Fall 2021 Post-Clerkship Hiring Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have any idea which firms in NY are actually hiring/accepting applications still? My old firm told me last month that they're not bringing me back, and I'm getting pretty damn nervous over here. Besides a few immediate dings, I've mostly just been getting complete radio silence.

https://www.steptoe.com/en/careers/lawy ... ities.html

They have been very aggressively marketing the junior complex commercial/white collar position for months on LinkedIn. I mean, they keep reposting the position every few days to make it seem as if it just opened up. I have no idea who they're looking for, but you might be it.

[Anonymous User]

Any movement lately?

[Anonymous User]

Bump. Any success stories out there? All I've had is dings on the papers every now and then, mostly radio silence.

[Anonymous User]

Bump. Any success stories out there? All I've had is dings on the papers every now and then, mostly radio silence.

Probably not what you're looking for, but all the SDNY/DE bankruptcy clerks that I know of were hired as of a month ago

[Anonymous User]

Do people who clerk typically not return to the firm they summered at? Or were those offers revoked due to COVID? I just accepted a clerkship for immediately after graduation and this thread is scaring the hell out of me.

[moxcoal]

Do people who clerk typically not return to the firm they summered at? Or were those offers revoked due to COVID? I just accepted a clerkship for immediately after graduation and this thread is scaring the hell out of me.

I haven’t heard of anyone having their offer revoked while clerking this past year. There’s just a lot of firm/job-switching that happens after clerking. Admittedly, it does sound like it was a bit harder for people to make those moves this cycle. But the clerks I personally know all ended up with jobs albeit later

[Anonymous User]

Do people who clerk typically not return to the firm they summered at? Or were those offers revoked due to COVID? I just accepted a clerkship for immediately after graduation and this thread is scaring the hell out of me.

I haven’t heard of anyone having their offer revoked while clerking this past year. There’s just a lot of firm/job-switching that happens after clerking. Admittedly, it does sound like it was a bit harder for people to make those moves this cycle. But the clerks I personally know all ended up with jobs albeit later

For what it's worth, I do know someone who worked at a firm for a few years, went to clerk, and the firm revoked their offer to return due to COVID.

[Anonymous User]

Do people who clerk typically not return to the firm they summered at? Or were those offers revoked due to COVID? I just accepted a clerkship for immediately after graduation and this thread is scaring the hell out of me.

I haven’t heard of anyone having their offer revoked while clerking this past year. There’s just a lot of firm/job-switching that happens after clerking. Admittedly, it does sound like it was a bit harder for people to make those moves this cycle. But the clerks I personally know all ended up with jobs albeit later

For what it's worth, I do know someone who worked at a firm for a few years, went to clerk, and the firm revoked their offer to return due to COVID.

For additional context, during the 2020 cycle my vault-ranked firm revoked offers to its clerks, including those clerking right after law school. I know other firms that followed suit during the heart of the pandemic, although many more honored their offers (even if delaying start dates). But for this cycle, many firms (including mine), are honoring their offers as usual.

[JorgeMichael]

Anyone have information on post-clerkship hiring for folks who clerked as biglaw midlevels (3rd-5th years)? Will be clerking in SDNY, no idea if I’m screwed post-clerkship (kinda hoping not lol).

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have information on post-clerkship hiring for folks who clerked as biglaw midlevels (3rd-5th years)? Will be clerking in SDNY, no idea if I’m screwed post-clerkship (kinda hoping not lol).

I know several midlevels that clerked in SDNY – most went back to their pre-clerkship firm, several lateralled to Quinn, the rest went to small or mid-sized firms or government. The market for post-clerkship midlevels is tough. I'd recommend applying early.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have information on post-clerkship hiring for folks who clerked as biglaw midlevels (3rd-5th years)? Will be clerking in SDNY, no idea if I’m screwed post-clerkship (kinda hoping not lol).

I know several midlevels that clerked in SDNY – most went back to their pre-clerkship firm, several lateralled to Quinn, the rest went to small or mid-sized firms or government. The market for post-clerkship midlevels is tough. I'd recommend applying early.

how early is early?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have information on post-clerkship hiring for folks who clerked as biglaw midlevels (3rd-5th years)? Will be clerking in SDNY, no idea if I’m screwed post-clerkship (kinda hoping not lol).

I know several midlevels that clerked in SDNY – most went back to their pre-clerkship firm, several lateralled to Quinn, the rest went to small or mid-sized firms or government. The market for post-clerkship midlevels is tough. I'd recommend applying early.

how early is early?

quoted anon here. I'm also curious about post-clerkship hiring in DC specifically.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have information on post-clerkship hiring for folks who clerked as biglaw midlevels (3rd-5th years)? Will be clerking in SDNY, no idea if I’m screwed post-clerkship (kinda hoping not lol).

I know several midlevels that clerked in SDNY – most went back to their pre-clerkship firm, several lateralled to Quinn, the rest went to small or mid-sized firms or government. The market for post-clerkship midlevels is tough. I'd recommend applying early.

how early is early?

quoted anon here. I'm also curious about post-clerkship hiring in DC specifically.

I wrote that comment re: post-clerkship midlevel recruiting. Early means right after Thanksgiving or earlier to the super selective boutiques, especially if you have a connection there.

[Anonymous User]

Coming off of two clerkships. I haven't interviewed for anything in like four years. Other than background/resume questions, what kinds of questions have people been asked? Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Coming off of two clerkships. I haven't interviewed for anything in like four years. Other than background/resume questions, what kinds of questions have people been asked? Thanks!

You need to be able to speak intelligently about what you did as a clerk, cases you worked on, issues you found difficult/interesting/etc. It's good to be able to speak in some detail about at least one case that has some broad appeal or is relevant to the practice area you are targeting. A lot of my interviews involved people trying to get the inside scoop or gossip on what was happening on the court and me gently deflecting.

[Anonymous User]

A little early to the party but...I recently started a clerkship in a major city (not NY or DC) and just learned my Judge wont let his clerks apply for jobs until June. Luckily I have an offer from my pre-clerkship firm, but I was hoping to look elsewhere as the firm doesn't have enough work in the practice area I want to specialize in. Am I screwed?

[Anonymous User]

A little early to the party but...I recently started a clerkship in a major city (not NY or DC) and just learned my Judge wont let his clerks apply for jobs until June. Luckily I have an offer from my pre-clerkship firm, but I was hoping to look elsewhere as the firm doesn't have enough work in the practice area I want to specialize in. Am I screwed?

Might want to start a 2022 thread. It's not that early to start thinking about applications, though it is early to start sending them out.

To answer your actual question: my firm hires almost exclusively clerks and our hiring cycle does last through June, though that is on the (very) late end of things. So I don't think you are 100% screwed. But it absolutely makes it more difficult. We pretty much never run out of "space" because we just need way more people. But I don't think that is typical, based on my own experience in the postclerkship market; I did most of my applying in late Jan/early Feb and even then I got some "thanks for the application, we'd love to interview you but we're done hiring for this cycle, keep in touch if you're looking to make a move later" messages (mostly at very small boutiques) or just straight-up ghosts from places I was otherwise competitive for, though of course some of those would just be regular dings anyway.

[Anonymous User]

I know things looked a little bleak for some people, was wondering if people could check back in.