2021-2022 Clerkship Application Thread

[Anonymous User]

Anon because I attend Columbia. But wow, according to this blog tracking which schools place the most recent grads into clerkships Columbia is doing worse than U. Montana, Georgia, and the University of Mississippi....

I always take those things with a grain of salt because they look at percentage of students going directly into clerkships. The vast majority of my CLS classmates with clerkships are doing them a year or two post-grad. I think so many CLS grads have big law money coming, there’s less rush to jump into clerking/so many people think “I’ll do it after a few years of money”

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

Anon because I attend Columbia. But wow, according to this blog tracking which schools place the most recent grads into clerkships Columbia is doing worse than U. Montana, Georgia, and the University of Mississippi....

I always take those things with a grain of salt because they look at percentage of students going directly into clerkships. The vast majority of my CLS classmates with clerkships are doing them a year or two post-grad. I think so many CLS grads have big law money coming, there’s less rush to jump into clerking/so many people think “I’ll do it after a few years of money”

I feel this is true, but is not the only factor behind CLS having comparatively poor clerkship numbers. I suspect the biggest issue is a relative lack of "connected" professors. I could also see a lot of students saying they will take the biglaw money for a year or two then getting sucked into the lifestyle and never clerking.

[Anonymous User]

Kennelly rejection email sent out. He said he received 750 applications for 2 positions which definitely sheds some light on this process.

[Anonymous User]

Kennelly rejection email sent out. He said he received 750 applications for 2 positions which definitely sheds some light on this process.

!!!!!

[Anonymous User]

Hamilton's done per form email.

[Anonymous User]

Anon because I attend Columbia. But wow, according to this blog tracking which schools place the most recent grads into clerkships Columbia is doing worse than U. Montana, Georgia, and the University of Mississippi....

I always take those things with a grain of salt because they look at percentage of students going directly into clerkships. The vast majority of my CLS classmates with clerkships are doing them a year or two post-grad. I think so many CLS grads have big law money coming, there’s less rush to jump into clerking/so many people think “I’ll do it after a few years of money”

This is definitely true; based on the alumni clerkship info sent out by the clerkship office, as of March, the number of clerkships for the class of 2018 was about double that of the class of 2020, and 2019 was almost smack in the middle. That looks to me like a clear trend where many CLS people are getting their clerkships after hitting practice.

BUT It is also just about the local opportunities, at least for these lists measuring % going directly into a clerkship. Many CLS students are targeting SDNY/EDNY/2nd, and this is historically where the biggest chunk of alums end up. For example, by my count 60-70% of C/O 2018 district clerkships were/are SDNY/EDNY.

Many judges on those courts are only hiring multiple years out, and this was probably even moreso the case during the Plan interregnum, when these numbers would be generated. So even for folks getting their clerkships during 2L, they aren't going directly there. That's why NYU typically also doesn't come out very high on these "recent grads w/ clerkship" lists. Not sure if district courts in Montana and Georgia are hiring as aggressively for future terms, so the flagship state schools are able to place their folks in the immediate terms.

[Anonymous User]

Has anybody that’s accepted an offer got any sort of confirmation or employment contract or whatnot?

Call me paranoid, but I accepted an offer last week and haven’t heard anything after the initial acceptance call. I realize this is probably just me being in shock that I actually got one lol

Congratulations! While this is a world's tiniest violin kind of problem, it is unfortunately all too common. I have done federal clerkships at all three levels, and I did not get formal confirmation immediately afterwards for *any* of the three (as you can imagine, not having formal confirmation for the highest of the three was especially "did this actually happen???"-inducing!).

My suggestion? If one needs reassurance it was not all a dream, it is not hard to come up with a *good* reason to call chambers, (re)introduce oneself to the JA as a clerk hired for [term X], and ask your question. I found doing so gave me the reassurance I needed in the period between being hired and HR rolling into action a few months before the jobs began.

(And unfortunately, while some judges/courts/chambers send formal confirmation paperwork, it is not standard practice across the federal judiciary, so I found the telephone trick went 95% of the way to alleviating my overactive brain.)

[Anonymous User]

David Hamilton's full. I think he was much faster than he usually is; maybe virtual interviewing is speeding things up.

[Anonymous User]

Is that just OSCAR based apps or does that count the entire FedSoc board?

Are they all law review people or have CLS students from secondary journals gotten offers too?

One data point: I'm at CLS, got an offer, non-FedSoc, secondary journal.

[Anonymous User]

Ellison (S.D. Tex) is full--says he got more than 450 applicants.

[Anonymous User]

Anon because I attend Columbia. But wow, according to this blog tracking which schools place the most recent grads into clerkships Columbia is doing worse than U. Montana, Georgia, and the University of Mississippi....

I always take those things with a grain of salt because they look at percentage of students going directly into clerkships. The vast majority of my CLS classmates with clerkships are doing them a year or two post-grad. I think so many CLS grads have big law money coming, there’s less rush to jump into clerking/so many people think “I’ll do it after a few years of money”

I feel this is true, but is not the only factor behind CLS having comparatively poor clerkship numbers. I suspect the biggest issue is a relative lack of "connected" professors. I could also see a lot of students saying they will take the biglaw money for a year or two then getting sucked into the lifestyle and never clerking.

