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I accepted a federal district court clerkship in an non-competitive district in the South. But now I'm wondering whether I should have waited to try and wrangle either a COA clerkship or a more competitive district clerkship -- purely for resume reasons. I have a 4.0 in a non-HYS T14.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I mean, it’s pretty much moot now, since backing out after accepting (at least if the only reason is to take a more “prestigious” clerkship) is way worse than waiting to accept.

You could go ahead and apply for COAs now if you want the resume boost.

Right, I don't expect to renege on my acceptance or anything like that. I guess what I'm wondering is whether I should feel embarrassed that I accepted this clerkship.

Um, no.

No federal clerkship is embarrassing.

nixy wrote:Um, no.

No federal clerkship is embarrassing.

Agreed. And a federal district court clerkship at that, not even a "mere" non-A3 federal clerkship.

I know TLS is TLS, but sometimes I see board members going Harvard or bust, or labeling A3 clerkships or a NYU J.D. "embarrassing," and I think, "good Heavens, what have we come to?!"

I agree with all of the above and would just add, please don't be That Guy who thinks he's better than his "non-competitive" clerkship but is willing to condescendingly impart of his immense knowledge and expertise to his clearly less capable and less qualified co-clerks. Nobody likes That Guy. All federal clerkships are competitive, and it'll be really off-putting to your judge and your fellow clerks if you go in with the attitude that you're embarrassed to be slumming it with them.

There's really no reason to have buyer's remorse about accepting a federal clerkship unless there's a specific problem with the judge you'll be clerking for (e.g., I knew someone who withdrew acceptance of Kozinski clerkship after being privately warned off by a former clerk).

Maybe a little more sympathetically than I came across above: TLS has a weird obsession with ranking everything you could possibly rank that strongly overstates the difference between different clerkships. I think it’s fair to say that most COAs are harder to get than most district court clerkships, and also that there are a few district court clerkships (for example SDNY, EDNY, DDC) that are harder to get than the others (and arguably harder to get than some COAs). But for the district court clerkships, that’s primarily because so many people want to be in NYC or DC (or SF or other major cities), not because the clerkship itself is inherently “better” or shinier or more prestigious. AND because some clerkships are *harder* to get doesn’t mean the other clerkships are *easy* to get or not worth it or not prestigious.

To the extent there are significant differences in prestige, they’re based on the judge, not the location of clerkship (and by that I mean feeders or feeders to feeders have more prestige to many - not saying that there are judges to be “embarrassed” to work for, although there may be a tiny number of those out there. But it will be because they’re known to be terrible jurists/people, not because the clerkship itself is inherently embarrassing. Plus I don’t think most people would attribute the judge’s personal failings to a clerk).

Finally, you may have personal reasons for wanting one particular clerkship over another, based on location or on caseload (there are IP heavy districts, for instance). But that doesn’t really create a qualitative difference in prestige either.

OP here. Thank you guys so much for your incredibly nice responses to what is objectively a really dumb question.

The rank-culture of law school and the legal profession overall sometimes gets me in my own head too much, so it is really helpful to hear other people's thoughts on this. I feel much more secure in my decision after reading your responses. Many thanks!

Anonymous User wrote:I accepted a federal district court clerkship in an non-competitive district in the South. But now I'm wondering whether I should have waited to try and wrangle either a COA clerkship or a more competitive district clerkship -- purely for resume reasons. I have a 4.0 in a non-HYS T14.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

What state?

Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Thank you guys so much for your incredibly nice responses to what is objectively a really dumb question.

The rank-culture of law school and the legal profession overall sometimes gets me in my own head too much, so it is really helpful to hear other people's thoughts on this. I feel much more secure in my decision after reading your responses. Many thanks!

Glad we were able to help and congrats on your clerkship!

How's your judge? That's the most important thing. I have a good friend who is clerking in one of the most competitive districts in the country, but my friend doesn't enjoy clerking for her/his judge. I am clerking in a less competitive district (no such thing as a non-competitive district), but my judge is absolutely amazing. My judge is as much a friend as a boss/mentor. I wouldn't trade places with anybody else.

OP here. I'm hesitant to say the exact state, but think deep south.

As far as the judge, they're great! I heard very good things about them from my professors before applying and I really clicked with them when we met. Clearly very smart, but not obnoxious and seems to value their clerks' opinions. I think working with them will be a good experience.