What's it like to be approached by your clerkship office? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I attend a CCN and am certainly not a top contender for the more prestigious federal clerkships. That being said, I'm still curious: for those that have been approached by your clerkship offices, what are those conversations like? Anything you're willing to share about what you think contributed to the outreach (top grades, journal, relationships with faculty, diversity, etc.)?

[becodalapa]

Not at a CCN but I've been approached twice by the clerkship office at my T14. There's not much to it. The first time the head of the office sent me an email. The second time a member of the faculty clerkship committee got in touch asking if I wanted to discuss clerking.

It seems like it was based almost entirely on grades, because it seems like everyone I know who was in the top X% of our class and hasn't yet begun the clerkship process had the same experience. The specific faculty member that reached out volunteered to contact me specifically because I took a class with them and did well, but it seems like I would have gotten some form of outreach regardless of that connection.

The conversations are usually meant to gauge your interest in clerking, answer questions about clerking, etc. Pretty much what you'd expect. I'm not particularly interested but they were helpful conversations nonetheless.

[Anonymous User]

Concur with the previous poster. Attend a T-6. They reached out to gauge my interest in clerking, if I had specific geographic restrictions, and let me know they had connections with certain judges on circuits I had mentioned that they could channel my applications to directly if I was interested and could get my materials together quickly. They also asked about my current relationships with faculty members.

I never asked fellow students if they also received messages like that, but I suspect they called me because I had pretty high grades.

[Anonymous User]

I don't think individual shoulder-tapping really happens at Chicago outside of unusual cases--ones I've heard of/experienced involve specific judges asking for profs to recommend a clerk, in which case profs or the committee pick students who might be good fits to set up--because the assumption is everyone with high enough grades and interest will apply. But the conversations are similar to what's been described once you meet with the office. They ask about geography, which types of court, ideology, potential rec writers, etc., then help you form an app strategy and coordinate calls, etc. to try to get you a judge who they think would fit well with your goals.

And if you're applying for SCOTUS I think the Dean, who doesn't really teach or interact with students usually, might make some effort to get to know you so he can say something about you.

[Anonymous User]

I know my school keeps a list of people who are "serious" SCOTUS candidates (I assume it is current students and recent alumni). I was told by someone in our clerkship office that the list consists of about 20-30 people. I can't say much about being approached, as I was the one who approached the clerkship office.

[Anonymous User]

Not at a CCN but I've been approached twice by the clerkship office at my T14. There's not much to it. The first time the head of the office sent me an email. The second time a member of the faculty clerkship committee got in touch asking if I wanted to discuss clerking.

It seems like it was based almost entirely on grades, because it seems like everyone I know who was in the top X% of our class and hasn't yet begun the clerkship process had the same experience. The specific faculty member that reached out volunteered to contact me specifically because I took a class with them and did well, but it seems like I would have gotten some form of outreach regardless of that connection.

The conversations are usually meant to gauge your interest in clerking, answer questions about clerking, etc. Pretty much what you'd expect. I'm not particularly interested but they were helpful conversations nonetheless.

Can confirm this pretty much is what happens at UVA. They focus on the tippy-top people after 1L spring finals to try to get them all placed as quickly as possible, and then basically move down the GPA list during 2L year one at a time. Plenty of people not in that top group will get clerkships the summer after 1L on their own though, just without direct coaching from the faculty clerkship committee unless they aggressively seek it out.

If you are a SCOTUS candidate the clerkship committee will identify you early and steer you toward professors, classes, etc. They'll also reach out if you become a SCOTUS candidate late--I had a particularly strong 3L year and had a professor call a few days before graduation and told me if I wanted to go all-in on what would likely be a 1-in-50 shot they would help out.

[Anonymous User]

Not at a CCN but I've been approached twice by the clerkship office at my T14. There's not much to it. The first time the head of the office sent me an email. The second time a member of the faculty clerkship committee got in touch asking if I wanted to discuss clerking.

It seems like it was based almost entirely on grades, because it seems like everyone I know who was in the top X% of our class and hasn't yet begun the clerkship process had the same experience. The specific faculty member that reached out volunteered to contact me specifically because I took a class with them and did well, but it seems like I would have gotten some form of outreach regardless of that connection.

The conversations are usually meant to gauge your interest in clerking, answer questions about clerking, etc. Pretty much what you'd expect. I'm not particularly interested but they were helpful conversations nonetheless.

Can confirm this pretty much is what happens at UVA. They focus on the tippy-top people after 1L spring finals to try to get them all placed as quickly as possible, and then basically move down the GPA list during 2L year one at a time. Plenty of people not in that top group will get clerkships the summer after 1L on their own though, just without direct coaching from the faculty clerkship committee unless they aggressively seek it out.

