2021-2022 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

All I can say is you're not alone, and you shouldn't feel like you're doing anything wrong. I'm top 5% at my CCN, Law Review board, published, big-name firm job, got some of the best-connected profs on my side. Applied to 40 judges on plan day, got 2 interviews and no offers. Applied to 15 more since then and still radio silence. Have my profs calling judges for me too. No dice. Every prof and alum I talk to keeps telling me, it's kind of a random process, and some qualified applicants just don't stick for no reason at all. I know this is easier said than done, but I hope you don't beat yourself up too much, just keep trying.

[april_ludgate]

Thanks you guys, this was extremely helpful! I appreciate y'all

[Anonymous User]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

All I can say is you're not alone, and you shouldn't feel like you're doing anything wrong. I'm top 5% at my CCN, Law Review board, published, big-name firm job, got some of the best-connected profs on my side. Applied to 40 judges on plan day, got 2 interviews and no offers. Applied to 15 more since then and still radio silence. Have my profs calling judges for me too. No dice. Every prof and alum I talk to keeps telling me, it's kind of a random process, and some qualified applicants just don't stick for no reason at all. I know this is easier said than done, but I hope you don't beat yourself up too much, just keep trying.

Not to victim-blame here, but a big lesson from this thread for people applying is that you should apply to every judge you’d be willing to work for, which should mean close to the full hundred unless you have geographic constraints. I also think that unless you’re exceptionally strong nobody who really wants to clerk should be that picky on politics, especially for district courts. These things are incredibly selective and random. I’ve heard of very few people getting off the pile after applying after plan day so it’s not a good fallback option. I certainly had no luck with it, though I eventually lucked out applying to new appointees.

[april_ludgate]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

All I can say is you're not alone, and you shouldn't feel like you're doing anything wrong. I'm top 5% at my CCN, Law Review board, published, big-name firm job, got some of the best-connected profs on my side. Applied to 40 judges on plan day, got 2 interviews and no offers. Applied to 15 more since then and still radio silence. Have my profs calling judges for me too. No dice. Every prof and alum I talk to keeps telling me, it's kind of a random process, and some qualified applicants just don't stick for no reason at all. I know this is easier said than done, but I hope you don't beat yourself up too much, just keep trying.

Not to victim-blame here, but a big lesson from this thread for people applying is that you should apply to every judge you’d be willing to work for, which should mean close to the full hundred unless you have geographic constraints. I also think that unless you’re exceptionally strong nobody who really wants to clerk should be that picky on politics, especially for district courts. These things are incredibly selective and random. I’ve heard of very few people getting off the pile after applying after plan day so it’s not a good fallback option. I certainly had no luck with it, though I eventually lucked out applying to new appointees.

Really? I guess my advisors may be lying to me but they said 1/3 of HLS applicants who get clerkships do so after the semester starts

Also in my own defense, the advisors told me I was extremely competitive and that I had a good list (sigh...)

[Anonymous User]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

All I can say is you're not alone, and you shouldn't feel like you're doing anything wrong. I'm top 5% at my CCN, Law Review board, published, big-name firm job, got some of the best-connected profs on my side. Applied to 40 judges on plan day, got 2 interviews and no offers. Applied to 15 more since then and still radio silence. Have my profs calling judges for me too. No dice. Every prof and alum I talk to keeps telling me, it's kind of a random process, and some qualified applicants just don't stick for no reason at all. I know this is easier said than done, but I hope you don't beat yourself up too much, just keep trying.

Not to victim-blame here, but a big lesson from this thread for people applying is that you should apply to every judge you’d be willing to work for, which should mean close to the full hundred unless you have geographic constraints. I also think that unless you’re exceptionally strong nobody who really wants to clerk should be that picky on politics, especially for district courts. These things are incredibly selective and random. I’ve heard of very few people getting off the pile after applying after plan day so it’s not a good fallback option. I certainly had no luck with it, though I eventually lucked out applying to new appointees.

Really? I guess my advisors may be lying to me but they said 1/3 of HLS applicants who get clerkships do so after the semester starts

Also in my own defense, the advisors told me I was extremely competitive and that I had a good list (sigh...)

Sorry, I meant that people who apply well after June 15 to judges who they saw as fallbacks haven’t had luck. Of course my experience is limited to me, the few friends I openly talk to about this stuff, and the rumor mill, so take with a spoon of salt. But your experience isn’t unique, I know of several quite strong (top 15%, LR board or secondary upper masthead, connections, etc.) candidates who applied fairly narrowly and ended up expanding unsuccessfully (so far). My school (not HLS but similar) also tells us that it’s pretty common to get clerkships in the year historically, especially on district courts. But it also hammers us with “your second choice is someone else’s first choice, apply early and widely” which seems like very good advice from what I’ve observed.

