current MJ clerk - worth clerking with DJ after? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am currently clerking with an MJ in a middle-of-nowhere federal district. It is a two-year clerkship. I have some litigation experience from a couple years in legal aid prior to clerking, and went to a T14, but my grades were nothing special. I want to work for the federal government afterwards, hopefully something like CFPB or DOL, or maybe a state AG doing civil enforcement work. Given these stats and these goals, would it be worth it to clerk again, with a DJ, in a region I don't want to work afterwards?

Let me know if there's any other info that would be helpful...

[Anonymous User]

I am currently clerking with an MJ in a middle-of-nowhere federal district. It is a two-year clerkship. I have some litigation experience from a couple years in legal aid prior to clerking, and went to a T14, but my grades were nothing special. I want to work for the federal government afterwards, hopefully something like CFPB or DOL, or maybe a state AG doing civil enforcement work. Given these stats and these goals, would it be worth it to clerk again, with a DJ, in a region I don't want to work afterwards?

Let me know if there's any other info that would be helpful...

I clerked for a magistrate judge in the Southern District of New York and struggled to find private sector employment afterward. But you say you're interested in government work.

I think, given your substantial work experience before clerking, you shouldn't need to clerk again, as you are basically and generally qualified for government positions, which tend to like as much experience as possible.

[Anonymous User]

Eh, I’m not sure that 2 years legal aid and 2 years MJ clerkship necessarily transfer directly to CFPB and DOL or constitute enough experience to be completely qualified. The other issue is that you can’t know when there will be openings, so you might be qualified but not able to get hired for a bit.

For fedgov positions, a DCt clerkship will probably be helpful, and it doesn’t have to be local to where you want to work to help. For state AG civil enforcement, I think that more practice experience in that state and networking would be more helpful.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for your responses! I should clarify that I spent 4 years working in legal aid, and prior to that I had some nonsense nonlitigating 1-year fellowship in international law (it was almost academic).