Transactional biglaw to Clerkship Forum

Essentiallyanon · Post by **Essentiallyanon** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:28 pm

First year in a corporate biglaw group here:

Was wondering how hard it is to nab a clerkship coming from biglaw after one year having been in a V15 firm's corporate group. Coming from HYS with low grades.

Has anyone personally done this/know what kind of information in a cover letter etc. is necessary to justify the switch?

Thanks!

FascinatedWanderer · Post by **FascinatedWanderer** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:45 pm

I'd imagine the grades are going to be a bigger hurdle. I also do think it would look odd without an explanation.

clerk1251 · Post by **clerk1251** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:30 am

How low are your grades? Also, what is your reason for wanting to clerk? Are you trying to move to litigation, or are you planning on returning to transactional after?

Essentiallyanon · Post by **Essentiallyanon** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:36 pm

Looking to move into a government agency. There are also a few litigation fields that I'm interested in.

Grades are probably bottom 20%

clerk1251 · Post by **clerk1251** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:44 pm

Essentiallyanon wrote:Looking to move into a government agency. There are also a few litigation fields that I'm interested in.

Grades are probably bottom 20%

In that case, I agree with what was previously said. Your grades will be the prohibitive factor.

Essentiallyanon · Post by **Essentiallyanon** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 1:39 pm

Even from HYS? Should I focus on state Supreme Courts? Back before graduation when I applied to some clerkships I got an interview with one district court (didn't get it), so I feel like it can't be totally hopeless?

FascinatedWanderer · Post by **FascinatedWanderer** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:06 pm

Yes. Even from HYS. "Totally helpless" it isn't, but I'd wager you have under a 50% shot of landing a federal clerkship. The alumni bump almost certainly won't apply to someone in a corporate group.

esther0123 · Post by **esther0123** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:09 pm

Essentiallyanon wrote:Even from HYS? Should I focus on state Supreme Courts? Back before graduation when I applied to some clerkships I got an interview with one district court (didn't get it), so I feel like it can't be totally hopeless?

I think you're probably not in the running for the elite district courts (SDNY/EDNY/DDC/CDLA, etc...), maybe you could get a flyover district -- I've known some HYS with straight P's attain this. I'm not sure how competitive State Supreme is. Mass Supreme seems pretty competitive, and the rest, I'm not sure how beneficial they will be to your career.

Essentiallyanon · Post by **Essentiallyanon** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:20 pm

Totally fine not being in an elite district. I don't have straight Ps, which is why I say bottom 20% and not the bottom 5-10% just for clarification.

anon sequitur · Post by **anon sequitur** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 4:45 pm

If you're not particular about geography or start dates, I think you can find something

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