How to fill year before CoA clerkship? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello.

I am a 2L at a T14 who was lucky enough to snag a court of appeals clerkship that begins the year after I graduate. I will be spending this summer "at" a BL firm (quotations for covid, as I anticipate that we will all be working remote this summer).

I am looking for input regarding how best to fill the year prior to my CoA clerkship. There's a possibility that I could spend it at the firm, though in this market that is far from a certainty. Given that I have secured a CoA clerkship, I think it is likely that I am able to secure a district court clerkship (especially because I have atypical geographic preferences, so I will be applying to less competitive clerkships) for the year prior.

Questions:

1) Will the district court clerkship benefit my career? I don't know where I want to live long term, so developing a network in my district court clerkship city isn't a big draw for me. Will there be additional prestige over the CoA clerkship?

2) If the answer to (1) is yes, will the prestige make up for the lesser pay compared to a firm (if I am offered, which honestly is a big if at this point).

Context: I do not think I want to be at a firm long-term, and would leave for a fancy public interest position.

Thanks for all input. To

[Anonymous User]

Hello.

I am a 2L at a T14 who was lucky enough to snag a court of appeals clerkship that begins the year after I graduate. I will be spending this summer "at" a BL firm (quotations for covid, as I anticipate that we will all be working remote this summer).

I am looking for input regarding how best to fill the year prior to my CoA clerkship. There's a possibility that I could spend it at the firm, though in this market that is far from a certainty. Given that I have secured a CoA clerkship, I think it is likely that I am able to secure a district court clerkship (especially because I have atypical geographic preferences, so I will be applying to less competitive clerkships) for the year prior.

Questions:

1) Will the district court clerkship benefit my career? I don't know where I want to live long term, so developing a network in my district court clerkship city isn't a big draw for me. Will there be additional prestige over the CoA clerkship?

2) If the answer to (1) is yes, will the prestige make up for the lesser pay compared to a firm (if I am offered, which honestly is a big if at this point).

Thanks for all input.

Would the Dct clerkship be in 2020? There are only a few on Oscar and they will likely be inundated with qualified applicants at this point due to the economic downturn. A dct clerkship would def be beneficial, especially if you are going into litigation.

[Anonymous User]

Hello.

I am a 2L at a T14 who was lucky enough to snag a court of appeals clerkship that begins the year after I graduate. I will be spending this summer "at" a BL firm (quotations for covid, as I anticipate that we will all be working remote this summer).

I am looking for input regarding how best to fill the year prior to my CoA clerkship. There's a possibility that I could spend it at the firm, though in this market that is far from a certainty. Given that I have secured a CoA clerkship, I think it is likely that I am able to secure a district court clerkship (especially because I have atypical geographic preferences, so I will be applying to less competitive clerkships) for the year prior.

Questions:

1) Will the district court clerkship benefit my career? I don't know where I want to live long term, so developing a network in my district court clerkship city isn't a big draw for me. Will there be additional prestige over the CoA clerkship?

2) If the answer to (1) is yes, will the prestige make up for the lesser pay compared to a firm (if I am offered, which honestly is a big if at this point).

Thanks for all input.

Would the Dct clerkship be in 2020? There are only a few on Oscar and they will likely be inundated with qualified applicants at this point due to the economic downturn. A dct clerkship would def be beneficial, especially if you are going into litigation.

No, I am a 2L, so the district court clerkship would be for 2021.

[Anonymous User]

D Ct clerkship all the way. In addition to the items you've mentioned, a D Ct clerkship will really prepare you for the COA clerkship. First, you will have just done the type of work you'll be reviewing and have a much better sense for how the court below operates. Second, and more important, the vast majority of people out of law school don't have the full range of writing skills to easily jump into a COA clerkship. If you find the right D Ct judge who mentors his/her clerks and works with them on their writing, then you'll be in a much better place when starting the COA position.

[Fireworks2016]

Unless you’re hard up for cash, You should want to clerk at a district court. It’s generally an enjoyable experience and you will be soooo much better as an appellate clerk if you’ve had experience in the trenches.

[lavarman84]

I'll agree with the others that I think a D. Ct. clerkship does more for you. Although, it would be helpful to apply to places you could see yourself living eventually. Doing a clerkship in a random district is still valuable, but you'll gain more from the connections you make and the connections your judge has if it is a place you end up practicing. That all said, I don't know if money is an issue. Your COA clerkship is already a big gold star, so you could go do a year of biglaw to make money to pay down loans.

