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Hi all,

I am a Canadian student at a T10 school and really want to do a federal appellate clerkship a year out of law school. I know I won't get paid, so I can't do it right after law school because I'll be using my firm job to save up. I was wondering if anyone has done this before? And if so, what kind of VISA they used to do it? Can you use a TN VISA or apply for a J1? Any leads would be really helpful!

Try clerking in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, or Alaska. You can get paid there. Morgan Christen would be an awesome judge to clerk for.

Also Candian, TN visa (as it currently stand at least) will work, I cannot imagine they would do a H1-B though.

As mentioned above Alaska/Hawaii can pay you, Christen looks like an amazing judge, I know Kleinfeld is open to hiring internationals and frequently does (probably because not a lot of top non-internationals want to go to fairbanks), don't know much about Clifton.

Another option, which is less prestigious but probably gives you a similar experience and can (often) pay would be State Supreme Courts. Be more discerning about which state of course, but (1) the state you want to work in (2) NY (3) CA (4) DE are all decent choices. This is the route I'm going.

Auxilio wrote:Also Candian, TN visa (as it currently stand at least) will work, I cannot imagine they would do a H1-B though.

As mentioned above Alaska/Hawaii can pay you, Christen looks like an amazing judge, I know Kleinfeld is open to hiring internationals and frequently does (probably because not a lot of top non-internationals want to go to fairbanks), don't know much about Clifton.

Another option, which is less prestigious but probably gives you a similar experience and can (often) pay would be State Supreme Courts. Be more discerning about which state of course, but (1) the state you want to work in (2) NY (3) CA (4) DE are all decent choices. This is the route I'm going.

To the extent OP is interested in Clifton, my understanding is that he's a great judge to clerk for. I clerked at D. Haw. and his clerks seem to love him. Whenever I've personally interacted with him, he's always been very down-to-earth, approachable, easy going, etc. I don't know of any international clerks that he has taken (he has 4 term clerks, 1 is usually a Hawaii resident, other 3 are typical T10 kids).

Also, he just went senior status, so there will be another CA9 judge in Hawaii soon-ish.

Anonymous User wrote: Also, he just went senior status, so there will be another CA9 judge in Hawaii soon-ish.

Amusing assumption.

Thanks, folks! This has been super helpful. The judges you all mentioned seem wonderful.

Is there anyone out there that has done a clerkship with a TN visa that would be willing to chat more?

JD2018 wrote:Thanks, folks! This has been super helpful. The judges you all mentioned seem wonderful.

Is there anyone out there that has done a clerkship with a TN visa that would be willing to chat more?

DId not clerk with TN but did clerk with OPT. Spoke with OPM, TN should be fine.

Auxilio wrote:Also Candian, TN visa (as it currently stand at least) will work, I cannot imagine they would do a H1-B though.

As mentioned above Alaska/Hawaii can pay you, Christen looks like an amazing judge, I know Kleinfeld is open to hiring internationals and frequently does (probably because not a lot of top non-internationals want to go to fairbanks), don't know much about Clifton.

Another option, which is less prestigious but probably gives you a similar experience and can (often) pay would be State Supreme Courts. Be more discerning about which state of course, but (1) the state you want to work in (2) NY (3) CA (4) DE are all decent choices. This is the route I'm going.

Can you or someone else elaborate on how firms view State Supreme Court clerkships if you want to do lit? Would you be eligiable for a clerking bonus? Will it be a boost to your resume? Or do they just care about clerkships at the federal level?

OnlyHumean wrote:

Auxilio wrote:Also Candian, TN visa (as it currently stand at least) will work, I cannot imagine they would do a H1-B though.

As mentioned above Alaska/Hawaii can pay you, Christen looks like an amazing judge, I know Kleinfeld is open to hiring internationals and frequently does (probably because not a lot of top non-internationals want to go to fairbanks), don't know much about Clifton.

Another option, which is less prestigious but probably gives you a similar experience and can (often) pay would be State Supreme Courts. Be more discerning about which state of course, but (1) the state you want to work in (2) NY (3) CA (4) DE are all decent choices. This is the route I'm going.

Can you or someone else elaborate on how firms view State Supreme Court clerkships if you want to do lit? Would you be eligiable for a clerking bonus? Will it be a boost to your resume? Or do they just care about clerkships at the federal level?

Prestige/resume wise they are generally valued similar to a district court (but see above for location being more important). I think basically every firm gives clerkship bonuses on level with a district court one for SSC. The research/writing skill development of a clerkship will be the same attractiveness wise I would think. Depending on what type of lit you want to do some courts might be more valuable too--i.e., corporate lit a DE SSC (or chancery) would be better than a Wyoming District court I would think. Areas (employment?) that are mostly state law also could be good for SSC (But locality is important here).

It can also vary widely based on the judge.

For instance, Cuellar, Liu, Krueger, and a handful of judges on the Trump list will be regarded much more highly, and maybe on par with CoA clerkships.

Anonymous User wrote:It can also vary widely based on the judge.

For instance, Cuellar, Liu, Krueger, and a handful of judges on the Trump list will be regarded much more highly, and maybe on par with CoA clerkships.

Yeah, although Liu I think (and I wouldn't be surprised with the other two) basically required federal clerkships first if I recall correctly.

Auxilio wrote:

OnlyHumean wrote:

Auxilio wrote:Also Candian, TN visa (as it currently stand at least) will work, I cannot imagine they would do a H1-B though.

As mentioned above Alaska/Hawaii can pay you, Christen looks like an amazing judge, I know Kleinfeld is open to hiring internationals and frequently does (probably because not a lot of top non-internationals want to go to fairbanks), don't know much about Clifton.

Another option, which is less prestigious but probably gives you a similar experience and can (often) pay would be State Supreme Courts. Be more discerning about which state of course, but (1) the state you want to work in (2) NY (3) CA (4) DE are all decent choices. This is the route I'm going.

Can you or someone else elaborate on how firms view State Supreme Court clerkships if you want to do lit? Would you be eligiable for a clerking bonus? Will it be a boost to your resume? Or do they just care about clerkships at the federal level?

Prestige/resume wise they are generally valued similar to a district court (but see above for location being more important). I think basically every firm gives clerkship bonuses on level with a district court one for SSC. The research/writing skill development of a clerkship will be the same attractiveness wise I would think. Depending on what type of lit you want to do some courts might be more valuable too--i.e., corporate lit a DE SSC (or chancery) would be better than a Wyoming District court I would think. Areas (employment?) that are mostly state law also could be good for SSC (But locality is important here).

Yes, I can speak to NJ SSC. It is very highly regarded. Some of this year's NJ SSC clerks will go on to clerk on the 3rd Cir./DNJ. Many others will join top firms in NYC. One of last year's clerks and one of this year's clerks managed to get an offer from Sullcrom. Even the ones with no SAs have landed firm gigs.

I am saying this because two clerks on the court this year are international students.