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Hi all, I have a district court clerkship starting later this year. I'm considering applying to COA clerkships as well, but wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to wait until I've had a little bit of experience at my first clerkship before applying to the COA clerkships.

Unless you want to have a gap between them, possibly a multi-year one, you should start applying now.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 09, 2022 10:45 am

Unless you want to have a gap between them, possibly a multi-year one, you should start applying now.

agreed, unless there are some personal circumstances that are a factor, you should definitely be applying now. I applied for my COA before I started my district court clerkship, and it was one of the few COA clerkships available at the time that wouldn't have created a gap.

OP if your district court clerkship is for 2 years rather than 1, then I think it's more OK to wait until you start (unless you're looking for a more conservative COA judge, many of whom hire 2 years in advance). If you're looking for something that starts in the summer of 2023, I would apply ASAP. Several folks at my lower T14 (all who will start their district court clerkships this summer) have gotten COA clerkships for 2023 in the last few weeks.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:54 pm

OP if your district court clerkship is for 2 years rather than 1, then I think it's more OK to wait until you start (unless you're looking for a more conservative COA judge, many of whom hire 2 years in advance). If you're looking for something that starts in the summer of 2023, I would apply ASAP. Several folks at my lower T14 (all who will start their district court clerkships this summer) have gotten COA clerkships for 2023 in the last few weeks.

This. I got my COA clerkship about 9 months into my two-year district court clerkship.

It helps because by then, your judge will be able to give more detailed feedback (hopefully praise) when the COA judge asks.

OP here - Thank you all for your insight! To give a little more background, I've been in my district court clerkship for less than 2 months. Based on your feedback, I'm leaning towards applying for a second clerkship now, but I'm worried that the judges to whom I'll be applying will reach out to my current judge who may not have much to say about me yet. Alternatively, would it be strange for them to know that I'm already applying for a second clerkship when I've only just started? Thank you all!

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:56 am

OP here - Thank you all for your insight! To give a little more background, I've been in my district court clerkship for less than 2 months. Based on your feedback, I'm leaning towards applying for a second clerkship now, but I'm worried that the judges to whom I'll be applying will reach out to my current judge who may not have much to say about me yet. Alternatively, would it be strange for them to know that I'm already applying for a second clerkship when I've only just started? Thank you all!

It will vary widely from judge to judge. The judge that I clerk for was ecstatic about the concept of “feeding” his clerks upward, so he was very receptive to applying early. Do you know if you co-clerks or the clerk class ahead of you went on to a second clerkship? That information might signal whether the judge you will clerk for is receptive to the idea.

I think given hiring timelines, it’s very typical to apply for a second clerkship early in the first. Of course your current judge’s preferences will control and they may feel differently, so talk to them, but I think it’s perfectly normal. If a new judge reaches out to your current judge for info and the latter doesn’t feel ready to comment, they just won’t and that will be fine (though I’d imagine they’ll have some sort of opinion even now).

(For the record, I applied for and got a second clerkship before I even started the first, though I think the fact that I would have a clerkship under my belt when I started was helpful.)

It’s very common to line up a COA clerkship before you even start your district court clerkship, so I wouldn’t worry.