[lavarman84]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

All I can say is you're not alone, and you shouldn't feel like you're doing anything wrong. I'm top 5% at my CCN, Law Review board, published, big-name firm job, got some of the best-connected profs on my side. Applied to 40 judges on plan day, got 2 interviews and no offers. Applied to 15 more since then and still radio silence. Have my profs calling judges for me too. No dice. Every prof and alum I talk to keeps telling me, it's kind of a random process, and some qualified applicants just don't stick for no reason at all. I know this is easier said than done, but I hope you don't beat yourself up too much, just keep trying.

Assuming a person has the credentials (which y'all clearly do), so much of it comes down to luck (whether that's having the right connections or idiosyncrasies that match with the judge's). Throwing out enough applications is the best way to ensure the luck cuts your direction. But if you want it badly enough and are willing to keep applying, you'll land something.

[Anonymous User]

Also in my own defense, the advisors told me I was extremely competitive and that I had a good list (sigh...)

HLS advisers told me the same thing... I think they sugar coat everything.

[Anonymous User]

Confirmations are rolling again. Three new district judges confirmed today. All are pretty attractive if you're a conservative interested in "flyover country": two state SGs, including Toby Crouse, who's a decently prominent one, and a SCOTUS clerk biglaw appellate partner (interestingly a very rare RBG counter-clerk). Crouse and Beaton are also in KC and Louisville, respectively, which aren't bad at all for "flyover country."

Also Raúl Arias-Marxuach was unsurprisingly announced as the new First Circuit nominee. He's in Fed Soc but I doubt you'll find any American lawyers who know much about him beyond that.

[Anonymous User]

Confirmations are rolling again. Three new district judges confirmed today. All are pretty attractive if you're a conservative interested in "flyover country: two state SGs, including Toby Crouse, who's a decently prominent one, and a SCOTUS clerk biglaw appellate partner (interestingly a very rare RBG counter-clerk).

Toby is a good guy. I think a clerkship with him will be a great experience (both in terms of an opportunity to learn a lot and being treated well).

[Anonymous User]

Confirmations are rolling again. Three new district judges confirmed today. All are pretty attractive if you're a conservative interested in "flyover country: two state SGs, including Toby Crouse, who's a decently prominent one, and a SCOTUS clerk biglaw appellate partner (interestingly a very rare RBG counter-clerk).

Toby is a good guy. I think a clerkship with him will be a great experience (both in terms of an opportunity to learn a lot and being treated well).

I don't know him but I've also heard really good things from people who do.

[Anonymous User]

Confirmations are rolling again. Three new district judges confirmed today. All are pretty attractive if you're a conservative interested in "flyover country: two state SGs, including Toby Crouse, who's a decently prominent one, and a SCOTUS clerk biglaw appellate partner (interestingly a very rare RBG counter-clerk).

Toby is a good guy. I think a clerkship with him will be a great experience (both in terms of an opportunity to learn a lot and being treated well).

I don't know him but I've also heard really good things from people who do.

Previous Anon here. I've worked with him on a few matters. Couldn't speak more highly of him as a person and a lawyer.

[Anonymous User]

I am thinking about becoming a prosecutor after graduation. However, thinking about doing a clerkship first. How much would it hurt if I clerked with a judge who was going to handle civil cases (not a tax court or bankruptcy court?

[namefromplace]

I am thinking about becoming a prosecutor after graduation. However, thinking about doing a clerkship first. How much would it hurt if I clerked with a judge who was going to handle civil cases (not a tax court or bankruptcy court?

Did you not ask this in another thread? Were the answers there insufficient?

[lavarman84]

I am thinking about becoming a prosecutor after graduation. However, thinking about doing a clerkship first. How much would it hurt if I clerked with a judge who was going to handle civil cases (not a tax court or bankruptcy court?

It would help if you just let us know what clerkship you want. Is it a federal DJ/MJ or a state clerkship? You don't need to offer specifics.

[Anonymous User]

I am a Harvard 3L. I applied right when the plan opened, and I have continued applying since then. I'm around top 10-15% grade-wise; I do multiple extracurriculars; I have had multiple research assistant positions; I have interned at an impact lit place, a top law firm, and a public defender office; my recs are from three pretty big names and I have been told that they are great; I am not on law review, but I am editor-in-chief of a secondary journal; I did our moot court; I have a pending publication with a (low tier) law review; I went to an Ivy undergrad, where I was magna/phi beta kappa. I have not heard a word from any judge. I started out applying to around 60 judges, mostly in the northeast (mistake, I know now). Since then I have branched out to applying to basically every liberal federal judge still open, for 2021-2023. Does anyone have any advice for me? What more can I do? All my clerkship advisors do is tell me to hang in there (and they have checked my apps multiple times for typos). Am I just out of luck? I feel hopeless.

