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Hi all,

Could anyone elaborate on the pros and cons about clerking one year after big law practice? (Federal district or appellate). It’s something I’m interested in, but I’m not totally fond of the idea of moving to a major market for a few months to practice and then going somewhere to clerk.

Probably the biggest pro is that there are some judges who strongly prefer candidates with work experience, so you tend to be a stronger candidate and may have options you wouldn't have had straight out of school. You may also get a little more out of the clerkship by having the practice experience first, because you know a little bit more about how it compares to practice (though I think this is fairly minor). If you want to change firms, it gives you kind of a natural opportunity to do so.

Cons are what you identified - it doesn't have to, but often will involve moving a lot. You'll take a big pay cut for a year, which may be a little tougher psychologically than clerking straight out. Others will have to comment more directly about how it can affect your experience at your firm before/after the clerkship - not sure about that.

purplegoldtornado wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 21, 2021 12:42 pm

Hi all,

Could anyone elaborate on the pros and cons about clerking one year after big law practice? (Federal district or appellate). It’s something I’m interested in, but I’m not totally fond of the idea of moving to a major market for a few months to practice and then going somewhere to clerk.

I’m clerking now after two years in biglaw. The pros/cons are pretty personal. For me, I knew I wanted to clerk; also, moving, though stressful, presented the opportunity to explore new cities, so I found that appealing.

I also realized that I wasn’t interested in my practice area at my biglaw firm, so I saw clerking as a way to transition to a different practice group for my post-clerkship job search.

I’m happy to keep discussing, but I’d be curious to know why you want to clerk/how satisfied you are with your current job, etc.