UT, TX, and CO State Supreme Court Clerkships Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have insight on how competitive these clerkships are? Specific judges to seek out or avoid? Do they hire right out of law school, and when can you start sending apps?

[Anonymous User]

I only know about CO, but they have all the basic info on their web page: https://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/S ... icants.cfm

They tend to hire the top students from the local schools or T14ers, though I don't know the grade-competitiveness for the latter. Coats often hires local grads and is quite pleasant, though reserved. Gabriel only hires from top schools. (Also, when he was on the COA the rumor was that he didn't let his clerks leave before he did, and come 4:30-5 he'd just sit in his office and read the paper for 45 mins or so. He seemed like a nice enough guy, I didn't hear any issues beyond that, though a wee bit full of himself.) Márquez and Hart are extremely smart and nice.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you!

[Anonymous User]

Lee on Utah is probably the most prominent conservative SSC judge in the country. He takes top students from top schools and has ties to conservative feeders (recent clerks went on to Sutton, Pryor, Barrett). Nice guy. Very into statutory interpretation. Strong ties to UChicago and BYU and also teaches at Harvard. Hires after 1L year.

[Anonymous User]

I have six friends who have clerked/are clerking/accepted offers to clerk for SCOTX, some at UT and some at SMU. Based on who they are, I would say conservative ties on your resume or military ties (either yourself or family) are a plus. Grades ~10% for regional schools, upper 25% for T14s. All of the ones I know did law review. A lot were research assistants or TAs as well. All of them went directly from law school with no work experience in between, but most of them had work experience prior to law school. Most interviewed/accepted offers summer before 3L or early 3L. I don't know anything about specific judges.

[Anonymous User]

SCOTX justices range in selectivity, but roughly speaking it's about the same range as federal Article III clerkships in general. Clerk classes tend to be mostly top students from Texas schools with a healthy smattering of T14 grads. Most but not all of the clerks are fresh out of law school. Generally you apply 1.5 years before the clerkship start date -- Spring of 2L year for those looking to clerk after graduation. Some of the justices occasionally hire farther in advance, though. Some justices hire very quickly, others sit on applications for a while.

Conservative/Fed Soc ties are generally a plus but not required, except for maybe Justice Blacklock.

You will hear nothing but good things about working for all of the justices. Hecht, Boyd, and Busby have the best reputations, but no one has a bad reputation.

[Anonymous User]

SCOTX justices range in selectivity, but roughly speaking it's about the same range as federal Article III clerkships in general. Clerk classes tend to be mostly top students from Texas schools with a healthy smattering of T14 grads. Most but not all of the clerks are fresh out of law school. Generally you apply 1.5 years before the clerkship start date -- Spring of 2L year for those looking to clerk after graduation. Some of the justices occasionally hire farther in advance, though. Some justices hire very quickly, others sit on applications for a while.

Conservative/Fed Soc ties are generally a plus but not required, except for maybe Justice Blacklock.

You will hear nothing but good things about working for all of the justices. Hecht, Boyd, and Busby have the best reputations, but no one has a bad reputation.

She's relatively new, but I have also heard great things about Justice Bland.

[Pneumonia]

For SCOTX, apps have historically been timely in the Spring of 2L but have been trending earlier. You can send an application whenever you want, but I think anything before two semesters of grades are in would be too early. Hiring typically focuses on recent grads. There is no bad justice to clerk for. Workload ranges from very light (some of the judges do almost all of their own writing) to fairly intense, but I don't think any require regular nights and weekends. Many clerks (and for that matter, judges) go on to AIII positions, but SCOTX is not as competitive as AIII. It is among the most competitive SSCs though.

[Anonymous User]

Does a semester of P's count for a semester of grades in terms of judges wanting two semesters? Obviously not as helpful as real grades, but since most law schools are p/f, do you think it is worth submitting summer after 1L?

[Pneumonia]

Does a semester of P's count for a semester of grades in terms of judges wanting two semesters? Obviously not as helpful as real grades, but since most law schools are p/f, do you think it is worth submitting summer after 1L?

It does if you're at Yale. But since no other school has ever treated a semester of 1L as p/f, then I would say you should at least wait for law review results in July or August or whenever they come out at your school. If you submit your apps in August, you can update it in January in 2L when you get another semester of grades.

[Anonymous User]

For SCOTX, apps have historically been timely in the Spring of 2L but have been trending earlier. You can send an application whenever you want, but I think anything before two semesters of grades are in would be too early. Hiring typically focuses on recent grads. There is no bad justice to clerk for. Workload ranges from very light (some of the judges do almost all of their own writing) to fairly intense, but I don't think any require regular nights and weekends. Many clerks (and for that matter, judges) go on to AIII positions, but SCOTX is not as competitive as AIII. It is among the most competitive SSCs though.

Former SCOTX clerk here. Workload varies between the judges, but is generally very light. The only clerks that regularly worked nights and weekends during my term were with Justice Boyd.

