Top Law Schools

Former d court clerk with a couple years work experience looking to go coa in same general area.

The judge I clerked for already put a call into a circuit judge I think I have the best shot at (relatively) for reasons not worth going into here. I also have a professor who I know would make a call, and she did for the clerkship I ended up getting.

Even with the prior d court clerkship, my stats are still kind of borderline, and it’s quite conceivable I don’t get interviewed. I only got one d court interview a few years ago.

My question is whether I have the prof make a call now and go for broke to get an interview, or whether I holster it in the hopes that I get an interview and then have the prof call right before or right after it.

Thanks in advance for advice.

If the professor has some connection to the judge, then putting in a call now is probably the right move.

If there's no connection, I wouldn't bother. Having your former judge call in is going to give you as big a boost as you're going to get.

minnbills wrote:If the professor has some connection to the judge, then putting in a call now is probably the right move.

If there's no connection, I wouldn't bother. Having your former judge call in is going to give you as big a boost as you're going to get.

Op here. You really wouldn’t bother at all? Or you wouldn’t bother pre-interview?

While I don't think the professor calling will add much value, unless the prof is particularly prominent or is a personal friend of the judge's, you've got nothing to lose. After thinking about it some more, I think the real issue here is that it won't matter whether the professor calls now or later once you've gotten an interview. So, you might as well go for it now.

I'd have the prof call now. I tend to think that calls after getting an interview are next to worthless since you've already been pulled from the pile, you've been given a hard look, and you're given a chance to interview. At that point, you're at least qualified, and the hiring decision is probably more about fit. Unless the prof is someone the judge particularly trusts, it's unlikely that his opinion is going to sway the judge's impressions of you from the interview one way or another. The real utility in calls is getting pulled from the pile and getting a hard look. A second call strengthens the signal that this is someone worth spending judge and clerk time interviewing.

BlackAndOrange84 wrote:I'd have the prof call now. I tend to think that calls after getting an interview are next to worthless since you've already been pulled from the pile, you've been given a hard look, and you're given a chance to interview. At that point, you're at least qualified, and the hiring decision is probably more about fit. Unless the prof is someone the judge particularly trusts, it's unlikely that his opinion is going to sway the judge's impressions of you from the interview one way or another. The real utility in calls is getting pulled from the pile and getting a hard look. A second call strengthens the signal that this is someone worth spending judge and clerk time interviewing.

Op here. Thanks all! Prof said s/he would call. Fingers crossed.