Chances at D.Ct. Clerkship- LR and/or Firm Matter? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,

I was wondering about your thoughts on my chances of getting a desirable (Northeast US for me) District Court clerkship.

School: T10 (one of the currently tied at 8- D/V/B)
Grades: top 1/3rd
Extracurriculars: Law Review, Legal Writing TA (best grade was in legal writing), published non-legal full-length journal article, good leadership positions in other orgs.
- Worked in DC pre-law school, have good connections to prosecutors and partners there
- accepted offer to work at V5 NYC firm

Thoughts? Advice? Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

thx 4 the input, guyz.

[Anonymous User]

Is your question whether law review matters for your federal clerkship chances? It helps a little, of course.

Where you summer doesn't matter unless the judge you're applying to worked at that firm or therems another firm they regularly hire from, but that's not consistent.

If you're geographically flexible, you could land a d. Ct somewhere. I doubt you're competitive for SDNY, EDNY, or D. Mass. D. NJ and EDPA could be a stretch but not out of the running. What connections do you have to new england/tristate? If you're at UVA or Duke, would you consider southeastern districts?

[Anonymous User]

Chances are not very good for most NE districts. Most of those spots are going to people with comparable stats from HYS or top 5-10% at other T10s. W/r/t whether "firm and/or LR matter," probably not fair to think of LR as a plus since most competitive applicants have it. Rather, not having it is a negative. Most judges won't care about firm. Not sure why connections to DC are relevant if you want a NE clerkship.

Takeaway thoughts are you should probably look beyond the most competitive region in the country if you're serious about clerking.

[rpupkin]

Chances are not very good for most NE districts. Most of those spots are going to people with comparable stats from HYS or top 5-10% at other T10s. W/r/t whether "firm and/or LR matter," probably not fair to think of LR as a plus since most competitive applicants have it. Rather, not having it is a negative. Most judges won't care about firm. Not sure why connections to DC are relevant if you want a NE clerkship.

Takeaway thoughts are you should probably look beyond the most competitive region in the country if you're serious about clerking.

I actually don't think the Northeast districts are the most competitive in the country. At least SDNY, ND Cal, and DDC are generally more competitive. But, yeah, OP isn't competitive for the Northeast with his or her credentials. Also, the OP's second post ("thx 4 the input, guyz") suggests a whiny, entitled attitude. Mediocre grades + bad personality = striking out.

[Anonymous User]

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