URM Clerkship Chances? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all. I wanted to get a sense of what my clerkship chances are. I am interested in clerking at both the District and Circuit Court levels with no geographic limitations. I am also willing to do a 2-year clerkship before doing the other but I probably would not want to clerk for 4 years.

Here is my info:
- Current 2L
- a little above median at T-14 (Not HYSCCN)
- AA Male
- Secondary journal
- Did Clinic, Moot court, etc.
- Continued to take doctrinals
- Have Big Law SA positions 1L and 2L summers
- Did a judicial externship 2L year
- Leadership positions in a couple of orgs
- 2 years work experience prior to law school but nothing impressive

Would appreciate any insight, thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Hi all. I wanted to get a sense of what my clerkship chances are. I am interested in clerking at both the District and Circuit Court levels with no geographic limitations. I am also willing to do a 2-year clerkship before doing the other but I probably would not want to clerk for 4 years.

Here is my info:
- Current 2L
- a little above median at T-14 (Not HYSCCN)
- AA Male
- Secondary journal
- Did Clinic, Moot court, etc.
- Continued to take doctrinals
- Have Big Law SA positions 1L and 2L summers
- Did a judicial externship 2L year
- Leadership positions in a couple of orgs
- 2 years work experience prior to law school but nothing impressive

Would appreciate any insight, thanks!

You are asian-american? Then you're not a URM. In fact - you're probably over represented. You gotta get your grades into the top 10% minimum to have a shot.

[Anonymous User]

OP probably meant African-American.

And for federal clerkships, Asians are also in fact under-represented, at least with respect to overall law school demographics.

Not that we're allowed to talk about race anymore or anything.

[Anonymous User]

Hi all. I wanted to get a sense of what my clerkship chances are. I am interested in clerking at both the District and Circuit Court levels with no geographic limitations. I am also willing to do a 2-year clerkship before doing the other but I probably would not want to clerk for 4 years.

Here is my info:
- Current 2L
- a little above median at T-14 (Not HYSCCN)
- AA Male
- Secondary journal
- Did Clinic, Moot court, etc.
- Continued to take doctrinals
- Have Big Law SA positions 1L and 2L summers
- Did a judicial externship 2L year
- Leadership positions in a couple of orgs
- 2 years work experience prior to law school but nothing impressive

Would appreciate any insight, thanks!

Very unlikely to unlikely for most judges. Decent to good for less competitive judges that care a lot about diversity. Best way to figure out who those judges are is through networking and your clerkship office (although ymmv there based on school).

[Anonymous User]

As a former clerk who reviewed apps for judges who valued diversity a good amount, I see the grades as the biggest issue. You’d definitely have a better shot if you work at a firm for a year or two and then apply - there’s no need to clerk right out of school! And assuming that you are Black, I do think Black judges (especially outside of major cities or areas) will give your app more of a look - it’s probs worth applying through the Just The Beginning clerkship process once it opens (https://jtb.org/share-the-wealth/).

[Anonymous User]

Black applicants get HUGE enormous bumps from judges who care about diversity (other minority judges). I’ve seen straight-B black students land circuit clerkships and competitive district court clerkships. You should be fine, just apply to diverse judges. Lohier (2d Circuit), for example, has two hiring criteria - for black candidates and others. Not criticizing him, but let’s give OP the real tea.

[Anonymous User]

As a former clerk who reviewed apps for judges who valued diversity a good amount, I see the grades as the biggest issue. You’d definitely have a better shot if you work at a firm for a year or two and then apply - there’s no need to clerk right out of school! And assuming that you are Black, I do think Black judges (especially outside of major cities or areas) will give your app more of a look - it’s probs worth applying through the Just The Beginning clerkship process once it opens (https://jtb.org/share-the-wealth/).

