Clerkship from Y Forum
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Clerkship from Y
What do judges look for in transcripts or resumes from students at YLS? For example, classes or professors they want to see, clinics and extracurriculars that look especially good, or any common red flags? This is mostly directed at those who've reviewed clerkship applications. Thank you!
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Re: Clerkship from Y
With the caveat that there's a lot more detailed information floating around this site (and that you should try to get advice from professors and current 3Ls who have been through the process), here's my understanding after reviewing clerkship apps.
Grades in your blackletters are an important factor because they're easy to compare across applicants, and because the school has started actually enforcing a ~30/70 H/P curve in large lectures. They're not dispositive (and I know folks from my YLS class who got to work for great judges with mostly Ps), but more Hs are better. And if you (through a recommender) can tell chambers that you got a top exam in a class, that's a nice plus, too. I don't think there are any mandatory classes you need to take before applying, although you should take two or more real blackletters a semester. (Probably the biggest red flag is a transcript that is too light on doctrinal classes). To the extent you're applying to chambers where the judge is an alum or YLS alums are reviewing your application, folks sometimes look closely at your grade in Admin, which most people have taken by the time they apply and which is decently well known as being strictly curved. Other helpful (and "hard") classes to consider taking include things like Evidence, Crim Pro Adjudication, Reg State, First Amendment, certain Antitrust sections, Bankruptcy, and Biz Orgs. (The norm when I was at YLS was to wait until 3L to take Fed Courts, but I would include that on the list too).
The biggest thing you can do to help your application, though, is to work on building relationships with your professors. My information is probably a little out of date, but there are a handful of professors who were known around campus as being very well-connected recommenders. (Other professors can be very helpful, but they typically just have personal relationships with fewer judges). Classes taught by practitioners sometimes fly under the radar, but in my experience, they can have good relationships with judges in the jurisdictions in which they practice. Having strong recommenders is increasingly necessary (but not sufficient) to get a clerkship on plan because of the sheer volume of applications. A call or an email from someone my judge knew was usually enough to get an application pulled from the pile and seriously looked at.
YLJ can help on the margins, but it depends on the judge. Mine didn't care at all, but I know others who view it as a big plus, particularly if you're on the managing board or the articles committee. There's no real hierarchy for clinics (other than it's good if you've done one, and better if you're actually litigating -- it gives you something to talk about in the interview), and the various clubs/affinity group leadership positions don't matter on paper, really. Getting a note published in any of the journals on campus is a small, but nice, plus (and also gives you something to talk about).
Your 1L summer job also doesn't really matter. Your 2L summer job can help a little, particularly if you go to a good firm or PI shop. My judge hired a few years out, and thought it was a good thing if you were going to spend some time after graduation getting trained at a place they thought had good lawyers.
Grades in your blackletters are an important factor because they're easy to compare across applicants, and because the school has started actually enforcing a ~30/70 H/P curve in large lectures. They're not dispositive (and I know folks from my YLS class who got to work for great judges with mostly Ps), but more Hs are better. And if you (through a recommender) can tell chambers that you got a top exam in a class, that's a nice plus, too. I don't think there are any mandatory classes you need to take before applying, although you should take two or more real blackletters a semester. (Probably the biggest red flag is a transcript that is too light on doctrinal classes). To the extent you're applying to chambers where the judge is an alum or YLS alums are reviewing your application, folks sometimes look closely at your grade in Admin, which most people have taken by the time they apply and which is decently well known as being strictly curved. Other helpful (and "hard") classes to consider taking include things like Evidence, Crim Pro Adjudication, Reg State, First Amendment, certain Antitrust sections, Bankruptcy, and Biz Orgs. (The norm when I was at YLS was to wait until 3L to take Fed Courts, but I would include that on the list too).
The biggest thing you can do to help your application, though, is to work on building relationships with your professors. My information is probably a little out of date, but there are a handful of professors who were known around campus as being very well-connected recommenders. (Other professors can be very helpful, but they typically just have personal relationships with fewer judges). Classes taught by practitioners sometimes fly under the radar, but in my experience, they can have good relationships with judges in the jurisdictions in which they practice. Having strong recommenders is increasingly necessary (but not sufficient) to get a clerkship on plan because of the sheer volume of applications. A call or an email from someone my judge knew was usually enough to get an application pulled from the pile and seriously looked at.
YLJ can help on the margins, but it depends on the judge. Mine didn't care at all, but I know others who view it as a big plus, particularly if you're on the managing board or the articles committee. There's no real hierarchy for clinics (other than it's good if you've done one, and better if you're actually litigating -- it gives you something to talk about in the interview), and the various clubs/affinity group leadership positions don't matter on paper, really. Getting a note published in any of the journals on campus is a small, but nice, plus (and also gives you something to talk about).
Your 1L summer job also doesn't really matter. Your 2L summer job can help a little, particularly if you go to a good firm or PI shop. My judge hired a few years out, and thought it was a good thing if you were going to spend some time after graduation getting trained at a place they thought had good lawyers.
