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Looking for general advice since I feel like my school’s clerkship office has not been too helpful. Especially looking for specifics as to whether I am qualified for any federal clerkships (magistrate, district courts, and circuit courts).

I graduated Columbia Law with low Stone in my 2L and 3L years with a 3.4-3.5 GPA (I got a B+ or A- in all but two of my classes…). I took a 2:3 mix of seminar and doctrinal classes including Leg Reg, Corps, Evidence, Labor Law, Antitrust, IP, and Fed Courts.
Managing editor of secondary journal.
Mediocre extracurriculars and recommendations.
I come from an first gen URM background and had a very difficult upbringing that informs my public interest career path. Should I mention this in my cover letter?

I don’t feel very smart compared to my Columbia peers and worry that my mediocre grades reflect that. I have no good ties to any professors and an average work history (with some time teaching between undergrad and law school).

I did teach in a number of Southern and midwestern states despite growing up in California. I have no geographic preference and would rather work for a good mentor in bumblefrick, south dakota than a tough judge in NYC.

Should I apply to district courts broadly, a mix of districts and magistrates, or solely magistrates? I want to clerk ASAP to get out of my current dead-end public service job. Ideally, I would either get a district court clerkship or a magistrate clerkship that I could then parlay into more clerkships (I truly envision myself enjoying the research and writing more than actual practice).

Also, this may be silly but should I physically mail my application unsolicited to judges whose positions are not often on OSCAR? There seem to be some judges in areas of interest who never make postings.

Re: mailing physical applications to judges not on OSCAR, that’s what I did. I don’t think that there’s a huge number of judges not using OSCAR at this point, and keep in mind that judges may not be hiring because they have career clerks or lined up clerks long ago. So I got a fair number of “we’re not hiring” responses when I did this. But I don’t think there’s any real reason not to because you never know.

I’m not the best at chancing people but I think if you apply very broadly you could get something. There are also judges who prefer to hire URMs where your background could be compelling. Not sure how to ID them or how much detail to provide in the letter, but it could help.

Yes, you have a chance. I graduated at median from one of MVP and got on with a district judge in a competitive district. Apply to district judges broadly, but you dont need to apply anywhere that you wouldnt want to live.

You need a few professors who are going to go to bat for you during the process, so make sure you go chat with them every once in a while in order to keep them updated. If you dont have any prior relationships with them, dont be afraid to strike up a conversation. For the most part, they would love to help out, and in fact are encouraged by your school to do so. Some professors know judges and may even be able to get you an interview if they pull some strings. Additionally, you should tap into the alumni network at your school and reach out to former clerks of color. They are going to know which judges are worth applying to and which ones you shouldnt waste your time with.

You have a good chance of getting a district court clerkship somewhere if you apply broadly in as many states as possible (e.g., Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, etc.). You aren't as mediocre of an applicant as you seem to think you are. You definitely don't need to only exclusively apply to magistrates. Apply to district courts across the country. You'll probably get one.

Apply broadly to district courts. Your background definitely will matter to a lot of judges. Play up whatever regional ties you have. CLS’s clerkship office blows, but talk to your profs about your strategy.

It sounds like you really lack self-confidence—you’re not going to land a circuit probably but your app is better than you think.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:46 am

Looking for general advice since I feel like my school’s clerkship office has not been too helpful. Especially looking for specifics as to whether I am qualified for any federal clerkships (magistrate, district courts, and circuit courts).

I graduated Columbia Law with low Stone in my 2L and 3L years with a 3.4-3.5 GPA (I got a B- or A+ in all but two of my classes…). I took a 2:3 mix of seminar and doctrinal classes including Leg Reg, Corps, Evidence, Labor Law, Antitrust, IP, and Fed Courts.

I don't want to be a Debbie-Downer here, but getting B-s at Columbia is really bad, and really hard to do. If you got multiple, I'd have serious concerns about your ability to do the work.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 13, 2022 10:48 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:46 am

Looking for general advice since I feel like my school’s clerkship office has not been too helpful. Especially looking for specifics as to whether I am qualified for any federal clerkships (magistrate, district courts, and circuit courts).

I graduated Columbia Law with low Stone in my 2L and 3L years with a 3.4-3.5 GPA (I got a B- or A+ in all but two of my classes…). I took a 2:3 mix of seminar and doctrinal classes including Leg Reg, Corps, Evidence, Labor Law, Antitrust, IP, and Fed Courts.

I don't want to be a Debbie-Downer here, but getting B-s at Columbia is really bad, and really hard to do. If you got multiple, I'd have serious concerns about your ability to do the work.

How on earth did you manage to get either a B- or an A+ in all but two of your classes? CLS only allows one A+ per class and B- are discretionary and are almost never given out. I have a hard time believing you managed to actually do this unless you are a genius who just refused to even try in some classes.

I pretty much assumed that was a typo for B+ and A- , but could be wrong.

nixy wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 13, 2022 11:28 am

I pretty much assumed that was a typo for B+ and A- , but could be wrong.

Good point. That seems waaaay more likely than the student being the top or bottom of every class.

I have somewhat similar stats to you OP. Columbia Law, only Stone 2L/3L year (3.55 GPA overall), public interest, no good professor connections. Only difference is I had law review.

These past two months, I had two federal district court interviews, one in the Northern District of Ohio and one in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. This was after applying to 60 judges. One of the judges liked me because we simply had similar interests/backgrounds, and the other one was a local connection. No offers yet, but they're still on the table. Point being, you're competitive for federal clerkships, but you'll just have to apply broadly and leave it a bit up to luck/judges' idiosyncratic preferences.

By the way, Columbia's clerkship office is total shit and it's one of the reasons I hesitate recommending Columbia to 0Ls who are clerkship or bust. Saavedra flat-out told me not to apply to clerkships in our first conversation, and recently I was emailing her about a clerkship opportunity she posted, and she rudely decided to just stop emailing me half-way through presumably because she decided I wouldn't be competitive. Just ghosted me. Unless you have top grades, she won't give a shit about you.

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Sorry all - the B- was a typo! I got all B+s and A-s with one B and one A.
Glad to hear other posters here think I am more competitive than I believed - I will apply broadly and hope for the best.