when/if their colleagues are interviewing the same clerkship candidate. I think the OP should definitely let both judges know in advance.

In advance? I wouldn't recommend that, unless you are in touch with chambers for something else. But yeah, almost certainly can't hurt (and might help) if the judges know you have more than one interview, so I think it's worth bringing up day of.

[rpupkin]

It is unlikely they will know. No reason to bring it up, but obviously don't lie or hide it.

I disagree that there's no reason to bring it up. When judges all work together in the same building (which is true of both the CADC and the CAFC), they generally like to know when/if their colleagues are interviewing the same clerkship candidate. I think the OP should definitely let both judges know in advance.

In advance? I wouldn't recommend that, unless you are in touch with chambers for something else. But yeah, almost certainly can't hurt (and might help) if the judges know you have more than one interview, so I think it's worth bringing up day of.

How about we recommend to the OP that he checks with a former clerk of at least one of the judges? I don't want to out myself, but there are at least a couple of CADC judges who would be annoyed if you didn't let them know in advance that you had an interview with another judge on the court on the same day. This is one of those things where it really pays to know the quirks of the judges in advance.

[#BigLaw]

It is unlikely they will know. No reason to bring it up, but obviously don't lie or hide it.

I disagree that there's no reason to bring it up. When judges all work together in the same building (which is true of both the CADC and the CAFC), they generally like to know when/if their colleagues are interviewing the same clerkship candidate. I think the OP should definitely let both judges know in advance.

In advance? I wouldn't recommend that, unless you are in touch with chambers for something else. But yeah, almost certainly can't hurt (and might help) if the judges know you have more than one interview, so I think it's worth bringing up day of.

How about we recommend to the OP that he checks with a former clerk of at least one of the judges? I don't want to out myself, but there are at least a couple of CADC judges who would be annoyed if you didn't let them know in advance that you had an interview with another judge on the court on the same day. This is one of those things where it really pays to know the quirks of the judges in advance.

Agree with rpupkin. Should definitely find out from former clerk if judge would appreciate information.

When I clerked, my judge would have wanted to know this. Not a clerk situation, but when I clerked, we had a situation where an intern was offered a spot with my judge and a judge on the same court for the same summer within a couple of days of each other. My judge did not know this was a possibility when he interviewed, and wasn't thrilled when he got a call from intern explaining the situation. Other judge wasn't happy about it either because he didn't know this could happen either. Both judges hadn't extended over offers because they thought they had filled up their chambers, so when intern had to reject one judge (which is basically unheard of on the intern level), it didn't go over great. Had intern been upfront with us and the other chambers, intern could have avoided whole thing. If this is the case at the intern level, I can't imagine judge not wanting the same for potential clerks.

[Anonymous User]

COA clerk here.

My judge would want to know this, and it would probably make the person much more desirable (unless it didn't). Put it this way: if this person interviews and the judge/clerk really likes him/her and they know that another interview is lined up, then there's pressure to make an offer. If the judge/clerks just like you, or you're option #3 or 4 or 5, knowing that will make the judge more likely to let you know it's not happening rather than just stringing you along.

Either way, you get more information, which I think is good--right?

[Emma.]

It is unlikely they will know. No reason to bring it up, but obviously don't lie or hide it.

I disagree that there's no reason to bring it up. When judges all work together in the same building (which is true of both the CADC and the CAFC), they generally like to know when/if their colleagues are interviewing the same clerkship candidate. I think the OP should definitely let both judges know in advance.

In advance? I wouldn't recommend that, unless you are in touch with chambers for something else. But yeah, almost certainly can't hurt (and might help) if the judges know you have more than one interview, so I think it's worth bringing up day of.

How about we recommend to the OP that he checks with a former clerk of at least one of the judges? I don't want to out myself, but there are at least a couple of CADC judges who would be annoyed if you didn't let them know in advance that you had an interview with another judge on the court on the same day. This is one of those things where it really pays to know the quirks of the judges in advance.

Agree with rpupkin. Should definitely find out from former clerk if judge would appreciate information.

When I clerked, my judge would have wanted to know this. Not a clerk situation, but when I clerked, we had a situation where an intern was offered a spot with my judge and a judge on the same court for the same summer within a couple of days of each other. My judge did not know this was a possibility when he interviewed, and wasn't thrilled when he got a call from intern explaining the situation. Other judge wasn't happy about it either because he didn't know this could happen either. Both judges hadn't extended over offers because they thought they had filled up their chambers, so when intern had to reject one judge (which is basically unheard of on the intern level), it didn't go over great. Had intern been upfront with us and the other chambers, intern could have avoided whole thing. If this is the case at the intern level, I can't imagine judge not wanting the same for potential clerks.

I agree that many judges would want this information. But the question is whether it's in the OP's interest to give it out. I certainly think it could easily come across weird/pushy if OP were to call/email chambers just to let the judges know about the other interview. And often it seems like a judge would want to know this to avoid stepping on another judge's toes.

I know one of my judges at times held back offers in situations like this because s/he didn't want to create any drama with her/his colleagues. S/he would sometimes wait to extend an offer to a candidate s/he liked if s/he knew the person had an offer from another judge s/he liked and respected. But from OP's perspective, s/he wants to maximize her/his chances of getting offers from both judges. While the judge might want this information, I don't know that preemptively giving it to chambers will help OP's chances.

On the other hand, though, another interview can be a signal that you are a strong candidate and the judge needs to move quickly if he/she is interested. That's why, on balance, I'd recommend letting chambers know day of but not before (unless of course you get different advice from the judges' former clerks!).