But yeah, if you are fine financially, I think a D. Ct. clerkship is valuable experience. COA is more prestigious, but unless you're doing appellate work, you'll learn more at the D. Ct. And both public interest organizations and government jobs will value a D. Ct. clerkship. Just do your research and make sure you're clerking in a good environment.

[Anonymous User]

I filled it with another COA clerkship. I really wouldn't recommend this-- a lot of people have advised me that it put a ceiling on my career potential and job prospects.

[LBJ's Hair]

I filled it with another COA clerkship. I really wouldn't recommend this-- a lot of people have advised me that it put a ceiling on my career potential and job prospects.

This seems like complete nonsense and you should ignore them. It's sorta odd unless one of two judges is a feeder, but how does it *hurt* you?

OP - agree with comments that "district court clerkship is more practically useful than COA." But you're committed to the COA, and what's frequently like, even more useful in a purely practical sense than a district court clerkship is ... actually doing litigating at a firm/public interest org/wherever. (There are definitely exceptions: you could be stuck doing doc review for a year, but if you're going to a solid firm and you've told them you're doing a COA, they'll probably give you decent work to encourage you to come back.)

So if you wanna do two clerkships you should totally do two clerkships, but if you only planned on doing one (for the prestige, out of a sense of obligation, whatever) and would rather make money working at a firm than clerking, like, I would do that.

No one will wonder why you only did COA and not COA + district.

[lavarman84]

I filled it with another COA clerkship. I really wouldn't recommend this-- a lot of people have advised me that it put a ceiling on my career potential and job prospects.

I don't know that you'd get a lot out of a second year of COA clerking, but the idea that it puts a ceiling on your career is silly. Whoever told you that is blowing smoke up your ass.

[Anonymous User]

I filled it with another COA clerkship. I really wouldn't recommend this-- a lot of people have advised me that it put a ceiling on my career potential and job prospects.

I don't know that you'd get a lot out of a second year of COA clerking, but the idea that it puts a ceiling on your career is silly. Whoever told you that is blowing smoke up your ass.

OK good to know. To clarify, the second has fed to SCOTUS, which is why I made the decision. I'm only repeating the admonitions a couple of people gave me, so I'm happy to hear it's all garbage.

[lavarman84]

I filled it with another COA clerkship. I really wouldn't recommend this-- a lot of people have advised me that it put a ceiling on my career potential and job prospects.

I don't know that you'd get a lot out of a second year of COA clerking, but the idea that it puts a ceiling on your career is silly. Whoever told you that is blowing smoke up your ass.

OK good to know. To clarify, the second has fed to SCOTUS, which is why I made the decision. I'm only repeating the admonitions a couple of people gave me, so I'm happy to hear it's all garbage.

Yeah, I'm not sure who would scoff at a feeder clerkship.

[Pennoyer v. Meh]

Yeah, I'm not sure who would scoff at a feeder clerkship.

People who didn't get that feeder clerkship

[Anonymous User]

I filled it with another COA clerkship. I really wouldn't recommend this-- a lot of people have advised me that it put a ceiling on my career potential and job prospects.

I don't know that you'd get a lot out of a second year of COA clerking, but the idea that it puts a ceiling on your career is silly. Whoever told you that is blowing smoke up your ass.

OK good to know. To clarify, the second has fed to SCOTUS, which is why I made the decision. I'm only repeating the admonitions a couple of people gave me, so I'm happy to hear it's all garbage.

My judge didn’t like the idea of people doing two circuit clerkships and wouldn’t interview people who already had one on their resume. But this was because s/he viewed circuit clerkships as a “scarce resource” with more credible applicants than spots available each year, and wanted to give the opportunity to someone who hadn’t already had it.

I agree that it won’t hurt your career, but it is more likely to generate interview questions. DCt + COA is more useful than 2x COA in 99% of situations (the 1% being serious SCOTUS candidates clerking for big feeders, and probably people doing a DC Cir. clerkship after a regional circuit, although most of those people are probably better off doing DDC/SDNY in place of the regional circuit).

[nixy]

I don’t think, for most people, a second COA is a value add (going to a feeder is the obvious exception, although it doesn’t seem to me common for SCOTUS clerks actually to have done two COAs). But not being a value add isn’t the same as actively hurting your career. I could see the question coming up of why two, and a possible concern that you don’t really want to practice, but assuming you’re otherwise a strong candidate (which you must be to have two COAs) I can’t imagine it being a dealbreaker to anyone.