To Clerk or Not To Clerk... Forum

[Anonymous User]

Just finished 1L at MVP around top 25% GPA wise (3.62) and I want to know whether or not I should actually look at clerking. I think I'm a decent writer (nothing special, trust me) but I worry about being able to actually succeed in a clerkship role for an Article III judge.

I want to do transactional work (wanted litigation before a 1L SA so I guess it's still up in the air) but from what I've heard, clerking is always a resume boost regardless of career path and I wanted to get some advice on timing/whether or not to actually do it. I'll be trying to get BigLaw Chicago/NYC for next summer and after law school, then possibly lateral back to more relaxed Midwest market after some years in a big city. Should I be thinking about clerking straight from school or is clerking after working for a few years becoming a more popular route?

I really don't want to prolong my low income status and wait an extra year for biglaw salary, but I would do it for a 6th or 7th circuit COA gig or even a good district court clerkship in a city I like. Overall, I guess I'm just looking to hear people's opinions on clerking when someone that doesn't have the extreme desire to do so. From the data I've seen, I'm competitive with a decent amount of Article III district court judges and a few COA judges and I just want to know whether or not I'm blowing an opportunity if I decide not to clerk.

Any advice is appreciated.

[wwwcol]

I want to do transactional work (wanted litigation before a 1L SA so I guess it's still up in the air) but from what I've heard, clerking is always a resume boost regardless of career path and I wanted to get some advice on timing/whether or not to actually do it

The conventional wisdom is that clerking makes sense only if you want lit (unless you clerk for a corporate-heavy court like DE Chancery).

I would do it for a 6th or 7th circuit COA gig or even a good district court clerkship in a city I like.

Top 1/4 at a T10 isn't really competitive for any of these things. Maybe if you hustle, work connections, and send out a lot of apps, but based on the tone of your post it doesn't sound like you are interested in that. Others may have different thoughts but that's my $0.02...

[Anonymous User]

From data I have, my GPA is above median for a few district court clerkships for the 6th and 7th Circuit. I agree that COA clerkship is a stretch, but is Delaware Chancery looked upon that highly in the transactional realm?

Also have fairly solid connections in 6th and 7th circuit, so I have less worry about the hustle to get a more competitive clerkship. My main question is just whether or not someone riding the transactional/litigation fence hard will find clerking valuable? Everyone seems to say you should do it regardless because it is a great resume bump that will follow you for your career (e.g., law review and people who take biglaw jobs that have no interest in biglaw whatsoever).

[jkpolk]

Just finished 1L at MVP around top 25% GPA wise (3.62) and I want to know whether or not I should actually look at clerking. I think I'm a decent writer (nothing special, trust me) but I worry about being able to actually succeed in a clerkship role for an Article III judge.

I want to do transactional work (wanted litigation before a 1L SA so I guess it's still up in the air) but from what I've heard, clerking is always a resume boost regardless of career path and I wanted to get some advice on timing/whether or not to actually do it. I'll be trying to get BigLaw Chicago/NYC for next summer and after law school, then possibly lateral back to more relaxed Midwest market after some years in a big city. Should I be thinking about clerking straight from school or is clerking after working for a few years becoming a more popular route?

I really don't want to prolong my low income status and wait an extra year for biglaw salary, but I would do it for a 6th or 7th circuit COA gig or even a good district court clerkship in a city I like. Overall, I guess I'm just looking to hear people's opinions on clerking when someone that doesn't have the extreme desire to do so. From the data I've seen, I'm competitive with a decent amount of Article III district court judges and a few COA judges and I just want to know whether or not I'm blowing an opportunity if I decide not to clerk.

Any advice is appreciated.

Do it because you want to do it (or don't). Is clerking (in a certain place) what you want to do with that year of your life? At best, clerking is net-neutral for a corporate resume. Corporate resumes are, almost exclusively, deal experience.

[mrs.miawallace]

In any event, OP you are a rising 2L, it's still early to figure out which particular area you like. If the reason you'd like to clerk is because of prestige (which sounds much like it), you should know that there is really not that much prestige in clerkship among those corporate folks. Some random corporate associate who got lucky and staffed on a deal might look better than a district clerkship. And a lot of the clerkship bonuses given to the stub year associates only make sense if in litigation department, as in, if you are hired for certain practice group, post-grad clerkship to them is just the delay, not a use at all. Especially some firms only give out offers after clerkships. But if you are really so hung up on the prestige thing, clerk after practice for a while, for fun, I had one professor clerked in SCOTUS after being a corporate counsil for multiple years.