Top Law Schools

Let's say school isn't a problem, but my sluggish time in law school until now is. Not asking for much, and it doesn't have to be immediately after graduation. Can I land a secondary D.Ct. clerkship from this?

If one of your 3L professors is a judge, and if you do especially well in his or her class, that can help. Otherwise, it generally doesn't matter what you take in law school.

Also, I don't know what a "secondary D.Ct. clerkship" is.

rpupkin wrote:If one of your 3L professors is a judge, and if you do especially well in his or her class, that can help. Otherwise, it generally doesn't matter what you take in law school.

Also, I don't know what a "secondary D.Ct. clerkship" is.

I slightly disagree. I want to see transcripts with good grades in "clerkship classes" (fed courts, admin, crim pro, etc.). If you spent 2L and 3L in "Law and ______," we're not going to hire you. I'd call it necessary but not sufficient.

What the hell is a secondary clerkship?

WheninLaw wrote:

rpupkin wrote:If one of your 3L professors is a judge, and if you do especially well in his or her class, that can help. Otherwise, it generally doesn't matter what you take in law school.

Also, I don't know what a "secondary D.Ct. clerkship" is.

I slightly disagree. I want to see transcripts with good grades in "clerkship classes" (fed courts, admin, crim pro, etc.). If you spent 2L and 3L in "Law and ______," we're not going to hire you. I'd call it necessary but not sufficient.

I'd certainly agree if we were talking about a strong student who was gunning for competitive clerkships right out of school. My judge looked for good grades in doctrinal classes. The thing is, the OP is not going to get a clerkship through grades if he's already blown off 1L and 2L. He's going to have to get a clerkship through connections/work-experience. I think the classes he takes as a 3L are close to irrelevant in his circumstances.

I guess it also depends on the law school he's at, as well as how bad his grades actually are at this point.

No idea if it's too late, but your class schedule does matter and can signal serious interest. My judge interviewed me immediately after 2L and one of his first questions was what I was taking 3L (he liked the list I gave him: admin, remedies, conflicts, crim pro, etc.). He said that he does not like to see any courses ending in "and the law" on applicants' transcripts. Another judge who I met won't hire anyone who hasn't taken Fed Courts, and I recall at least one judge who said on her OSCAR page that she prefers people who have taken crim pro.

I assume that by a secondary D. Ct., he means non-flyover but not SDNY/NDCal/DDC/NDIll/etc?

Secondary clerkship? You mean a district clerkship in a secondary market? At any rate, just boost your gpa as much as possible. Sure, some judges will evaluate your transcript line by line. But others will simply look to the raw g.p.a. assuming your g.p.a is lackluster, I would improve it by any means necessary. Also, admin, fed courts, etc. are difficult and it is likely they will bring your g.p.a. even further down.