Clerkship interview, no ties to location? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm interviewing next week with a district court judge in a somewhat major (non-DC/NYC) market. Aside from knowing a few people from there, I don't have many connections to the location itself. I only said in my cover letter that I, having gone to school in the region, want to return there.

If he asks why I want to clerk there, how should I answer since I don't have many ties? Should I mention the high civil litigation capacity of the district, or something more specific?

[Anonymous User]

Ties aren’t really like that. If you want to
be in the region because you went to school there, just say that; you don’t have to have multiple ties.

As for the district itself, high civil litigation capacity doesn’t sound very convincing to me, mostly because I think most districts have high civil litigation capacity. You could say something about wanting to clerk in a major metro because the volume of caseload will expose you to a wide range of matters or something. But if it is a major metro, they’re not that likely to need to be convinced why you want to be there.

[Anonymous User]

Ties aren’t really like that. If you want to
be in the region because you went to school there, just say that; you don’t have to have multiple ties.

As for the district itself, high civil litigation capacity doesn’t sound very convincing to me, mostly because I think most districts have high civil litigation capacity. You could say something about wanting to clerk in a major metro because the volume of caseload will expose you to a wide range of matters or something. But if it is a major metro, they’re not that likely to need to be convinced why you want to be there.

OP here. I went to school maybe three hours away, but it's the only real tie I have. So it might not be convincing. What would you say in my case, if you knew you were going to be asked?

[Anonymous User]

I'm interviewing next week with a district court judge in a somewhat major (non-DC/NYC) market. Aside from knowing a few people from there, I don't have many connections to the location itself. I only said in my cover letter that I, having gone to school in the region, want to return there.

If he asks why I want to clerk there, how should I answer since I don't have many ties? Should I mention the high civil litigation capacity of the district, or something more specific?

One person told me he got asked this question, had no ties to mention, and just straight up said “honestly, I’m pretty much willing to clerk for an article 3 judge anywhere in this country.” Apparently it went over well. I’d rather someone say this than try to fake ties. But your answer regarding school and desire to stay in the area is good.

[Anonymous User]

Ties aren’t really like that. If you want to
be in the region because you went to school there, just say that; you don’t have to have multiple ties.

As for the district itself, high civil litigation capacity doesn’t sound very convincing to me, mostly because I think most districts have high civil litigation capacity. You could say something about wanting to clerk in a major metro because the volume of caseload will expose you to a wide range of matters or something. But if it is a major metro, they’re not that likely to need to be convinced why you want to be there.

OP here. I went to school maybe three hours away, but it's the only real tie I have. So it might not be convincing. What would you say in my case, if you knew you were going to be asked?

Oh, got it, I didn’t realize what you meant by region. Frankly, unless there’s anything distinctive about the court caseload, I like the suggestion above (as well as liking the region from your time in school maybe). I also think that ties tend to be more helpful for getting you pulled out of a pile, and that if the judge felt strongly that a candidate *has* to have ties, they wouldn’t have picked you to begin with. That doesn’t mean that in the end, you won’t lose out to someone who has more local ties, but I doubt, if you’ve made it to the interview, that the judge will grill you about a lack of ties.

I also agree that trying to fake/force ties isn’t very convincing. Maybe you could turn it into “I’m very excited to experience [something local],” as long as you can say that genuinely. But I’d rather see a candidate interested in the nature of the work rather than in the location.

[Anonymous User]

Ties aren’t really like that. If you want to
be in the region because you went to school there, just say that; you don’t have to have multiple ties.

As for the district itself, high civil litigation capacity doesn’t sound very convincing to me, mostly because I think most districts have high civil litigation capacity. You could say something about wanting to clerk in a major metro because the volume of caseload will expose you to a wide range of matters or something. But if it is a major metro, they’re not that likely to need to be convinced why you want to be there.

OP here. I went to school maybe three hours away, but it's the only real tie I have. So it might not be convincing. What would you say in my case, if you knew you were going to be asked?

Three hours is more than close enough for location to be your primary interest imo. That's like the same state in most of the country. Also agree that if the judge was really picky on it you wouldn't have gotten an interview.

[Anonymous User]

I got the same question, especially since my judge heavily values ties. I was honest that I had no ties but that I was excited for the opportunity to explore a new area of the country (and highlighted a few of the things I could do in that location), but that I had applied all over because I was prioritizing judges over locations.

[Anon-non-anon]

I got the same question, especially since my judge heavily values ties. I was honest that I had no ties but that I was excited for the opportunity to explore a new area of the country (and highlighted a few of the things I could do in that location), but that I had applied all over because I was prioritizing judges over locations.

This seems like a good answer for a couple reasons. It's nice to get an honest answer rather than BS, and it shows you actually looked into the place and are open to new things. Just kind of strikes me as a more interesting person than giving some BS answer about the type of docket that you're pretty clearly making a post-hoc justification for.

Also got a clerkship where judge valued ties and didn't really have any, but it was near major metro and seemed to go fine (think D. Conn, DNJ, EDVA)