Applying to consecutive clerkship terms Forum

[econfanatic]

I am a 2L looking to clerk at the district and appellate levels in consecutive terms immediately following graduation. Does anyone have any advice on application strategies? I know I could just apply to one now—and if I lock one up—apply to the other next cycle, but I'd really love to land both now if possible.

My thought was to apply mostly to district court judges for the '22-'23 term and mostly to appellate court judges for the term after. But this seems limiting. Does it make sense to apply broadly to district court and appellate court judges in both terms to maximize the opportunity to mix-and-match down the road? For context, I'm roughly magna at H/S.

Relatedly: what is this back-to-back clerking typically referred to? Have been trying to search for similar discussions, but my keywords are failing me. I've seen "double clerking," but that's it.

[Anonymous User]

I am a 2L looking to clerk at the district and appellate levels in consecutive terms immediately following graduation. Does anyone have any advice on application strategies? I know I could just apply to one now—and if I lock one up—apply to the other next cycle, but I'd really love to land both now if possible.

My thought was to apply mostly to district court judges for the '22-'23 term and mostly to appellate court judges for the term after. But this seems limiting. Does it make sense to apply broadly to district court and appellate court judges in both terms to maximize the opportunity to mix-and-match down the road? For context, I'm roughly magna at H/S.

Relatedly: what is this back-to-back clerking typically referred to? Have been trying to search for similar discussions, but my keywords are failing me. I've seen "double clerking," but that's it.

Y/S grad currently clerking on district court and then COA once I finish this up. Not sure how helpful I'll be since I don't understand all of the nuances of the plan. But I'm not sure it's much more complicated than figuring out which district court judges have openings in 2022, and then seeing which appellate judges have openings for 2023. Sounds like you'd be a competitive candidate, but if you didn't get any bites early on, then yeah, why not mix-and-match down the road and see what you get.

What you're describing is a very common approach to clerkship applications. I'm not really sure there's any real terminology. I usually just say, "I'm clerking for X district court judge now, and then I'll be clerking for X circuit-court judge in the fall."

[Anonymous User]

I will do this (I'd call it "double clerking" fwiw) and just applied to all district and circuit judges I was interested in regardless of year and hoped I could figure something out, which I luckily was able to. Once I got the first, a COA, my judge helped me with district court apps with their friends on the trial bench. Limiting your apps is dangerous, the process is pretty random and the more shots you have the better your odds are, so I would just apply everywhere for every term you'd be willing to work in.

My biggest mistake was limiting apps too much to district courts fwiw--I had similar grades to you and just hit DDC, SDNY, NDIL, etc. plus ones near my flyover home state and didn't have any bites until my judge helped out even though I did well with COAs. I wouldn't assume major-city districts are any easier than COAs, especially before you have work experience. And outside of major cities many judges are very tie-sensitive, though your school probably has some judges that hire regularly from it regardless of ties.

[namefromplace]

Unless you have a very strong preference in doing D. Ct. before COA, I'd apply broadly to both for both years. With your stats you'll likely get bites on-plan the week it allows judges to start moving, and if for whatever reason you only end up with offers for one kind of court for both years, it's fine to decline an offer for a clerkship by saying that you've accepted another clerkship for another year.

[Anonymous User]

Unless you have a very strong preference in doing D. Ct. before COA, I'd apply broadly to both for both years. With your stats you'll likely get bites on-plan the week it allows judges to start moving, and if for whatever reason you only end up with offers for one kind of court for both years, it's fine to decline an offer for a clerkship by saying that you've accepted another clerkship for another year.

Thanks, all, for the replies. This is very helpful, and I agree about applying to both levels in both years.

Is there prevailing wisdom on how important it is to apply very broadly in the first batch of applications? Or will there still be "competitive" openings in the weeks/months after June 14th (such that I can stagger my submissions?). Above anon's anecdote about his/her COA judge helping with the D. Ct. clerkship seems to cut both ways.

I am committed to blanket-applying the most competitive districts/circuits: SDNY/EDNY/DDC/NDCA/CDCA etc. + 2/9/DC. I believe my grades at least put me in the running for all but the feeder judges, but without post-law school work experience, I am not confident about my prospects.

Should be expanding to EDVA/EDPA/NDIL + 1st/3rd + etc. from the get-go? I probably value clerking immediately over clerking for the most prestigious judges.

Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Unless you have a very strong reason not to, you definitely should apply beyond 2/9/DC, all 12 circuits if you can. Circuit prestige has only a rough correlation with competitiveness/reputation, there are tons of high-end judges on any metric outside of those circuits. And even beyond that I think based on your questions you are probably significantly overestimating your competitiveness and underestimating the competitiveness of those circuits. Being competitive for 2/9/DC in no way means you're so likely to get a spot clerking on them that you don't need to apply elsewhere.

Judges may or may not look at apps submitted after the Plan day. None of mine submitted after got any bites. I don't think you should be too worried about it because generally the most "prestigious" judges seem to move the fastest anyway.

For district courts, I would strongly consider proximity to where you want to live/practice when applying. I'm not sure that aiming for raw competitiveness makes sense beyond SDNY and DDC, and it certainly doesn't beyond the EDVA/NDIL/NDCA/EDNY tier. Not many districts are "brand name." And again, there are some very competitive judges in the middle of nowhere--Myron Thompson is a good example. NDIL and EDVA (especially in Arlington) are generally considered more competitive than CDCA or EDPA fwiw.