Reaching out via LinkedIn Forum

[Anonymous User]

Is it appropriate to reach out to a judge's former law clerks on LinkedIn before applying to the judge? There are one or two circuit court judges that I particularly want to clerk for due to strong geographic/ personal reasons (spouse getting a job in a new city). My T50 school has no connection to the these judges. I have a clerkship lined up for a district court in the same circuit but different state (e.g., I think my situation is similar to someone going for a CA6 clerkship in Detroit after securing a clerkship in N.D. Ohio.). Any recommendations for putting my best foot forward?

[Anonymous User]

I was in your exact position, cold-emailed on Linkedin, and got the clerkship, which I found out later I wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

[Anonymous User]

I was in your exact position, cold-emailed on Linkedin, and got the clerkship, which I found out later I wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

Did you reach out before you applied or before you interviewed? What insight did they give you that gave you the edge?

[Anonymous User]

I reached out before applying, and they hand-carried a printout of my application to the Judge. I didn't get any insight other than their personal recommendation. That sort of treatment is unusual, but worth trying for. At bottom, no one will be offended by your inquiry. Most people like talking about their Judges.

[Anonymous User]

Is it appropriate to reach out to a judge's former law clerks on LinkedIn before applying to the judge? There are one or two circuit court judges that I particularly want to clerk for due to strong geographic/ personal reasons (spouse getting a job in a new city). My T50 school has no connection to the these judges. I have a clerkship lined up for a district court in the same circuit but different state (e.g., I think my situation is similar to someone going for a CA6 clerkship in Detroit after securing a clerkship in N.D. Ohio.). Any recommendations for putting my best foot forward?

Former law clerks? Go for it, I spoke with former clerks and future clerks before I was hired, and it was very helpful. Just don't reach out to the current ones.

[Anonymous User]

I would prefer to have a connection (school, undergrad, etc.) with someone reaching out, but it's not required. I probably would not hand deliver an app to my former judge unless I actually met the applicant in person and talked for an hour or more. I suspect many clerks are equally protective/guarding their reputation with his or her judge. Even so, I don't see a downside.

[Anonymous User]

I think reaching out via email is more appropriate than LinkedIn (and also people check email more often than LinkedIn). I would try to find where they currently work via LinkedIn and then search for their work email via the firm's website and email them there.

[johndonne]

Is it appropriate to reach out to a judge's former law clerks on LinkedIn before applying to the judge? There are one or two circuit court judges that I particularly want to clerk for due to strong geographic/ personal reasons (spouse getting a job in a new city). My T50 school has no connection to the these judges. I have a clerkship lined up for a district court in the same circuit but different state (e.g., I think my situation is similar to someone going for a CA6 clerkship in Detroit after securing a clerkship in N.D. Ohio.). Any recommendations for putting my best foot forward?

Former law clerks? Go for it, I spoke with former clerks and future clerks before I was hired, and it was very helpful. Just don't reach out to the current ones.

Out of curiosity, is there a rule (spoken or unspoken) against reaching out to current clerks? I actually reached out to a current clerk who was an alum of my school, and it worked out well.

[Anonymous User]

Is it appropriate to reach out to a judge's former law clerks on LinkedIn before applying to the judge? There are one or two circuit court judges that I particularly want to clerk for due to strong geographic/ personal reasons (spouse getting a job in a new city). My T50 school has no connection to the these judges. I have a clerkship lined up for a district court in the same circuit but different state (e.g., I think my situation is similar to someone going for a CA6 clerkship in Detroit after securing a clerkship in N.D. Ohio.). Any recommendations for putting my best foot forward?

Former law clerks? Go for it, I spoke with former clerks and future clerks before I was hired, and it was very helpful. Just don't reach out to the current ones.

Anon who responded first: I reached out to current clerks and that's exactly how I got my clerkship. So I don't think it's universally viewed as inappropriate.

[Anonymous User]

Yea. I am at a d.ct. and I would not be offended/ think it is inappropriate to reach out to me - to ask about my experience and Judge.

[nixy]

I feel like reaching out to current clerks is one of those things that most people won’t care about, but those who do care, can care a lot. I think I spoke to at least one potential applicant to my judge while I was clerking, but I also feel like I had the least restrictive/caught up in “appropriateness” version of clerking experience.

(For instance, some people say you should never use something you wrote during a clerkship as a writing sample for job applications, because it’s not written under your name and it destroys the fiction that everything that comes out of chambers is the product of the judge. I used such a sample and my judge was fine with it and the places I applied to were fine with it, but after the fact I have run into former clerks who find the idea horrifying.)

So I think that in reaching out to current clerks, there is a risk that they/their judge will find it inappropriate; the question is whether that risk is great enough to outweigh the benefit of talking to a current clerk. To me it would depend on whether you locate other non-current clerks and get enough info from them. (But again, personally, being reached out to as a current clerk was fine.)

(I also don’t think any of this applies if you actually already know the person clerking, like they’re a friend of yours.)