All I can say is you're not alone, and you shouldn't feel like you're doing anything wrong. I'm top 5% at my CCN, Law Review board, published, big-name firm job, got some of the best-connected profs on my side. Applied to 40 judges on plan day, got 2 interviews and no offers. Applied to 15 more since then and still radio silence. Have my profs calling judges for me too. No dice. Every prof and alum I talk to keeps telling me, it's kind of a random process, and some qualified applicants just don't stick for no reason at all. I know this is easier said than done, but I hope you don't beat yourself up too much, just keep trying.

Not to victim-blame here, but a big lesson from this thread for people applying is that you should apply to every judge you’d be willing to work for, which should mean close to the full hundred unless you have geographic constraints. I also think that unless you’re exceptionally strong nobody who really wants to clerk should be that picky on politics, especially for district courts. These things are incredibly selective and random. I’ve heard of very few people getting off the pile after applying after plan day so it’s not a good fallback option. I certainly had no luck with it, though I eventually lucked out applying to new appointees.

Really? I guess my advisors may be lying to me but they said 1/3 of HLS applicants who get clerkships do so after the semester starts

Also in my own defense, the advisors told me I was extremely competitive and that I had a good list (sigh...)

I had similar credentials (if you do the every H=0, P = -1, DS = +1 formula, I was right at 0) and took a D. Ct. clerkship in a city that’s not first tier (e.g. Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans). Imo you just gotta take what you can get unless you are OK holding out a few years if necessary

[Anonymous User]

Imo you just gotta take what you can get unless you are OK holding out a few years if necessary

Earlier top 5% CCN, struck-out anon here. Different school, so not exactly apples to apples, but have you heard actual success stories of people holding out a few years and landing a big one? I have a great firm job to fall back on in a city I love and pretty gunnery long-term career ambitions (possibly including academia, so unfortunately the pedigree really matters), so I've been of the mindset that I'd rather work a few years and try again than settle for a judge/location I'm not really excited about. So I'm very comfortable holding out... does it actually work though? I keep hearing about judges who like work experience, and I guess that must mean there are some highly qualified applicants who don't get a clerkship before graduation, but there's this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that if the fancy 2/9/DC judges weren't impressed with me now they won't be impressed with me two or three years from now.

[Anonymous User]

Imo you just gotta take what you can get unless you are OK holding out a few years if necessary

Earlier top 5% CCN, struck-out anon here. Different school, so not exactly apples to apples, but have you heard actual success stories of people holding out a few years and landing a big one? I have a great firm job to fall back on in a city I love and pretty gunnery long-term career ambitions (possibly including academia, so unfortunately the pedigree really matters), so I've been of the mindset that I'd rather work a few years and try again than settle for a judge/location I'm not really excited about. So I'm very comfortable holding out... does it actually work though? I keep hearing about judges who like work experience, and I guess that must mean there are some highly qualified applicants who don't get a clerkship before graduation, but there's this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that if the fancy 2/9/DC judges weren't impressed with me now they won't be impressed with me two or three years from now.

I have friends that landed DDC and CA7 with their second bite at the apple, though both were setting up double clerkships rather than applying for their first one. The trend on OSCAR seemed to be that DJs were the most likely to value work experience but conventional wisdom on here is that it also matters for CA2.

Also 2/9 is a pretty arbitrary category if what you want is raw prestige imo; there are very well-reputed judges in every circuit and plenty of ehh judges in 2 and 9, esp the latter. For example Easterbrook, Flaum, Posner, Sykes, and Diane Wood on 7 all have fairly successful/prominent young academics who clerked for them off the top of my head.

(Also if your CCN is Chicago, Strahilevitz sometimes sends applicants with very high grades who struggled unexpectedly to Easterbrook, who’s a great mentor for academia and an incredibly chill clerkship, so definitely apply to him).

[Anonymous User]

I know this isn’t 2021, but has anyone heard from Coughenour about 2022? I know they started reviewing applications (asked if I was still interested), but it’s been radio silence since last week.

