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I suspect the answer may be "it depends on the judge's start date" but does anyone have any thoughts on post-bar trips before beginning their clerkships? I have a 2L SA position lined-up that I hope turns into a post-grad job but have a A3 clerkship beginning August 2017. I suspect I won't have a lot of $$$ to spend after the bar but I'm curious if other clerks have taken traditional post-bar trips either after the bar or after the clerkship.

Totally depends on how much time and money you have. And if you have to move cities to clerk (going to time and money). There's no reason not to take one. The trip is to celebrate/recover from taking the bar, regardless of what you do after, and that's when you need it most.

(Full disclosure: I didn't take one but I really wish I had.)

A. Nony Mouse wrote:The trip is to celebrate/recover from taking the bar, regardless of what you do after, and that's when you need it most.

Great advice. Did you take any time off after your clerkship to travel before beginning work?

No. I was moving, so I took about 5?weeks to deal with the move and take some time off, but I didn't travel. I needed the distraction after taking the bar way more than after my clerkship.

We have planned a trip after my clerkship, but my next step is still unclear, so it might require us to cancel. With that in mind, our planned trip is a road trip (Colorado, and then Yellowstone) and incurs no penalty for cancellation.

greeksalad wrote:I suspect the answer may be "it depends on the judge's start date" but does anyone have any thoughts on post-bar trips before beginning their clerkships? I have a 2L SA position lined-up that I hope turns into a post-grad job but have a A3 clerkship beginning August 2017. I suspect I won't have a lot of $$$ to spend after the bar but I'm curious if other clerks have taken traditional post-bar trips either after the bar or after the clerkship.

I did a "prebar" trip and am planning a post clerkship trip. The timing was kind of awful for after the bar for me--took the bar, moved cross country two days after, started clerking two weeks after that. That being said, other than serious FOMO I don't think I suffered in any way or was somehow overly stressed on that timeline. But, do whatever works for you!

Anonymous User wrote:

greeksalad wrote:I suspect the answer may be "it depends on the judge's start date" but does anyone have any thoughts on post-bar trips before beginning their clerkships? I have a 2L SA position lined-up that I hope turns into a post-grad job but have a A3 clerkship beginning August 2017. I suspect I won't have a lot of $$$ to spend after the bar but I'm curious if other clerks have taken traditional post-bar trips either after the bar or after the clerkship.

I did a "prebar" trip and am planning a post clerkship trip. The timing was kind of awful for after the bar for me--took the bar, moved cross country two days after, started clerking two weeks after that. That being said, other than serious FOMO I don't think I suffered in any way or was somehow overly stressed on that timeline. But, do whatever works for you!

I had about a month between the bar and my clerkship. I took a 10-day trip with friends, and then used the remaining time to move and relax. It worked pretty well for me! Planning another 2-week trip for after my clerkship.

greeksalad wrote:I suspect the answer may be "it depends on the judge's start date" but does anyone have any thoughts on post-bar trips before beginning their clerkships? I have a 2L SA position lined-up that I hope turns into a post-grad job but have a A3 clerkship beginning August 2017. I suspect I won't have a lot of $$$ to spend after the bar but I'm curious if other clerks have taken traditional post-bar trips either after the bar or after the clerkship.

I took the Bar on a Tuesday/Wednesday. Took Thursday off to recover from a massive hangover. Started my clerkship on Friday.

But, on the back end, I took two months off to go golfing before starting biglaw. Those were the days...