Professors are connected, but only to the 2nd Circuit/SDNY/EDNY, which isn't great if you aren't Kent. Unlike Chicago, which has random connections everyone in the nation, CLS is so centralized in the most competitive market. Having a non-existent clerkship office for 2 decades also hurt us all.

[Anonymous User]

Is that just OSCAR based apps or does that count the entire FedSoc board?

Are they all law review people or have CLS students from secondary journals gotten offers too?

One data point: I'm at CLS, got an offer, non-FedSoc, secondary journal.

Congrats! Mind saying which geographic area?

[Anonymous User]

Ellison (S.D. Tex) is full--says he got more than 450 applicants.

Ellison sent the nicest rejection email ever. I'm not even mad.

[Anonymous User]

Congrats! Mind saying which geographic area?

Not local.

[Anonymous User]

How many applicants do district judges normally get?

[Anonymous User]

Data Point: FedSoc board, non CLS T14. Nothing.

[Wild Card]

Ellison (S.D. Tex) is full--says he got more than 450 applicants.

Ellison sent the nicest rejection email ever. I'm not even mad.

Right, I'm discomfited that he posted the position, skimmed 450 apps, and filled it in a week.

This makes me think of chicanery in the federal government. They have someone in mind whom they want to promote, but have to put out a ad for some reason. Then again, it's conceivable that he just pulled all the YLS apps and the top 5% apps from UT and found one or two people whom he liked among that bunch.

[Anonymous User]

Ellison (S.D. Tex) is full--says he got more than 450 applicants.

Ellison sent the nicest rejection email ever. I'm not even mad.

Right, I'm discomfited that he posted the position, skimmed 450 apps, and filled it in a week.

This makes me think of chicanery in the federal government. They have someone in mind whom they want to promote, but have to put out a ad for some reason. Then again, it's conceivable that he just pulled all the YLS apps and the top 5% apps from UT and found one or two people whom he liked among that bunch.

I mean most appellate judges probably get more and move faster. A judge and four clerks can probably knock out a first cut from 450 apps in a day especially when the judge is highly grade-selective.

[Anonymous User]

what do people know about SDFL interviews/offers?

[nixy]

Ellison (S.D. Tex) is full--says he got more than 450 applicants.

Ellison sent the nicest rejection email ever. I'm not even mad.

Right, I'm discomfited that he posted the position, skimmed 450 apps, and filled it in a week.

This makes me think of chicanery in the federal government. They have someone in mind whom they want to promote, but have to put out a ad for some reason. Then again, it's conceivable that he just pulled all the YLS apps and the top 5% apps from UT and found one or two people whom he liked among that bunch.

I mean of course you’re going to winnow down 450 apps by some kind of school/grades combo. Frankly it doesn’t take long to look at a resume, see the school and GPA, and even glance at the experience before putting it in a pile. There’s a lot of stuff saying that employers/recruiters outside the legal industry don’t spend more than 7 seconds reading a resume; you can get through the initial cut pretty quickly, especially if clerks divide up the pile rather than everyone reading all of them. It’s not a great process from the applicant’s point of view but it doesn’t mean they had a candidate lined up already (which the government doesn’t particularly do either).

[Anonymous User]

Ellison (S.D. Tex) is full--says he got more than 450 applicants.

Ellison sent the nicest rejection email ever. I'm not even mad.

As someone who didn't apply to Ellison, could anyone else put his rejection email here? I feel like we're all in need of it these days

[Anonymous User]

Ellison (S.D. Tex) is full--says he got more than 450 applicants.

Ellison sent the nicest rejection email ever. I'm not even mad.

As someone who didn't apply to Ellison, could anyone else put his rejection email here? I feel like we're all in need of it these days

I am writing to let you know that I have concluded clerkship hiring for the 2021 – 22 term. Each year at this time, I keenly regret the process that we have. Our chambers had more than 450 applications reach us, and I found it impossible fairly to consider the merits of each of them. In normal years, I get to meet only a few of the applicants, and this year – because of the pandemic – I met none.

I do remain available to speak with any of you about clerkship opportunities. And, if any of you find yourselves in downtown Houston with time to spare, I hope you will stop by to see us on the third floor of the federal courthouse. No appointment is necessary and we always have refreshments on hand.

For now, I extend best wishes for careers of satisfaction and justice.

[Anonymous User]

Ellison (S.D. Tex) is full--says he got more than 450 applicants.

Ellison sent the nicest rejection email ever. I'm not even mad.

As someone who didn't apply to Ellison, could anyone else put his rejection email here? I feel like we're all in need of it these days

In the category of nice rejections, I’m skeptical anything can top Williams & Connolly’s ultra-classy personalized notes from the interviewer on paper stationary that they send out at OCI.

[Anonymous User]

Any EDNY updates this week? Or are they all done?