Any shot at appellate clerkship Forum

[Anonymous User]

I want to be an appellate litigator—almost exclusively. I graduated from UT Law in 2015, so I’m a bit further out. I was cum laude, but not quite top 10%. Ive clerked for a federal district and magistrate judge. I’m also about to start a state Supreme Court clerkship. I transferred from a ttt, to the extent it matters.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of appellate judges valuing experience.

[LBJ's Hair]

I want to be an appellate litigator—almost exclusively. I graduated from UT Law in 2015, so I’m a bit further out. I was cum laude, but not quite top 10%. Ive clerked for a federal district and magistrate judge. I’m also about to start a state Supreme Court clerkship. I transferred from a ttt, to the extent it matters.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of appellate judges valuing experience.

Don't do a fourth (!!) clerkship, going to hurt you much more than it helps. Three is already a lot.

[nixy]

So what do you mean when you say you want to be an appellate litigator? Because at least where I went to law school, the appeals unit at the state AG’s office was filled with former state appellate clerks (and also a pretty comfortable gig that I sort of wish I’d gone for).

[Anonymous User]

I want to be an appellate litigator—almost exclusively. I graduated from UT Law in 2015, so I’m a bit further out. I was cum laude, but not quite top 10%. Ive clerked for a federal district and magistrate judge. I’m also about to start a state Supreme Court clerkship. I transferred from a ttt, to the extent it matters.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of appellate judges valuing experience.

I don't really see what there is to gain from a federal appellate clerkship that you haven't already gotten from your previous clerkships. It's not like SCOTX is some random intermediate-appellate court.

[decimalsanddollars]

I'm assuming your federal clerkships were in Texas and your incoming state supreme court clerkship is at SCOTX; if that's wrong, correct me. You will get private-firm attention as a SCOTX clerk, including appellate groups. You should try to get in with a firm's appellate practice while you're clerking rather than trying to clerk a fourth time---I agree it's a bit more than most firms will want to see. Also, what did you do for the 2-3 years you weren't clerking? Do you have a firm you can go back to? In any case, my general advice is to start practicing post-SCOTX (preferably in Austin or an appeals-happy boutique in Houston) rather than clerking more.

As for your chances, here's a few thoughts:
1) Some 5th Circuit judges (assuming that's your goal) do value experience. Judges Southwick, Clement, Higginbotham, E. Jones, and Duncan have each hired experienced clerks recently. Depending on your resume and connections, you could get in with one of these.
2) Some CA5 judges only hire straight out (Costa, J. Smith with some exceptions, Owen with few exceptions), and some have specific protocols (Ho, Engelhardt, Oldham are intensely FedSoc-focused; Haynes hires exclusively from clerks for district judges in Dallas). Higginson rarely hires from UT, and Willett, Elrod, and King are picky from UT (generally only chancellors/high(est) honors/above 4.0 first year plus TLR). You probably don't have a chance with any of these.
3) Contact UT's clerkship office about any judges that may have expressed interest in experienced clerks. They tend to have pretty good information.

[Anonymous User]

I want to be an appellate litigator—almost exclusively. I graduated from UT Law in 2015, so I’m a bit further out. I was cum laude, but not quite top 10%. Ive clerked for a federal district and magistrate judge. I’m also about to start a state Supreme Court clerkship. I transferred from a ttt, to the extent it matters.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of appellate judges valuing experience.

I don't really see what there is to gain from a federal appellate clerkship that you haven't already gotten from your previous clerkships. It's not like SCOTX is some random intermediate-appellate court.

Sort of the inverse of this question: to what extent are distance federal appellate clerkships transferrable to Texas. I'm doing a far away COA clerkship (let's say, 3rd Circuit), and I'm a bit worried that 5th Circuit clerks will see it as not valuable.

[Anonymous User]

I want to be an appellate litigator—almost exclusively. I graduated from UT Law in 2015, so I’m a bit further out. I was cum laude, but not quite top 10%. Ive clerked for a federal district and magistrate judge. I’m also about to start a state Supreme Court clerkship. I transferred from a ttt, to the extent it matters.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of appellate judges valuing experience.

I don't really see what there is to gain from a federal appellate clerkship that you haven't already gotten from your previous clerkships. It's not like SCOTX is some random intermediate-appellate court.

Sort of the inverse of this question: to what extent are distance federal appellate clerkships transferrable to Texas. I'm doing a far away COA clerkship (let's say, 3rd Circuit), and I'm a bit worried that 5th Circuit clerks will see it as not valuable.

With respect to whether non-5th Circuit clerkships are seen as value, my experience suggests they are. The only respect in which I think there might be an issue is where you do not have some demonstrable connection to, or interest in, Texas. But that's not a problem that's caused by the non-5th clerkship, so I wouldn't worry.

[lavarman84]

I want to be an appellate litigator—almost exclusively. I graduated from UT Law in 2015, so I’m a bit further out. I was cum laude, but not quite top 10%. Ive clerked for a federal district and magistrate judge. I’m also about to start a state Supreme Court clerkship. I transferred from a ttt, to the extent it matters.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of appellate judges valuing experience.

I don't really see what there is to gain from a federal appellate clerkship that you haven't already gotten from your previous clerkships. It's not like SCOTX is some random intermediate-appellate court.

Sort of the inverse of this question: to what extent are distance federal appellate clerkships transferrable to Texas. I'm doing a far away COA clerkship (let's say, 3rd Circuit), and I'm a bit worried that 5th Circuit clerks will see it as not valuable.

I'm not really sure how 5CA clerks factor in. COA clerkships are very transferable. Some areas of Texas will want Texas ties, but COA clerkships are going to be valuable anywhere. I had no issues getting interviews (and ultimately land a job) outside of my circuit.

I want to be an appellate litigator—almost exclusively. I graduated from UT Law in 2015, so I’m a bit further out. I was cum laude, but not quite top 10%. Ive clerked for a federal district and magistrate judge. I’m also about to start a state Supreme Court clerkship. I transferred from a ttt, to the extent it matters.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of appellate judges valuing experience.

It would be difficult, and I agree with others that it's not clear it's worth it. If you clerking on the Texas Supreme Court, you'll have plenty of appellate litigation doors open to you in the state. To the extent you insist on doing a federal COA clerkship, your best chance would lie with judges who have relationships with one of the judges for whom you clerked.