Telling people an unpaid postgrad internship is a fed clerkship Forum

[Anonymous User]

When I clerked the judge took on a new unemployed law school grad as an unpaid intern. The guy didn't do a good job and the judge didn't seem to like him. The guy finally landed a job and left. His firm bio advertises the internship as a fed clerkship.

Wonder if it will blow up in his face.

[fats provolone]

did he get the bonus?

[Anonymous User]

did he get the bonus?

I doubt it. He didn't go to a big firm. I don't talk to him though. I guess it's plausible that he got them to give him some sort of bonus.

[Anonymous User]

As one of many who is struggling through the battlefield of applying to clerkships, this completely infuriates me

[Anonymous User]

As one of many who is struggling through the battlefield of applying to clerkships, this completely infuriates me

OP here. I'm less concerned. It's not like he turned it into a job at Skadden. And he worked for free for almost a year. He's got to know he's lying, and that's pretty brazen, but oh well. On balance, it doesn't bother me that much. I just wonder if it will blow up in his face. There's a chance that his new employer equates a clerkship with an externship, in which case it won't. On the other hand, a conversation between someone at his new firm and someone from chambers would definitely end in a correction of the record.

[Elston Gunn]

As one of many who is struggling through the battlefield of applying to clerkships, this completely infuriates me

As a current clerk, I really don't care.

[Desert Fox]

[muskies970]

Sounds like he did your job, why shouldn't he put it down.

[fats provolone]

just send an anonymous letter to his firm outting him, like you know you want to

[grand inquisitor]

show it to your judge and see wut happens

[lymenheimer]

If you don't go to his boss, be sure to leak it some other way. Sounds like a good ATL story, to me.

[Anonymous User]

Sounds like he did your job, why shouldn't he put it down.

I think that was the judge's plan. What he actually did was fuck everything up and make everyone's job harder. I had him do extra reviews of things, some make work, and super short and simple orders that no one could screw up.

As I said earlier, I really don't care at all. I'm just surprised he would do it in light of how easy it would be to get found out.

I'm not gonna screw the guy's career over though.

[Jchance]

he worked for free for almost a year.

If it's one of those "volunteer" clerkship, I think it's fair game. I mean the dude put in a year of free labor.

[pancakes3]

if he's working shitlaw, i wouldn't be surprised that the boss is the one who's puffering to make the shit firm seem marginally less shit

[Desert Fox]

[Anonymous User]

Volunteer Clerkships are a real thing. Sounds like this guy had one. Unless the judge gave him a different title, then this guy 100% should call himself a clerk. That's the entire reason he'd work for free for a year.

Just because he sucked doesn't mean he wasn't a clerk. A resume doesn't include a section on how well his coworker thinks he did.

You are just butthurt he's steal UR PRESTIGUE

Na man. That wasn't his title. He knows he was an extern. He applied through his school's externship program. He was called an extern by everyone. He was there until he could find another job. Just so happens that it took a year. And the judge considered asking him to leave several times. Sorry you think I'm butt hurt. If I was, I'd try to screw the guy, or at least tell the judge and see what he thinks. I just thought it was noteworthy that he did it. But as someone else suggested, it could just be his bosses.

[Anonymous User]

.

[LeDique]

Sounds like he did your job, why shouldn't he put it down.

I think that was the judge's plan. What he actually did was fuck everything up and make everyone's job harder. I had him do extra reviews of things, some make work, and super short and simple orders that no one could screw up.

As I said earlier, I really don't care at all. I'm just surprised he would do it in light of how easy it would be to get found out.

I'm not gonna screw the guy's career over though.

Volunteer Clerkships are a real thing. Sounds like this guy had one. Unless the judge gave him a different title, then this guy 100% should call himself a clerk. That's the entire reason he'd work for free for a year.

Just because he sucked doesn't mean he wasn't a clerk. A resume doesn't include a section on how well his coworker thinks he did.

You are just butthurt he's steal UR PRESTIGUE

I agree. My favorite thing about volunteer clerkships is that one of the D. Colo judges who offers it was a plaintiff's employment lawyer, including wage & hour.

[RaceJudicata]

Volunteer Clerkships are a real thing. Sounds like this guy had one. Unless the judge gave him a different title, then this guy 100% should call himself a clerk. That's the entire reason he'd work for free for a year.

Just because he sucked doesn't mean he wasn't a clerk. A resume doesn't include a section on how well his coworker thinks he did.

You are just butthurt he's steal UR PRESTIGUE

Na man. That wasn't his title. He knows he was an extern. He applied through his school's externship program. He was called an extern by everyone. He was there until he could find another job. Just so happens that it took a year. And the judge considered asking him to leave several times. Sorry you think I'm butt hurt. If I was, I'd try to screw the guy, or at least tell the judge and see what he thinks. I just thought it was noteworthy that he did it. But as someone else suggested, it could just be his bosses.

I thought he was post grad? If so (technically speaking) this couldn't be an externship. Per Merriam Webster: Externship = a training program that is part of a course of study of an educational institution and is taken in private business.

If he's a graduate, this definition doesn't fly. He's an unpaid clerk.

[JusticeJackson]

.

[jchiles]

Every judge I've talked to used the term "clerk" to refer from people ranging from high school interns to career clerks so i don't think judges are getting too hung up on this stuff.

[pleadthafif]

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[Big Dog]

As one of many who is struggling through the battlefield of applying to clerkships, this completely infuriates me

Why? If he does score an interview, either his 'experience' will be acceptable or not. (There is just too much that you cannot control, so why waste your energy on this?)

On balance, it doesn't bother me that much

So why post it? I mean, who cares? (Hint: people stretch the truth on resumes all the time, and any resume reader knows it.)

[A. Nony Mouse]

Every judge I've talked to used the term "clerk" to refer from people ranging from high school interns to career clerks so i don't think judges are getting too hung up on this stuff.

That's not been my experience at all.

Really this all boils down to what the judge thinks the title was. If the judge thought it was an unpaid clerkship, it was. If the judge thought it was something else, it was. If the judge doesn't care what the guy called it, it's all good. If the judge does care, that's a problem (not because you have to kowtow to the almighty judge, it just seems like a bad career move when/if you're trying to trade on that particular position).

Also, 0Ls really shouldn't be weighing in on this. (That's not directed at you, jchiles - others in this thread.)

[Desert Fox]