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Hey my recommender stated he would be willing to make calls to judges he knows but he wasn't sure when he should be doing that. Obviously applications open up on the 13th. Should he be waiting until then and my application is officially submitted, is that too eager? Basically when is the best timing for these calls. Thanks.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:20 pm

Hey my recommender stated he would be willing to make calls to judges he knows but he wasn't sure when he should be doing that. Obviously applications open up on the 13th. Should he be waiting until then and my application is officially submitted, is that too eager? Basically when is the best timing for these calls. Thanks.

I always thought they were most helpful right before we would review applications - a few days prior to the plan would suffice. We could then make a list of applications to pull immediately and review when the Plan opened.

Agree with this. Also see if your recommender is willing to check the court schedule. Judges have less mental bandwidth for clerkship hiring if it's a sitting week (for circuit) or a busy day of trial/motion hearings (district). But yes, right before the application comes in would is well-timed to get your app pulled--especially this time of year on-plan, when getting your app pulled from the pile is the single most important break you need to catch.

Additional tip - say you get an interview from a judge, one who your recommender didn't know (and thus did not call earlier). It's perfectly fine form to ask your recommender if he/she/they is willing to put in a call a couple or a few days prior to the interview.