Top Law Schools

Lower T30. 4.0s both semester of 1L legal writing. Middling 2L grades. Summered at a NY V100. Going to put in a couple of years. Thinking about applying for clerkships thereafter. Will presumably be roughly top 40% of class. Possible?

-Not talking any ultra-fancy districts like SDNY or NDIL-

Grades are always important, and your school rank isn’t helping. But if you work for a couple of years, try to make relevant local connections, and focus on judges that have hired from your school before, you may find something. Another possibility is aiming for state or magistrate first, to make you a more desirable candidate.

Grades are very important for clerkships, and this is more true the lower you dip in the rankings. If you apply to district courts very broadly (like, send over 100 apps and apply to every single district and judge for which there is an opening), then you could very well get one.

You’re a long shot, even in less competitive districts, but some long shots get clerkships.

Top 40% at t-13 law schools that aren’t HYS or U Chicago are a long shot. You need to be in top 10% to have a chance at your school.

Varies a lot among judges, but considering your school's rank it'll probably be very important. Apply broadly and see if your references know any judges well. A publication may help.

"Possible"? Yes. But a combination of low T30 and middle-tier grades is bad news. If you're at, say, ASU, 95% you won't get anything, 99% you won't get anything outside of Arizona. So focus on your local connections, whatever they are.