Judicial Externship to Clerkship
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 5:30 pm
So, I'm in a bit of a dilemma.
I recently interviewed with a few clerks to extern for a judge in the Central District of California, for the summer of 2021. However, I've already accepted an offer as a Summer Associate at a V5 NYC firm. Externships for this judge are full time; I'm unable to split my summer between the V5 and the externship. I made the clerks aware of my situation and, while they both agreed I would be unable to participate in a summer externship, they would consider me for the Fall.
Here's where the problem(s) start.
1) Graduation Req
If I am selected for a Fall externship and it is in person, I would have to move to Los Angeles (I go to law school in Washington DC, but attended undergrad in LA). Because it is a full time position, I am unsure whether or not I would be able to take any classes at school (depending on whether or not my law school decides to hold in person classes or not). This is a problem for me because I am required to take PR and Evidence, in order to graduate. I could take both courses my 3L Spring semester year, but I'd really like to get the MPRE out of the way in the Fall. However, externships take up 13 credits at my school, and each one of these classes is 3 credits; I can't go over 15 credits without paying extra for classes.
2) GPA
Additionally, I'm trying to graduate with honors. I'm currently at a 3.59 and the cum laude cutoff is roughly a 3.75. I would essentially only get 1 semester to raise my GPA (not including my current semester) to raise my GPA to this level. However, my grades are not as set as because my second semester 1L grades were made pass/fail, which did not weight my numerical GPA.
3) Clerking
I want to clerk, specifically in the Central District of California. The two law clerks who I spoke with both had externed for the Judge I want to extern with. I believe that if I were to extern with this Judge, my chances of landing a clerkship in the Central District increase.
So these are my questions: Should i continue to pursue this externship? And, without having any judicial internships/externships on my resume, will I still have a chance at clerking?
I recently interviewed with a few clerks to extern for a judge in the Central District of California, for the summer of 2021. However, I've already accepted an offer as a Summer Associate at a V5 NYC firm. Externships for this judge are full time; I'm unable to split my summer between the V5 and the externship. I made the clerks aware of my situation and, while they both agreed I would be unable to participate in a summer externship, they would consider me for the Fall.
Here's where the problem(s) start.
1) Graduation Req
If I am selected for a Fall externship and it is in person, I would have to move to Los Angeles (I go to law school in Washington DC, but attended undergrad in LA). Because it is a full time position, I am unsure whether or not I would be able to take any classes at school (depending on whether or not my law school decides to hold in person classes or not). This is a problem for me because I am required to take PR and Evidence, in order to graduate. I could take both courses my 3L Spring semester year, but I'd really like to get the MPRE out of the way in the Fall. However, externships take up 13 credits at my school, and each one of these classes is 3 credits; I can't go over 15 credits without paying extra for classes.
2) GPA
Additionally, I'm trying to graduate with honors. I'm currently at a 3.59 and the cum laude cutoff is roughly a 3.75. I would essentially only get 1 semester to raise my GPA (not including my current semester) to raise my GPA to this level. However, my grades are not as set as because my second semester 1L grades were made pass/fail, which did not weight my numerical GPA.
3) Clerking
I want to clerk, specifically in the Central District of California. The two law clerks who I spoke with both had externed for the Judge I want to extern with. I believe that if I were to extern with this Judge, my chances of landing a clerkship in the Central District increase.
So these are my questions: Should i continue to pursue this externship? And, without having any judicial internships/externships on my resume, will I still have a chance at clerking?