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Would taking a district court clerkship in Alaska/Hawaii help my job-hunting options coming out of the clerkship? I don't want to return to my 2L SA position and am interested in clerking to give myself a second bite at the job hunting apple. I got an offer there, I just didn't like the firm.

Top 5% from lower T14.

Anonymous User wrote:Would taking a district court clerkship in Alaska/Hawaii help my job-hunting options coming out of the clerkship? I don't want to return to my 2L SA position and am interested in clerking to give myself a second bite at the job hunting apple. I got an offer there, I just didn't like the firm.

Top 5% from lower T14.

That depends, do you want to live and work in Hawaii or Alaska after law school?

No -- I'd want to return to the city I went to school in.

Anonymous User wrote:Would taking a district court clerkship in Alaska/Hawaii help my job-hunting options coming out of the clerkship? I don't want to return to my 2L SA position and am interested in clerking to give myself a second bite at the job hunting apple. I got an offer there, I just didn't like the firm.

Top 5% from lower T14.

Assuming you're not awkward, you'd almost certainly have many options in the V20 (for what it's worth) simply by massmailing now. So you don't have to spend a year in AK/HI just because you didn't like your 2L firm.

I'm guessing you're a non-citizen. If that's the case and you want to litigate, id absolutely take the clerkship, as it may be your only opportunity to do so (those places get more and more competitive each year)

I am a US citizen. I've been massmailing but it's a tough road to hoe for a 3L, even with top stats.

I'm asking about Alaska/Hawaii because I got an interview offer in one of those spots.

For litigators, a district court clerkship is never going to hurt you. A clerkship local to where you want to clerk will help you more, but a federal clerkship is still a good credential. Anecdotal evidence here is mixed about how much of a boost it is to switching firms, but again, it's not going to hurt you; if you had the qualifications to get biglaw pre-clerkship you should be able to change firms post-clerkship. Exact impact will vary depending on things like how willing your judge is to help you and what you do with the year, networking-wise. I know people whose clerkships gave them a year to hustle and make connections that got them jobs. (Admittedly this works better if you're local.)

d.ct. clerkship in alaska/hawaii is quite a step above many other districts, i'd imagine.
in general, i think clerkship probably only marginally boosts someone that didn't have biglaw credentials to begin with, but biglaw credentials plus d.ct clerkship should land you a firm post-clerkship. (not universally true, as you see there's a post-clerkship job hunting thread, but in general.)

lolwat wrote:d.ct. clerkship in alaska/hawaii is quite a step above many other districts, i'd imagine.

This is just not true. If you want to clerk or live in Alaska or Hawaii for a year, go for it, but there's nothing about either of those districts that makes them stand out over others.

RustyRyan wrote:

lolwat wrote:d.ct. clerkship in alaska/hawaii is quite a step above many other districts, i'd imagine.

This is just not true. If you want to clerk or live in Alaska or Hawaii for a year, go for it, but there's nothing about either of those districts that makes them stand out over others.

I surf and I ski so in my opinion each has exactly one thing that make them stand out above others:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W3y82da9x8 (Pipeline is a bit of a drive from the Oahu courthouse, but there's good south swells in the summer)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePRuPRCZh98 (I'm not sure how close a courthouse is to Valdez, or any other skiing for that matter)

I have no idea if it would help. I did two clerkships -- one district court, one appellate, one was by good mountains and one by good surf spots. I had a great time. I easily got 75 ski days and 200 surf days between the two clerkships. But I left a ton of money on the table and I'm probably not on any partnership track.

RustyRyan wrote:

lolwat wrote:d.ct. clerkship in alaska/hawaii is quite a step above many other districts, i'd imagine.

This is just not true. If you want to clerk or live in Alaska or Hawaii for a year, go for it, but there's nothing about either of those districts that makes them stand out over others.

I'm not saying Alaska or Hawaii is particularly special. It's certainly not prestigious in the sense that SDNY, CDCA, NDCA, DDC, etc. are. But the intangible "interesting" aspect of it makes it a step above clerking in a flyover district in the middle of nowhere. You come out with hopefully some interesting stories about your year living in a place most people only go to for a week on vacation rather than a place people only go to for a year to clerk because that's the first (or only) offer they got.