District Court Clerkship/COA chances
Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2022 6:39 pm
Hey y'all,
I was wondering if anyone had any insight on whether attempting to clerk would be worth a shot for me. Ideally, I'd love to one day get a COA- but I assume that I would not be able to get this (and honestly, most likely would not be able to get a dist court clerkship).
Stats: top 40% at a T1 school in the south (think Bama, Emory, UGA, UNC), fedsoc (conservative leaning but not a trumper), minority, first gen, secondary journal prez, published articles.
Background- worked at a big law firm in a small market for a year (think Lincoln, Omaha, Grand Rapids), am now a DOJ/AUSA type role (where I've been for a year).
Ideally, I'd like to stay in this role a couple years longer to garner xp and then do my clerkship(s) (especially, I'd like to switch to a different market, like FL/TX/NC/IL/VA). Here's the thing though, after my clerkship(s), I'd like to probs go back to the same role I have (I think, at least); I really enjoy the job and think it would/will be a solid career. So the clerkship would really be for my unicorn outcome goal of being a judge and for my own enjoyment. I realize I do not have the pedigree for fed bench, but will probs try to put down roots in whatever market I move to. My mentor told me to not plan on getting on the bench, which I agree with, but I really would like to do a COA purely for enjoyment purposes, I'm not as interested in getting a dist ct clerkship but still am interested in it to a degree on its own.
I appreciate the help and insight. Just looking for a sounding board and some outside internet advice and have had luck on TLS so far!
I was wondering if anyone had any insight on whether attempting to clerk would be worth a shot for me. Ideally, I'd love to one day get a COA- but I assume that I would not be able to get this (and honestly, most likely would not be able to get a dist court clerkship).
Stats: top 40% at a T1 school in the south (think Bama, Emory, UGA, UNC), fedsoc (conservative leaning but not a trumper), minority, first gen, secondary journal prez, published articles.
Background- worked at a big law firm in a small market for a year (think Lincoln, Omaha, Grand Rapids), am now a DOJ/AUSA type role (where I've been for a year).
Ideally, I'd like to stay in this role a couple years longer to garner xp and then do my clerkship(s) (especially, I'd like to switch to a different market, like FL/TX/NC/IL/VA). Here's the thing though, after my clerkship(s), I'd like to probs go back to the same role I have (I think, at least); I really enjoy the job and think it would/will be a solid career. So the clerkship would really be for my unicorn outcome goal of being a judge and for my own enjoyment. I realize I do not have the pedigree for fed bench, but will probs try to put down roots in whatever market I move to. My mentor told me to not plan on getting on the bench, which I agree with, but I really would like to do a COA purely for enjoyment purposes, I'm not as interested in getting a dist ct clerkship but still am interested in it to a degree on its own.
I appreciate the help and insight. Just looking for a sounding board and some outside internet advice and have had luck on TLS so far!