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I know the general rule is that once you interview with a judge and he/she rejects you, that ship has sailed. However, I have an added wrinkle. I applied to a judge and interviewed with him as a 2L for the term immediately following graduation (2016). However, I noticed that both his term clerks were alums. His hires from the previous year were also alums. You have to go back three class years prior to me before he hired anyone straight from law school. He never expressed a preference for alums during the interview, though. The clerks that he hired for my year all had prior work experience or a previous clerkship. A friend of mine was a former clerk of his and put in a good word for me when I applied.

Would it be worth it to apply again for an opening that would be a couple years out from graduation? I felt like we had a pretty decent rapport during the interview, and I have strong geographic ties to the city. On the one hand, maybe he only interviewed me on the recommendation of my friend and ultimately decided to keep only hiring alums. On the other, he would have hired me if he really wanted to, and he didn't. A couple years of working probably won't change that I didn't have whatever he was looking for. Thoughts?

Worst thing that happens is the judge thinks you're a weirdo. Why not apply?

Anonymous User wrote:On the other, he would have hired me if he really wanted to, and he didn't. A couple years of working probably won't change that I didn't have whatever he was looking for.

ughbugchugplug wrote:Worst thing that happens is the judge thinks you're a weirdo. Why not apply?

I think both of these are probably right. You made it to the interview phase once without being an alum, so odds are good that that wasn't the dealbreaker, and it's quite possible that nothing meaningful has changed. That said, you can't know for certain why you were rejected (what if, for example, you were the first runner-up in an especially strong application cycle? What if the judge liked you but ultimately decided after meeting you that your lack of experience was too high a hurdle?). There's basically no harm in re-applying.