Chance me for District Court Clerkships (unimpressive candidate) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all, hope these types of posts are not against the rules.

I wanted to see if you guys think I have any chance at landing a clerkship with a federal district court judge (not applying magistrate or COA). I'm planning on mass-mailing and have 150+ judges on my list already that range from medium to low desirability in location/district relative to other judges. Most are in states to which I have geographic/alma mater ties. I want to clerk primarily for the experience/training rather than boosting my prestige/getting a job. My current plan is to apply now, and, if I come up dry, to reapply a few years into my career.

Quick facts:
-2L at a T14-25 law school.
-GPA within range of top 30-45%, higher grades are in legal writing courses
-1L summer job was biglaw.
-2L summer job with biglaw in major market with federal litigation practice group lined up.
-Leadership roles and demonstrated commitment to community service.
-Law school experiential learning and interesting pre-law work experience on resume.
-Moot Court + Secondary Journal.
-3 fairly prestigious faculty recommenders who I've worked closely with.

My weakest point is obviously my GPA. Should I expect complete silence or is there some hope of a couple interviews?

[Anonymous User]

Hi all, hope these types of posts are not against the rules.

I wanted to see if you guys think I have any chance at landing a clerkship with a federal district court judge (not applying magistrate or COA). I'm planning on mass-mailing and have 150+ judges on my list already that range from medium to low desirability in location/district relative to other judges. Most are in states to which I have geographic/alma mater ties. I want to clerk primarily for the experience/training rather than boosting my prestige/getting a job. My current plan is to apply now, and, if I come up dry, to reapply a few years into my career.

Quick facts:
-2L at a T14-25 law school.
-GPA within range of top 30-45%, higher grades are in legal writing courses
-1L summer job was biglaw.
-2L summer job with biglaw in major market with federal litigation practice group lined up.
-Leadership roles and demonstrated commitment to community service.
-Law school experiential learning and interesting pre-law work experience on resume.
-Moot Court + Secondary Journal.
-3 fairly prestigious faculty recommenders who I've worked closely with.

My weakest point is obviously my GPA. Should I expect complete silence or is there some hope of a couple interviews?

district/COA clerk from Y/S here. if your recommenders are willing, definitely have them call some of your top-choice judges and advocate for you. hopefully, that will get you an interview. sounds like you're geographically flexible, but also consider the importance of your judge's ideology (i.e., do you care if you and your judge agree on things?).

for what it's worth, you might not be getting a lot of feedback on this thread because T14-T25 is pretty broad, which makes predictions a bit more difficult.

[namefromplace]

Yeah there isn't harm in mass-mailing but it seems unlikely to net you a clerkship. Talk with your faculty connections about possible options and look at judges who have taken clerks from your LS in the past. I have colleagues with similar/lower credentials than you who have gotten D. Ct. interviews from leveraging those connections. On paper you won't stand out much, but it is feasible to get out of the pile.

[Anonymous User]

Former clerk from a school in the same range here. Your approach is pretty good, although I think you might need to apply more broadly and be more aggressive about it. There's only so much we can predict from your stats; a lot of clerkships are really just luck and connections for those of us who are not at the top top schools. I know that isn't super helpful, but just don't give up and apply broadly.

[stoopkid13]

If you really only care about the training/experience, and not the prestige, I would reconsider limiting yourself to district judges, and also apply to magistrates. In many districts, the work is basically the same (except that magistrates never do felony trials).

[Anonymous User]

"If you really only care about the training/experience, and not the prestige, I would reconsider limiting yourself to district judges, and also apply to magistrates. In many districts, the work is basically the same (except that magistrates never do felony trials)."

Definitely worth confirming that this is true for the particular district to which you're applying. In the district in which I clerked, the magistrate judges handled almost no motions for summary judgment, motions to dismiss, etc. Many had never had a jury trial, while a couple had a single slip-and-fall trial while I was there. They mainly handled discovery disputes and social security cases. The MJ law clerks had very different experiences than the DJ law clerks.