Intra-District Difference In Job Prospects Forum

[username5101520]

For federal dist. and fedmag clerkships, obviously some carry more resume value, and open up more employment doors, than others (e.g. SDNY, DDC, etc.).

Within districts that have multiple courthouses, do people think there is a difference, employment-prospects-wise, between the main courthouse and the satellite courthouses? E.G., SDNY manhattan v. SDNY White Plains?

Disclaimer: Clerking is valuable for reasons besides added resume value. Location preferences vary widely between individuals. One should not decide which clerkship to take or apply to based solely on resume value.

[Anonymous User]

I think anyone would be incredibly lucky to get a clerkship in SDNY at all, regardless of which courthouse.

[Anonymous User]

if somebody has a preference for clerks from one courthouse in a district but not the other, and that reason is not directly related to specific judge(s), then they out themselves as a prestige-chasing psychopath obsessed with delineation to an unhealthy degree. run far away

[Anonymous User]

Disagree with the former. Cases in federal courts are assigned by division (i.e. courthouse), so judges in different divisions can have very different pools of cases. The specific rules for this are usually found in courts’ standing orders. For example, White Plains only gets cases filed in the suburbs, not the city. And it gets even more notable when you consider e.g. the Texas district courts, which have some extremely urban and some extremely rural divisions, and some divisions with extremely unbalanced case loads due to forum shopping.

With SDNY in particular, in general I think Manhattan does have more pull than White Plains, but that’s largely because Manhattan has more prominent judges. But I wouldn’t let that stop you from applying, and there are some great clerkships in White Plains (Karas).

[Anonymous User]

Disagree with the former. Cases in federal courts are assigned by division (i.e. courthouse), so judges in different divisions can have very different pools of cases. The specific rules for this are usually found in courts’ standing orders. For example, White Plains only gets cases filed in the suburbs, not the city. And it gets even more notable when you consider e.g. the Texas district courts, which have some extremely urban and some extremely rural divisions, and some divisions with extremely unbalanced case loads due to forum shopping.

With SDNY in particular, in general I think Manhattan does have more pull than White Plains, but that’s largely because Manhattan has more prominent judges. But I wouldn’t let that stop you from applying, and there are some great clerkships in White Plains (Karas).

Agree with this. Clerkship prestige whoring is generally stupid and the "gold star" of having SDNY on your resume is equal either way, but you will get a more interesting caseload in Manhattan than in White Plains. Same with Brooklyn over Central Islip for EDNY.