Do you need to write a note? Forum

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Do you need to write a note?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:12 am

I'm a 2L at a T6, on a secondary journal that is note optional. I figured I should still write a note, but the process has been very frustrating. After lots of brainstorming and research, I eventually found a viable topic I was interested it, but it still needed some tweaking after the first preemption check. When I met with my advisor (an adjunct teaching me in a seminar) to discuss ideas, she essentially told me my topic sucked (too speculative) and I should drop it entirely in favor of a completely different topic. This caught me off guard since I had pitched my topic to her when I asked her to be my advisor a month earlier. After a week of researching this new idea, I'm still not sure how to frame it into something workable, and I'm honestly not very interested in the subject matter. My outline deadline is only a few days away, and I feel like I'm back at square one. This note is easily my biggest stressor right now, and I'm worried it will impact my grades this semester. I'm starting to consider just dropping the whole thing.

How essential is writing a note for getting a clerkship? Or, since it may be grade dependent, how much difference does it make for an application? I know writing ability is a huge part of the selection process, so I'm worried judges won't like that I haven't written one - they'll think it indiciates laziness or lack of writing ability.

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Re: Do you need to write a note?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:49 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:12 am
I'm a 2L at a T6, on a secondary journal that is note optional. I figured I should still write a note, but the process has been very frustrating. After lots of brainstorming and research, I eventually found a viable topic I was interested it, but it still needed some tweaking after the first preemption check. When I met with my advisor (an adjunct teaching me in a seminar) to discuss ideas, she essentially told me my topic sucked (too speculative) and I should drop it entirely in favor of a completely different topic. This caught me off guard since I had pitched my topic to her when I asked her to be my advisor a month earlier. After a week of researching this new idea, I'm still not sure how to frame it into something workable, and I'm honestly not very interested in the subject matter. My outline deadline is only a few days away, and I feel like I'm back at square one. This note is easily my biggest stressor right now, and I'm worried it will impact my grades this semester. I'm starting to consider just dropping the whole thing.

How essential is writing a note for getting a clerkship? Or, since it may be grade dependent, how much difference does it make for an application? I know writing ability is a huge part of the selection process, so I'm worried judges won't like that I haven't written one - they'll think it indiciates laziness or lack of writing ability.

I was in the exact same situation as you. I bagged the note, got great grades, and ended up with a solid clerkship. I doubt that writing a generic note matters much for most judges, and I think a pretty significant chunk genuinely do not care at all. Most notes also don't make good writing samples for judges, unless the judge is from an academic background or obviously interested in the topic. And if you think this process will impact your grades, then this is a no-brainer decision. Drop the note and don't worry about it.

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Re: Do you need to write a note?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:40 pm

Might depend on how strong the rest of your app is. IMHO I don’t care about secondary journals period when reviewing apps except for top ones like YJR, it’s not comparable to law review from my experience, but ymmv.

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Re: Do you need to write a note?

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:30 am

I did hiring for two COA judges. I couldn't give less of a shit about a note.

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Re: Do you need to write a note?

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:49 am

Nah doesn't matter. My judge also prefers writing samples from practice anyways. Maybe if you want to clerk on SCOTUS or more of the academic feeder-esque judges like Lohier or something it matters, but I wouldn't know.

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Re: Do you need to write a note?

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 01, 2022 11:01 am

If two applicants are exactly the same but one of them has written or is in the process of writing a note and can talk about it intelligently in the interview, then the person who is writing or has written a note will probably have an edge. So, if you wanted to maximize your chances as much as possible, write a note. But it's going to be a marginal benefit. It is nowhere near as important as grades or school.

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