Florida clerkship market? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Interested in any insight about the clerkship market in Florida, including:
- Information about judges' preferences
- Information about what stats are necessary to make an in-state law student (from UF Law, for example) competitive
- Any nuances of the various districts (i.e., does the northern district prefer people from the area? Does the southern district prefer clerks with post-law school work experience? etc.)

[Anonymous User]

Interested in any insight about the clerkship market in Florida, including:
- Information about judges' preferences
- Information about what stats are necessary to make an in-state law student (from UF Law, for example) competitive
- Any nuances of the various districts (i.e., does the northern district prefer people from the area? Does the southern district prefer clerks with post-law school work experience? etc.)

No knowledge regarding Florida judges specifically but thought I'd give some thoughts.

As to your first and third bullets, the nuances tend to be that of the various judges, more than of a particular district or circuit. I can't speak at all to specific judges in Florida--maybe look at the Eleventh Circuit thread for more info.

As to your second point, in general, I'd imagine a law student who went to UF Law and did well (law review membership would be a plus) would have a very good chance of getting a district court clerkship, for example.

Any more info you provide on your background and goals would be helpful for a more tailored response.

[Anonymous User]

Interested in any insight about the clerkship market in Florida, including:
- Information about judges' preferences
- Information about what stats are necessary to make an in-state law student (from UF Law, for example) competitive
- Any nuances of the various districts (i.e., does the northern district prefer people from the area? Does the southern district prefer clerks with post-law school work experience? etc.)

No knowledge regarding Florida judges specifically but thought I'd give some thoughts.

As to your first and third bullets, the nuances tend to be that of the various judges, more than of a particular district or circuit. I can't speak at all to specific judges in Florida--maybe look at the Eleventh Circuit thread for more info.

As to your second point, in general, I'd imagine a law student who went to UF Law and did well (law review membership would be a plus) would have a very good chance of getting a district court clerkship, for example.

Any more info you provide on your background and goals would be helpful for a more tailored response.

Former N.D. Fla. clerk here. Given that its a small court, i'm going to stay fairly high-level to avoid outing myself and thus won't respond to the first question.

As to the third question, from my view, N.D. Fla. uniquely attracts two types of candidates. The first are those that want to be in Tallahassee and deal with the constitutional issues that necessarily result from being in the capital. A necessary evil of those (admittedly cool) cases is that you also get an abnormally large number of (admittedly boring) employment discrimination type cases. My view was that its worth it--due in large part to the fact that you'll get a bunch of discrimination-type cases in pretty much any district court in the nation, save a handful. The second are those that either want to stay in the panhandle or have some direct tie there (whether that's family, attending school there, etc.). These are obviously not mutually exclusive.

As for your second question, you'll need strong credentials from any in-state school. Although I cannot speak to the hiring practices of the entire district, for a UF law or FSU law student, my judge would've wanted to see something around top 10% and law review for the applicant to be a serious candidate. YMMV though from judge to judge and from hiring cycle to hiring cycle.

[Anonymous User]

Interested in any insight about the clerkship market in Florida, including:
- Information about judges' preferences
- Information about what stats are necessary to make an in-state law student (from UF Law, for example) competitive
- Any nuances of the various districts (i.e., does the northern district prefer people from the area? Does the southern district prefer clerks with post-law school work experience? etc.)

No knowledge regarding Florida judges specifically but thought I'd give some thoughts.

As to your first and third bullets, the nuances tend to be that of the various judges, more than of a particular district or circuit. I can't speak at all to specific judges in Florida--maybe look at the Eleventh Circuit thread for more info.

As to your second point, in general, I'd imagine a law student who went to UF Law and did well (law review membership would be a plus) would have a very good chance of getting a district court clerkship, for example.

Any more info you provide on your background and goals would be helpful for a more tailored response.

Former N.D. Fla. clerk here. Given that its a small court, i'm going to stay fairly high-level to avoid outing myself and thus won't respond to the first question.

As to the third question, from my view, N.D. Fla. uniquely attracts two types of candidates. The first are those that want to be in Tallahassee and deal with the constitutional issues that necessarily result from being in the capital. A necessary evil of those (admittedly cool) cases is that you also get an abnormally large number of (admittedly boring) employment discrimination type cases. My view was that its worth it--due in large part to the fact that you'll get a bunch of discrimination-type cases in pretty much any district court in the nation, save a handful. The second are those that either want to stay in the panhandle or have some direct tie there (whether that's family, attending school there, etc.). These are obviously not mutually exclusive.

As for your second question, you'll need strong credentials from any in-state school. Although I cannot speak to the hiring practices of the entire district, for a UF law or FSU law student, my judge would've wanted to see something around top 10% and law review for the applicant to be a serious candidate. YMMV though from judge to judge and from hiring cycle to hiring cycle.

Thank you both for the responses; this is helpful. Currently at UF or FSU, and I'm expecting to finish this semester just a bit outside of the top 10%. Strong ties to two of the three districts in Florida. No LR, but a secondary journal and other extracurriculars. Am I likely out of the running? If so, what's my best path to a federal clerkship later on?