Dist Ct./COA Chances 2021/2022 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Top 18% at T25 (3.63 GPA), strong fedsoc ties, editorial board of a non law review journal, looking for a district court clerkship in 2021 and maybe a COA clerkship in 2022. Chances?

[Anonymous User]

Weak for COA, unless you have some tie or connection to a particular judge. DC is more plausible, depending on the district. Rely on the networks of your recommenders to get an in. Their phone calls will matter. Fedsoc will help with conservative jurists, but the rank and school poses an uphill battle.

[Anonymous User]

strong fedsoc ties

Strong as in Leonard Leo is your uncle, or strong as in you were the president of your school's chapter?

I'd say your 2021 COA odds rest almost entirely on having a fed soc judge take a particular interest in you. But a district court clerkship is definitely in the ballpark, and from there you probably will be able to parlay it into a 2022 COA gig.

[Anonymous User]

Rate my chances at a district court clerkship?

Regional school just outside T100, top 10%, on law review ed board, moot court experience.

I'm curious, has anybody from a lower ranked school landed a federal clerkship? Clerked with someone who did?

[lavarman84]

Rate my chances at a district court clerkship?

Regional school just outside T100, top 10%, on law review ed board, moot court experience.

I'm curious, has anybody from a lower ranked school landed a federal clerkship? Clerked with someone who did?

Depends on where you are in the top 10%. If you're in the top 1-2%, you have a chance. If you're not, you don't have much of a chance unless you have some serious connections.

[Anonymous User]

Apologies if this was meant only for OP's chances. If this was only for OP, then I can remove this.

Chances for District/COA?

T35
Top 5%, GPA 3.8-ish
Notes/Articles Editor on flagship journal
2 Notes published on secondary journals, 1 Note selected for publication on flagship
Recommenders: first from professor I RA'd for, second from another professor RA'd for + two successful classes, third from professor with two other successful classes with high participation. Also have a couple people willing to do outreach.
Undergrad: prestigious university, bad transcript
Geographic ties in Southeast and around school (not in southeast)
Targets: any district court or COA available or willing.

[Anon-non-anon]

Apologies if this was meant only for OP's chances. If this was only for OP, then I can remove this.

Chances for District/COA?

T35
Top 5%, GPA 3.8-ish
Notes/Articles Editor on flagship journal
2 Notes published on secondary journals, 1 Note selected for publication on flagship
Recommenders: first from professor I RA'd for, second from another professor RA'd for + two successful classes, third from professor with two other successful classes with high participation. Also have a couple people willing to do outreach.
Undergrad: prestigious university, bad transcript
Geographic ties in Southeast and around school (not in southeast)
Targets: any district court or COA available or willing.

I'd say you have a pretty good shot with (1) judges in your school's geographic area (2) judges in the southeast where it's clear you grew up or whatever and (3) judges who graduated from your law school, and, to a lesser extent, undergrad.

The more remote, the better chance. District better than appellate but might as well try both.

Also try to leverage prof / other connections. That's the most likely way to get your app looked at, especially for judges without a strong connection to your current school/area.

[decimalsanddollars]

Rate my chances at a district court clerkship?

Regional school just outside T100, top 10%, on law review ed board, moot court experience.

I'm curious, has anybody from a lower ranked school landed a federal clerkship? Clerked with someone who did?

Depends on where you are in the top 10%. If you're in the top 1-2%, you have a chance. If you're not, you don't have much of a chance unless you have some serious connections.

Agree with this generally, but I'd also say region plays a big role. If you're top 10% but not 1-2%, you'll be competitive for district and Article 1 judges in that federal district and maybe the region as a whole. I'm from Texas and know several people from outside-top-100 Texas law schools who get federal clerkships in their region/city with credentials like yours. I imagine that's also true in the Southeast, Mountain States, PNW, and some parts of the Midwest. I imagine it's much less true for the mid-Atlantic, California, Northeast, and greater Chicago area. Lavarman is correct that you'll need to be basically top of the class to be competitive, at least outside the school's region, and also within it if your region is a more competitive one.