[Anonymous User]

Imo you just gotta take what you can get unless you are OK holding out a few years if necessary

Earlier top 5% CCN, struck-out anon here. Different school, so not exactly apples to apples, but have you heard actual success stories of people holding out a few years and landing a big one? I have a great firm job to fall back on in a city I love and pretty gunnery long-term career ambitions (possibly including academia, so unfortunately the pedigree really matters), so I've been of the mindset that I'd rather work a few years and try again than settle for a judge/location I'm not really excited about. So I'm very comfortable holding out... does it actually work though? I keep hearing about judges who like work experience, and I guess that must mean there are some highly qualified applicants who don't get a clerkship before graduation, but there's this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that if the fancy 2/9/DC judges weren't impressed with me now they won't be impressed with me two or three years from now.

I have friends that landed DDC and CA7 with their second bite at the apple, though both were setting up double clerkships rather than applying for their first one. The trend on OSCAR seemed to be that DJs were the most likely to value work experience but conventional wisdom on here is that it also matters for CA2.

Also 2/9 is a pretty arbitrary category if what you want is raw prestige imo; there are very well-reputed judges in every circuit and plenty of ehh judges in 2 and 9, esp the latter. For example Easterbrook, Flaum, Posner, Sykes, and Diane Wood on 7 all have fairly successful/prominent young academics who clerked for them off the top of my head.

(Also if your CCN is Chicago, Strahilevitz sometimes sends applicants with very high grades who struggled unexpectedly to Easterbrook, who’s a great mentor for academia and an incredibly chill clerkship, so definitely apply to him).

One data point: I got a clerkship with a highly regarded (but not feeder) 2/9/DC judge that I applied for after graduation. Nearly all of this judge's hires have several years of legal work experience, careers before law school, and prior district court clerkships. I didn't even apply during law school so take this example with a grain of salt, but I am certain my results would have differed if I had--my work experience was an important factor in getting this one and in securing other interviews. True feeders may care about grades and calls to an extent that little else will matter, but there are plenty of great judges who will get you where you want to be who value work experience.

[Anonymous User]

Confirmations update

Newly confirmed: Mizelle (M.D. Fla)

Confirmations coming soon: Calabrese (N.D. Ohio), Taylor McNeel (S.D. Miss.)

Should be confirmed in the Trump presidency: Jongbloed (D. Conn.), Anelle-Rocha (C.D. Cal.), Matthews (S.D. Cal.), Togliatti (D. Nev.), Atchley (E.D. Tenn.), Crytzer (E.D. Tenn.), Dawson (D.S.C.), Kirsch (7th Cir.), Arias-Marxuach (1st Cir.)

And that's it. All others have been blocked by blue slips except for new nominees.

Of the district court nominees, notably attractive ones might include former biglaw partners Aenlle-Rocha, Calabrese, and Matthews and top AUSA Atchley. Crytzer and Mizelle are very young Fed Soc types (Mizelle has barely practiced law).

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard anything from the Mass. SJC? Haven't received a notification that hiring is complete, but also haven't heard anything. Not sure if interviewing has been pushed back due to COVID. Any insights?

A classmate and I both applied back in June and neither one of us have heard back (and we're both within our school's historic average ranking to get an SJC interview).

I also haven’t heard anything yet about interviews, but I did hear from a supervisor that Justice Ganta recently had a heart attack (don’t worry, he’s fine!). It might be that he still needs to complete his selections before the other justices get a look at the applications, since it goes in order of seniority. (No basis for this, just wishful thinking I guess.)

Bumping this Q. Anyone hear anything?

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard anything from the Mass. SJC? Haven't received a notification that hiring is complete, but also haven't heard anything. Not sure if interviewing has been pushed back due to COVID. Any insights?

A classmate and I both applied back in June and neither one of us have heard back (and we're both within our school's historic average ranking to get an SJC interview).

I also haven’t heard anything yet about interviews, but I did hear from a supervisor that Justice Ganta recently had a heart attack (don’t worry, he’s fine!). It might be that he still needs to complete his selections before the other justices get a look at the applications, since it goes in order of seniority. (No basis for this, just wishful thinking I guess.)

Bumping this Q. Anyone hear anything?

I also applied and haven’t heard anything. I was wondering if maybe hiring got pushed back after CJ Gants passed away — maybe they wanted to wait to hire/interview until the new CJ was appointed and confirmed. As I understand it, though, the new judge is in. Would be interested to know if anyone else heard anything or got contacted for an interview/offer.

[Anonymous User]

did anyone apply to the 4th circuit staff attorney position/have you heard anything?

[Anonymous User]

Any news on Chutkan for 2021? Her OSCAR hiring practices/chamber information was updated today. I received the early August check-in email (inquiring if I had secured another clerkship or was still interested), but have not heard anything since...

[Anonymous User]

I just got a form email asking if I was still interested in the 2021 position (the email said that 2022 had been filled)