If you are a SCOTUS candidate the clerkship committee will identify you early and steer you toward professors, classes, etc. They'll also reach out if you become a SCOTUS candidate late--I had a particularly strong 3L year and had a professor call a few days before graduation and told me if I wanted to go all-in on what would likely be a 1-in-50 shot they would help out.

And I wonder why Columbia doesn't have as many SCOTUS clerks as Virginia...

[Anonymous User]

I don't think individual shoulder-tapping really happens at Chicago outside of unusual cases--ones I've heard of/experienced involve specific judges asking for profs to recommend a clerk, in which case profs or the committee pick students who might be good fits to set up--because the assumption is everyone with high enough grades and interest will apply. But the conversations are similar to what's been described once you meet with the office. They ask about geography, which types of court, ideology, potential rec writers, etc., then help you form an app strategy and coordinate calls, etc. to try to get you a judge who they think would fit well with your goals.

And if you're applying for SCOTUS I think the Dean, who doesn't really teach or interact with students usually, might make some effort to get to know you so he can say something about you.

FWIW, I was "shoulder-tapped" as a K&E at Chicago a couple years ago, and I know that at least two other K&Es who did not have clerkships lined up early (i.e.: who weren't hardcore fedsoc members) were as well. After that there was some back-office maneuvering about which judges to push us for. And I will say that, having seen the other side, there is definite organization and institutional focus dedicated to Chicago's efforts to place students. Can't speak to SCOTUS.

[Anonymous User]

Not at a CCN but I've been approached twice by the clerkship office at my T14. There's not much to it. The first time the head of the office sent me an email. The second time a member of the faculty clerkship committee got in touch asking if I wanted to discuss clerking.

It seems like it was based almost entirely on grades, because it seems like everyone I know who was in the top X% of our class and hasn't yet begun the clerkship process had the same experience. The specific faculty member that reached out volunteered to contact me specifically because I took a class with them and did well, but it seems like I would have gotten some form of outreach regardless of that connection.

The conversations are usually meant to gauge your interest in clerking, answer questions about clerking, etc. Pretty much what you'd expect. I'm not particularly interested but they were helpful conversations nonetheless.

Can confirm this pretty much is what happens at UVA. They focus on the tippy-top people after 1L spring finals to try to get them all placed as quickly as possible, and then basically move down the GPA list during 2L year one at a time. Plenty of people not in that top group will get clerkships the summer after 1L on their own though, just without direct coaching from the faculty clerkship committee unless they aggressively seek it out.

If you are a SCOTUS candidate the clerkship committee will identify you early and steer you toward professors, classes, etc. They'll also reach out if you become a SCOTUS candidate late--I had a particularly strong 3L year and had a professor call a few days before graduation and told me if I wanted to go all-in on what would likely be a 1-in-50 shot they would help out.

Interesting, might this be partially responsible for UVA's conservative-heavy placements? It seems that your office basically tries to force the top students to apply off-plan

[Anonymous User]

Not at a CCN but I've been approached twice by the clerkship office at my T14. There's not much to it. The first time the head of the office sent me an email. The second time a member of the faculty clerkship committee got in touch asking if I wanted to discuss clerking.

It seems like it was based almost entirely on grades, because it seems like everyone I know who was in the top X% of our class and hasn't yet begun the clerkship process had the same experience. The specific faculty member that reached out volunteered to contact me specifically because I took a class with them and did well, but it seems like I would have gotten some form of outreach regardless of that connection.

The conversations are usually meant to gauge your interest in clerking, answer questions about clerking, etc. Pretty much what you'd expect. I'm not particularly interested but they were helpful conversations nonetheless.

Can confirm this pretty much is what happens at UVA. They focus on the tippy-top people after 1L spring finals to try to get them all placed as quickly as possible, and then basically move down the GPA list during 2L year one at a time. Plenty of people not in that top group will get clerkships the summer after 1L on their own though, just without direct coaching from the faculty clerkship committee unless they aggressively seek it out.

If you are a SCOTUS candidate the clerkship committee will identify you early and steer you toward professors, classes, etc. They'll also reach out if you become a SCOTUS candidate late--I had a particularly strong 3L year and had a professor call a few days before graduation and told me if I wanted to go all-in on what would likely be a 1-in-50 shot they would help out.

Interesting, might this be partially responsible for UVA's conservative-heavy placements? It seems that your office basically tries to force the top students to apply off-plan

I was at UVA in the mid-2010's, aka the peak of the wild-west system between Plan 1.0 and Plan 2.0, so everyone was applying off-plan then. Not sure if things are different now.

UVA overperforms with conservatives because of faculty relationships and because it's always drawn a larger number of conservative students than most other T14's, increasing the odds that several of them end up in the top 10 in any given year. The faculty and history of placing with conservative judges are probably responsible for UVA continuing to appeal to top conservative applicants who just miss out on HYS.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks for all of the detailed responses. UVA certainly seems to have a well-oiled machine that my CCN could learn from!