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Hi guys,

My clerkship adviser said I had a fair shot at either a US District Court Clerkship or a 2-year staff attorney job with the Court of Appeals. What are the pros and cons here? Both jobs sound really interesting. Is the trial court clerkship more prestigious than the COA staff position, or does it even out? Would the work be more or less interesting in one position?

Although I'm not gunning for any particular post-clerkship job in particular, I would like to maximize my exit options to the extent possible.

Thanks for weighing in!

Unless you have an unusual career goal (such as working long-term in the clerk's office of the COA), a district court clerkship would likely be far more helpful to your career.

100% take the clerkship.

.

Clerkship and it's not even close.

I'm a district court clerk and one of my closest law school friends is a COA clerk. I think the 7th Circuit uses its staff attorneys differently (i.e., almost like regular clerks), but AFAIK all of the other circuits use their staff attorneys to do the drudgery the judges and their clerks don't want to do. Things like prisoner appeals, appeals that are obviously barred for procedural reasons, handling appeals that have been screened and determined to be very straightforward, and so on. TL;DR staff attorney positions at COAs seem like a good position if you want a career. They will not, however, open up any doors as far as I can tell.

DJ clerkships, on the other hand, are a totally different ballgame. I've met dozens of DJ clerks and not a single one has had a problem finding jobs after. Granted, the vast majority of them have great credentials, but some of them (myself included) did not, and have had a lot of opportunities after clerking.

if your clerkship adviser presented these as fair equivalents you should disregard all future advice from this person and probably find a new one or just rely on yourself/professors

I think it depends on what kind of Staff Attorney it is. A lot of the judges on the 11th Circuit (re: ones not based in Atlanta) have an in chambers Staff Attorney that they hire directly. I know of at least 2 judges who treat the staff attorney like an additional clerk, and literally the only difference is the title.Granted it may be an struggle communicating that to employers who aren't familiar with your judge.

In the circuit where I clerked, staff attorneys handled pro se appeals, straightforward immigration appeals, time-barred appeals, and the like. If you're looking at a staff attorney position in a circuit that follows this practice, then there's no doubt at all - take the district court clerkship. Having clerked twice myself, the district court clerkship was (1) more enjoyable and (2) more directly relevant to litigation.