Parental leave/pregnancy during district clerkship Forum
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Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about clerkship applications and clerkship hiring. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
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Parental leave/pregnancy during district clerkship
Looking for anyone who has experience with either having a baby or being the partner of someone who had a baby during a one-year federal clerkship. I'm preparing to tell my judge that I am expecting and would love any insight from those who have already navigated this situation. I am already aware that, as far as I understand, I am not entitled to any leave benefits or job protection. Thanks in advance!
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Re: Parental leave/pregnancy during district clerkship
Congratulations! I have no first-hand experience but I know of clerks who've been pregnant/given birth while clerking. Sometimes, their judges have hired a temporary law clerk; other times, I've heard of a particularly productive co-clerk handling all of the work while their co-clerk was on leave. Since you're at the district court level, I'm assuming you have one, maybe two, co-clerks?clementine343 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 7:42 pmLooking for anyone who has experience with either having a baby or being the partner of someone who had a baby during a one-year federal clerkship. I'm preparing to tell my judge that I am expecting and would love any insight from those who have already navigated this situation. I am already aware that, as far as I understand, I am not entitled to any leave benefits or job protection. Thanks in advance!
Depending on your relationship with your judge, I'd go to them and offer some plan of action, e.g., I'm due on X date and anticipate needing Y amount of time on leave. I think your judge's response (i.e., whether to hire a temporary law clerk or just have your co-clerk(s) handle the work) will come down to where you are in your clerkship. If you just started recently, your judge might be more inclined to hire a temporary law clerk, for instance.
What's your relationship like with the JA? If you can trust them, I would ask them how to proceed.
Congrats again (both on the clerkship and your pregnancy)
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Re: Parental leave/pregnancy during district clerkship
Thank you for such an encouraging response! I have a two fantastic co-clerks, and it is generally a very supportive chambers. Approaching our JA first is a great idea, and will hopefully calm my nerves a bit before approaching my judge!Leif Erikson wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 1:35 pmCongratulations! I have no first-hand experience but I know of clerks who've been pregnant/given birth while clerking. Sometimes, their judges have hired a temporary law clerk; other times, I've heard of a particularly productive co-clerk handling all of the work while their co-clerk was on leave. Since you're at the district court level, I'm assuming you have one, maybe two, co-clerks?clementine343 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 7:42 pmLooking for anyone who has experience with either having a baby or being the partner of someone who had a baby during a one-year federal clerkship. I'm preparing to tell my judge that I am expecting and would love any insight from those who have already navigated this situation. I am already aware that, as far as I understand, I am not entitled to any leave benefits or job protection. Thanks in advance!
Depending on your relationship with your judge, I'd go to them and offer some plan of action, e.g., I'm due on X date and anticipate needing Y amount of time on leave. I think your judge's response (i.e., whether to hire a temporary law clerk or just have your co-clerk(s) handle the work) will come down to where you are in your clerkship. If you just started recently, your judge might be more inclined to hire a temporary law clerk, for instance.
What's your relationship like with the JA? If you can trust them, I would ask them how to proceed.
Congrats again (both on the clerkship and your pregnancy)
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Re: Parental leave/pregnancy during district clerkship
Thought I should provide an update in case any women come across this post in the future. I received an overall positive response from my judge, who expressed that there is likely a way for someone to fill in for me while I take some leave. I may also be able to extend my end date to make up for any leave taken. Please feel free to PM me if this is a situation you find yourself in, and I am happy to share more.
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Re: Parental leave/pregnancy during district clerkship
That's great! A clerk on EDNY with me was in your position and she found a friend who filled in for her during her leave. (Found the article: https://abovethelaw.com/2018/07/revolut ... clerkship/) So people have done it and I have tremendous respect for those doing it because a lot of judges are still insane about leaves and the only way the culture will change is to show that the world won't fall apart if someone takes a leave. Thanks for being on the forefront!clementine343 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 08, 2021 11:57 amThought I should provide an update in case any women come across this post in the future. I received an overall positive response from my judge, who expressed that there is likely a way for someone to fill in for me while I take some leave. I may also be able to extend my end date to make up for any leave taken. Please feel free to PM me if this is a situation you find yourself in, and I am happy to share more.
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