[Anonymous User]

Former SCOTX clerk here. Workload varies between the judges, but is generally very light. The only clerks that regularly worked nights and weekends during my term were with Justice Boyd.

Seconded. Boyd cares a lot about his clerks though, and the chambers atmosphere is personal and collegial (even if the workload is high).

[Anonymous User]

Former SCOTX clerk here. Workload varies between the judges, but is generally very light. The only clerks that regularly worked nights and weekends during my term were with Justice Boyd.

Seconded. Boyd cares a lot about his clerks though, and the chambers atmosphere is personal and collegial (even if the workload is high).

Former SCOTX Anon 1 here. If I could do it all over again I’d shoot for Boyd just for the amazing gift he gives his clerks at the end of the clerkship.

[Anonymous User]

I was the clerk in charge of hiring for someone on one of these courts and our criteria were roughly top 10% from T14 or top 1-2% from the local schools.

[Anonymous User]

I was the clerk in charge of hiring for someone on one of these courts and our criteria were roughly top 10% from T14 or top 1-2% from the local schools.

That can't be true unless you worked for Lee, Eid, or Willett, etc., that's basically federal COA selective.

[Anonymous User]

I was the clerk in charge of hiring for someone on one of these courts and our criteria were roughly top 10% from T14 or top 1-2% from the local schools.

That can't be true unless you worked for Lee, Eid, or Willett, etc., that's basically federal COA selective.

Needless to say, I will not be offering further information on who I clerked for.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, I interviewed with one of the three judges named above without having remotely the stats cited. (Which doesn't mean that none of the justices on those courts look for those stats - there's nothing stopping an individual judge from hiring on whatever basis they like, as long as they get applicants who meet their criteria, and clearly they do.)

Also, having gone to a local school, top 1-2% of the class by no means assures a COA. I know some people in that category who have got COA, but most started with a DCt clerkship first. And I know people at the top of the class who got no clerkship. It's just all really idosyncratic.

[Anonymous User]

I was the clerk in charge of hiring for someone on one of these courts and our criteria were roughly top 10% from T14 or top 1-2% from the local schools.

That can't be true unless you worked for Lee, Eid, or Willett, etc., that's basically federal COA selective.

"SCOTX judges range in selectivity" anon from above here. Can confirm several of the SCOTX justices are indeed this selective. They can get away with it; Austin is a highly desirable location and there are not many federal judges to compete with in the city.

The most selective want top 10% at T14/UT or top-of-the-class at a lower tier Texas school. The less selective look for roughly top 30% at T14/UT or top 10-20% at other Texas schools. For some of the justices, attractive softs or personal connections can lead to them interviewing someone with lower grades than these estimates.

[Anonymous User]

At my T6 the wisdom is that SCOTX takes about top 1/3. However, certain justices are more lenient on grades. Some rarely even look at apps from certain schools or basically reserve spots for certain schools. Such as Justice Boyd and Pepperdine.

[Anonymous User]

Utah Supreme Court justices are all pretty well-regarded. I think their clerks' workload is relatively low (sub-40 hours a week). A couple have strong connections to 10th/9th circuit judges and Justice Lee regularly sends his clerks to feeders. I believe most of them start hiring around March/April of 2L year.

[Anonymous User]

Utah Supreme Court justices are all pretty well-regarded. I think their clerks' workload is relatively low (sub-40 hours a week). A couple have strong connections to 10th/9th circuit judges and Justice Lee regularly sends his clerks to feeders. I believe most of them start hiring around March/April of 2L year.

I know Justice Lee has sent some to at least Pryor and Sykes (for anybody wanting more specifics).

[Anonymous User]

Utah Supreme Court justices are all pretty well-regarded. I think their clerks' workload is relatively low (sub-40 hours a week). A couple have strong connections to 10th/9th circuit judges and Justice Lee regularly sends his clerks to feeders. I believe most of them start hiring around March/April of 2L year.

I know Justice Lee has sent some to at least Pryor and Sykes (for anybody wanting more specifics).

He's also sent some to Sutton.

[Anonymous User]

Lee is soliciting applications on a selective basis right now for 2023-2024. People here mentioned that he sends people on to feeders. But other than that, is the clerkship a good one from a work/mentorship/QOL perspective?

I have a COA clerkship lined up already for 2022-2023. Assuming for the moment that a potential second clerkship would be strategic, going COA --> SSC --> COA feeder seems a bit odd when I could maybe go COA --> COA feeder.

[Anonymous User]

Lee is soliciting applications on a selective basis right now for 2023-2024. People here mentioned that he sends people on to feeders. But other than that, is the clerkship a good one from a work/mentorship/QOL perspective?

I have a COA clerkship lined up already for 2022-2023. Assuming for the moment that a potential second clerkship would be strategic, going COA --> SSC --> COA feeder seems a bit odd when I could maybe go COA --> COA feeder.

It is an outstanding clerkship. You probably could not find a better one.

[Anonymous User]

It is an outstanding clerkship. You probably could not find a better one.

What makes it so outstanding?