OP here. Thanks for your response and to clarify yes, I am Black. I would strongly prefer to clerk immediately after law school because I can be super geographically flexible during this period where I am not sure I could still be after a few years of work experience. But I would still be interested in clerking after working for a year or two. Thanks for sending me this program and I will definitely take advantage of it!

[Anonymous User]

Really depends on the judge. Target diverse judges and (obviously) make it clear in your resume your race (just putting a black law student org should do). Biggest bump tends to be getting out of the pile and not necessarily the interview itself. So make sure you do well on the interview.

[Anonymous User]

As a former clerk who reviewed apps for judges who valued diversity a good amount, I see the grades as the biggest issue. You’d definitely have a better shot if you work at a firm for a year or two and then apply - there’s no need to clerk right out of school! And assuming that you are Black, I do think Black judges (especially outside of major cities or areas) will give your app more of a look - it’s probs worth applying through the Just The Beginning clerkship process once it opens (https://jtb.org/share-the-wealth/).

OP here. Thanks for your response and to clarify yes, I am Black. I would strongly prefer to clerk immediately after law school because I can be super geographically flexible during this period where I am not sure I could still be after a few years of work experience. But I would still be interested in clerking after working for a year or two. Thanks for sending me this program and I will definitely take advantage of it!

I definitely understand wanting to clerk right out of school That's what I did and loved it. I did a FC with a magistrate judge and had a BL position waiting for me while I completed it. My advice is to apply broadly and really explore your network. You'll definitely land somewhere. And, don't sleep on the magistrate judge's. Some people don't think it's quite as sexy a clerkship as with an Article III judge. Let me assure it that it truly is. You will be exposed to so much! My judge handled both a civil and criminal docket. I worked on everything from wire tap applications to Social Security determinations to high value civil litigation & trials. For sure use the link shared above to help you along the way. Best of luck!

Signed,

A loving sister

[Anonymous User]

I never understood the snobbish view that MJ clerkships aren’t worthwhile for BigLaw. It’s so much more practical for future associates because you’ll likely handle discovery for several years. And most cases resolve through settlement/mediation and guess which judges handle that in most districts?

Also, the argument that MJs are somehow “lesser” because they’re not Article III/life tenure makes no sense to me. Unless they’re totally incompetent, an MJ will get renewed for the rest of their life. And most citizens would see it as a good thing that they earned their seat without having to win over the U.S. Senate.

[Anonymous User]

I never understood the snobbish view that MJ clerkships aren’t worthwhile for BigLaw. It’s so much more practical for future associates because you’ll likely handle discovery for several years. And most cases resolve through settlement/mediation and guess which judges handle that in most districts?

Also, the argument that MJs are somehow “lesser” because they’re not Article III/life tenure makes no sense to me. Unless they’re totally incompetent, an MJ will get renewed for the rest of their life. And most citizens would see it as a good thing that they earned their seat without having to win over the U.S. Senate.

It's because the people applying for clerkships are typically 2Ls and their brains have been broken by law school so they keep trying to put everything in heirarchies.

[Anonymous User]

I never understood the snobbish view that MJ clerkships aren’t worthwhile for BigLaw. It’s so much more practical for future associates because you’ll likely handle discovery for several years. And most cases resolve through settlement/mediation and guess which judges handle that in most districts?

Also, the argument that MJs are somehow “lesser” because they’re not Article III/life tenure makes no sense to me. Unless they’re totally incompetent, an MJ will get renewed for the rest of their life. And most citizens would see it as a good thing that they earned their seat without having to win over the U.S. Senate.

I can speak to this from my experience as a former clerk who now does a lot of clerk recruiting at a boutique. MJs generally do not do complex dispositive motions or trials nearly as much as A3 DJs, and those are some of the most valuable experiences out of a clerkship. I think MJ clerkships for the right judge can be great but that’s why my firm generally doesn’t consider them as comparable. Plus we want to hire people who we see as future partners—who ideally will do relatively few discovery disputes because they’re more valuable elsewhere. Of course ymmv.