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I've gotten a few interviews in district courts in flyover parts of the country. I'm top 10% at a t14 and going into litigation at a V5. I'll accept any offers I get because I already have the interviews, but I'm wondering whether I ought to continue applying at the moment. Would a clerkship in a not particularly fancy district benefit me? Lessen my marketability? Would I be better off waiting a few years and then hopefully getting DNJ/SDNY/DDC and then maybe a COA? I'm guessing the answer is that a clerkship will always increase my marketability but I'm somewhat skeptical about that. Would any district court really be better prestige than being an associate at a top firm? And if I were to accept the flyover district court then I probably wouldn't want to do a district court again, so I'd never be able to go to one of the more prestigious districts.

Anyway, as you can probably tell, I'm conflicted. Opinions would be welcome.

What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Rowinguy2009 wrote:What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

ughbugchugplug wrote:

Rowinguy2009 wrote:What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

MrT wrote:

ughbugchugplug wrote:

Rowinguy2009 wrote:What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

Mine said that rehiring decisions are made near the time when you're available to start. I realize it's a frequent industry practice to take clerks back but I'm not sure it's a given in this case.

ughbugchugplug wrote:

MrT wrote:

ughbugchugplug wrote:

Rowinguy2009 wrote:What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

Mine said that rehiring decisions are made near the time when you're available to start. I realize it's a frequent industry practice to take clerks back but I'm not sure it's a given in this case.

A V5?? I struggle to believe that would be the policy but I suppose it's possible. A lot of uncertainty right now.

MrT wrote:

ughbugchugplug wrote:

MrT wrote:

ughbugchugplug wrote:

Rowinguy2009 wrote:What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

Mine said that rehiring decisions are made near the time when you're available to start. I realize it's a frequent industry practice to take clerks back but I'm not sure it's a given in this case.

A V5?? I struggle to believe that would be the policy but I suppose it's possible. A lot of uncertainty right now.

Honesty, I understood the person who said it to me to be hedging because s/he didn't want to guarantee a spot more than saying that there's a decent chance that I wouldn't be rehired. But I also don't want to be crying "but I'm supposed to get back in!" and not be able to be an associate in the future.

MrT wrote:

ughbugchugplug wrote:

MrT wrote:

ughbugchugplug wrote:

Rowinguy2009 wrote:What do you want to do with your life/career? If you see yourself leaving biglaw after only a couple years, then doing a post-firm clerkship can be a great way transition into government. If, on the other hand, you prefer staying in private practice (even if that means eventually going to a smaller firm) I personally think that mid-career clerking can be looked at as a negative, and is not that practical.

I personally wouldn't worry as much about the relative "prestige" of different districts as I would the timing relative to your career, unless perhaps you want to go into academia or something like uber-elite DOJ.

Thanks. I want to leave big firm life after around 5 years of it excluding clerkships. Then I want to go into small town government work (I have a connection to the PD office of my hometown that I will try to take advantage of), a US attorney's office, or become a solo practitioner, probably not in any area relating to big law work. I'm primarily concerned with the prestige of the district because I want to be able to get back into the firm I'm leaving when I finish my clerkship, or at least be able to get into another big law firm. Is that basically guaranteed? The 2016-2017 post clerkship hiring thread had me a little worried about that.

I definitely don't want to do anything uber elite. I basically just want to make a lot of money for a little bit and then get as far away from the prestige treadmill as I can. But in the meantime I want to get some interesting experiences and learn from some smart judges if I can.

Most, if not all, large firms keep your spot open while you spend a year in a clerkship. You are then rewarded with a clerkship bonus.

Mine said that rehiring decisions are made near the time when you're available to start. I realize it's a frequent industry practice to take clerks back but I'm not sure it's a given in this case.

A V5?? I struggle to believe that would be the policy but I suppose it's possible. A lot of uncertainty right now.

I've heard this about two of V5's through my friends. They won't guarantee a spot back and said that they will decide closer to the time when you're done your clerkship, if you decide to work at the firm first.