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I'm at/near the top 1% of my class at a T35 law school and currently summering at a V20 firm in NYC. I'm interested in going into litigation, especially enforcement work, with the hope of bouncing between that role and government.

I really want to clerk, ideally at the district and circuit levels, but I haven't gotten many bites despite sending out nearly 150 applications. Part of it, I imagine, is due to my school's ranking, my lack of post-law experience, and my focus mostly on the competitive clerkships in the northeast corridor.

I was considering applying to SDNY/EDNY MJ clerkships, but didn't know how they'd be perceived. Are they less prestigious/valuable in the NYC legal market than a district clerkship in a more remote location? How valuable will it be for me to move around BigLaw and potentially get a circuit court clerkship?

I just really am in the dark about what this sort of opportunity would mean, if I am lucky enough to be offered.

Is there any reason why you aren’t applying outside of the northeast? Your application would get traction with my flyover judge FWIW.

Idk about “prestige” in NY, but an MJ clerkship is very useful for a litigator. And I’ve seen people move from an MJ clerkship to a district court in what I consider a fancy district (like NDCA/NDIL) and even a circuit, although circuit is rarer.

If you’re dead set on clerking in the northeast, consider applying for a term after you get some work experience. A lot of judges value that now, more so than what judges expected in the past.

Magistrates in SDNY and EDNY are highly respected attorneys who usually have some pretty interesting work experience. That's not always true about other districts (although most are quite qualified). I'm not sure about SDNY/EDNY consent procedures - others should comment on the substance of the work you'd be doing in those districts - but the connections you'd make, including potentially parlaying it into a district or maybe(?) a circuit would be worth doing.

I clerked for two USMJs.

The clerkship itself is truly excellent, a once in a lifetime experience. That said, they're definitely undervalued IF you lack biglaw experience.

In other words, if you have two/three years of V50 biglaw lit experience and want to lateral to a V10 for whatever reason, then, yes.

Otherwise, you'll only be a strong candidate for bigfed.

You're absolutely right that high grades coupled with an MJ clerkship is a perfect recipe for a DJ and then CJ clerkship. Especially if you don't have a hook / are not "diverse." I've seen it happen many times from my top law school.

It's probably a very cool clerkship depending on what SNDY/EDNY USMJs get to do--varies heavily by district. But honestly, top 1% at GW/GM/Fordham or wherever I would keep shooting my shot with DJs (nationwide, including flyover) for another ~2 years. Work experience will be a big plus and probably push you over the top somewhere. The judges who hire early are the judges least likely to hire outside the T14; stuff will open up throughout the year.