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These decisions are always going to be intensely personal, and there's a good chance that no matter what decision you make, there will always be a bit of FOMO. You'll always wonder what the clerkship could have been, or what it could have provided. If you ended up in New York, and your partner broke up with you, you might wonder if that SDNY clerkship was really worth it. At the end of the day, you're going to clerk, and the experience probably wouldn't be much different from the one in SDNY. You're also planning to be in CA long-term and it's likely that any "additional" boost SDNY would have provided is at least somewhat offset by the proximity of your judges to your place of practice.

That said, if this is something that makes you feel weird, it's probably partially because this is your first time not taking the shiniest gold star. But I think as you progress through your career, you'll grow to realize that gold stars are shiny and nice, but you would trade them all for another day with your partner or parent or whoever. Your career will go great and there's nothing at all for you to worry about. Enjoy the ride.

The idea that 9CA/CDCA is somehow creating a difference in your career compared to 9CA/SDNY is a little ridiculous to feel FOMO unless you desperately want to be an SDNY AUSA or something.

Agree with the other posters. Your career and personal goals mean you want to be in CA and the CA clerkship is a better fit for that. What would even be the point of SDNY? You make your partner move to NY (where they might not even be able to find a job) all just so when you end back in CA you have a marginally (and I mean marginally) better credential? On top of that, if you spend 2-4 years in NY, your resume may look super East Coast heavy by that point, depending on your school and first clerkship.

I think your angst is because you had this path open to you and you had to turn it down. It might be the first time in your life you're turning down a prestigious opportunity that you would have loved to make work. It sucks but that's just how things go. There won't always be a clear right answer, and you often have to make the best choice you can at the time. I think you did given what you've described.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 01, 2025 1:49 pm

Agree with the other posters. Your career and personal goals mean you want to be in CA and the CA clerkship is a better fit for that. What would even be the point of SDNY? You make your partner move to NY (where they might not even be able to find a job) all just so when you end back in CA you have a marginally (and I mean marginally) better credential? On top of that, if you spend 2-4 years in NY, your resume may look super East Coast heavy by that point, depending on your school and first clerkship.

I think your angst is because you had this path open to you and you had to turn it down. It might be the first time in your life you're turning down a prestigious opportunity that you would have loved to make work. It sucks but that's just how things go. There won't always be a clear right answer, and you often have to make the best choice you can at the time. I think you did given what you've described.

It's even weirder than that because imo a CDCA district court clerkship is actually the marginally better credential if you want to work in California. I think OP is a little prestige obsessed based on what people online seem to rank clerkships and nows a good as time as any to snap out of it.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 02, 2025 11:48 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 01, 2025 1:49 pm

Agree with the other posters. Your career and personal goals mean you want to be in CA and the CA clerkship is a better fit for that. What would even be the point of SDNY? You make your partner move to NY (where they might not even be able to find a job) all just so when you end back in CA you have a marginally (and I mean marginally) better credential? On top of that, if you spend 2-4 years in NY, your resume may look super East Coast heavy by that point, depending on your school and first clerkship.

I think your angst is because you had this path open to you and you had to turn it down. It might be the first time in your life you're turning down a prestigious opportunity that you would have loved to make work. It sucks but that's just how things go. There won't always be a clear right answer, and you often have to make the best choice you can at the time. I think you did given what you've described.

It's even weirder than that because imo a CDCA district court clerkship is actually the marginally better credential if you want to work in California. I think OP is a little prestige obsessed based on what people online seem to rank clerkships and nows a good as time as any to snap out of it.

It's also silly because this kind of ranking hierarchy for district courts exists on like TLS and nowhere else. No partner at a CA BigLaw firm is seeing someone who clerked CDCal and thinking "eh." Especially if OP has the credentials to get CA2/9/DC, they're an insanely competitive applicant at any CA firm. Whether SDNY is "better" only matters if you're trying to become a professor or just trying to rack up the most impressive resume possible in a vacuum.

Thank you everyone. This was all very helpful. I truly appreciate you taking to time to share your thoughts—it means a lot. I'll go ahead and close this thread now.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 02, 2025 3:09 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 02, 2025 11:48 am

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 01, 2025 1:49 pm

Agree with the other posters. Your career and personal goals mean you want to be in CA and the CA clerkship is a better fit for that. What would even be the point of SDNY? You make your partner move to NY (where they might not even be able to find a job) all just so when you end back in CA you have a marginally (and I mean marginally) better credential? On top of that, if you spend 2-4 years in NY, your resume may look super East Coast heavy by that point, depending on your school and first clerkship.

I think your angst is because you had this path open to you and you had to turn it down. It might be the first time in your life you're turning down a prestigious opportunity that you would have loved to make work. It sucks but that's just how things go. There won't always be a clear right answer, and you often have to make the best choice you can at the time. I think you did given what you've described.

It's even weirder than that because imo a CDCA district court clerkship is actually the marginally better credential if you want to work in California. I think OP is a little prestige obsessed based on what people online seem to rank clerkships and nows a good as time as any to snap out of it.

It's also silly because this kind of ranking hierarchy for district courts exists on like TLS and nowhere else. No partner at a CA BigLaw firm is seeing someone who clerked CDCal and thinking "eh." Especially if OP has the credentials to get CA2/9/DC, they're an insanely competitive applicant at any CA firm. Whether SDNY is "better" only matters if you're trying to become a professor or just trying to rack up the most impressive resume possible in a vacuum.

I know. It is very sad the effect online forums compounded by law school obsessions with heirarchy have on law students. It would be one thing if this heirarchy was even a thing, but often it is all in their head... OP nothing against you though. I was the same in law school before snapping out of it.

The prestige comes from the quality of the judges, the docket, the clerks, and the location. It's not arbitrary.

Ultimately, your 9th Cir. clerkship outclasses any district court clerkship, so you don't have to worry about that.

But this is why I think native New Yorkers should be given a bump in the process. IDK why these precious opportunities are going to rando out-of-staters.