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Hi!

Got an interview for my dream district with a judge but am traveling from very far away for the interview; very few of the other judges are open right now but I'm tempted to give them a call and let them know I'm going to be in the area (even though I haven't applied since they're not open on Oscar). Is that an acceptable thing to do? I have no idea how this whole parlaying business works - so any help is so appreciated

Anonymous User wrote:Hi!

Got an interview for my dream district with a judge but am traveling from very far away for the interview; very few of the other judges are open right now but I'm tempted to give them a call and let them know I'm going to be in the area (even though I haven't applied since they're not open on Oscar). Is that an acceptable thing to do? I have no idea how this whole parlaying business works - so any help is so appreciated

Definitely don't call other chambers if you haven't sent them an application, because they will have no basis on which to decide whether they want to consider interviewing you. If they aren't posted on OSCAR yet, and your interview is more than a week out, I would assemble a bunch of paper applications, and overnight them (or a slower mailing speed, depending on how far out your interview is set for). Once you are sure the other chambers have received your application materials, you can consider calling them to let them know you will be in town. (This seems to be credited advice on this forum, though when I was clerking it always seemed weird/presumptuous when someone would make such a call.)

that makes sense! What about for paper-only judges who have likely received your rec letters (under separate cover) but your app isn't going to get there for another day or two?

Anonymous User wrote:that makes sense! What about for paper-only judges who have likely received your rec letters (under separate cover) but your app isn't going to get there for another day or two?

Wait the day or two for the app to get there.

Barrred wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Hi!

Got an interview for my dream district with a judge but am traveling from very far away for the interview; very few of the other judges are open right now but I'm tempted to give them a call and let them know I'm going to be in the area (even though I haven't applied since they're not open on Oscar). Is that an acceptable thing to do? I have no idea how this whole parlaying business works - so any help is so appreciated

Definitely don't call other chambers if you haven't sent them an application, because they will have no basis on which to decide whether they want to consider interviewing you. If they aren't posted on OSCAR yet, and your interview is more than a week out, I would assemble a bunch of paper applications, and overnight them (or a slower mailing speed, depending on how far out your interview is set for). Once you are sure the other chambers have received your application materials, you can consider calling them to let them know you will be in town. (This seems to be credited advice on this forum, though when I was clerking it always seemed weird/presumptuous when someone would make such a call.)

As a counterpoint to this story, I actually called a judge who I hadn't applied to (not realizing I hadn't applied to him) after I got an interview from another judge in the same courthouse, and I got an interview (that went extremely well) that way. Not saying it's a best practice, just saying it can turn into something positive.

That's a pretty cool story. I've always wondered if parlaying attempts could ever be taken offensively by the judge who first offered you an interview to begin with. Any stories about that?

Anonymous User wrote:That's a pretty cool story. I've always wondered if parlaying attempts could ever be taken offensively by the judge who first offered you an interview to begin with. Any stories about that?

I think this was more of an issue back in the heyday of the judicial hiring plan. For a few years there was a real rush to interview and hire the top students by DC Circuit and other top judges. I think back then some judges looked askance on candidates doing this. I haven't heard of anybody getting dinged or being thought less of because of this recently.