I just graduated and will be starting a trial level state-court clerkship at the end of August and...I'll be 20 weeks pregnant. I'm struggling with whether I should tell my judge beforehand or if I should just wait until he sees for himself. It's only a year long clerkship and I'm due in January. It's not my first child and although every pregnancy is different, with my last one in law school I only took about 2 weeks off. I anticipate being able to do the same this time around so it's not like I'm planning on taking a 3-month maternity leave during the clerkship.
So should I let the chambers know in advance or not? Pros, cons?
Clerking and Pregnancy Forum
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Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about clerkship applications and clerkship hiring. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
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justanotherlurker
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Re: Clerking and Pregnancy
Tell the judge ASAP. At least in the federal court system, there is no set policy for taking parental leave (or vacation, etc.) -- it is entirely up to the judge. I very much hope that the judge will be accommodating and give you as much time as you need, but I do not think it is fair to assume that is definitely true. You may also want to research/ask HR if there is a policy for the state court system that you are planning on clerking in.
Also, for a state-court trial-level clerkship, will you be the only clerk? If so, then your absence may be significant. If the judge has a trial scheduled for January when you may be unavailable, he may need to make arrangements (e.g., hire a temporary clerk, borrow a colleague's clerk, reschedule trial...).
Also, for a state-court trial-level clerkship, will you be the only clerk? If so, then your absence may be significant. If the judge has a trial scheduled for January when you may be unavailable, he may need to make arrangements (e.g., hire a temporary clerk, borrow a colleague's clerk, reschedule trial...).
Last edited by QContinuum on Thu May 23, 2019 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Outed for anon abuse.
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nixy
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Re: Clerking and Pregnancy
I agree that you should let the judge know ASAP (but no sooner than you feel comfortable telling the world generally - I know different people feel differently about when that is; I don’t think you need to tell the judge sooner than you’d tell your friends/family, unless you literally wouldn’t tell anyone else until they can see for themselves - then tell the judge earlier).
Actually, I agree with all of the above.
Actually, I agree with all of the above.
