Might be the only clerk… am I screwed? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Onboarding for a clerkship with a non-senior District Judge in a pretty busy urban district in the South, and a lot of what the judge has said has implied that he only has a single clerk for the year (only mentioning that I should meet with his one current clerk, no mention of co-clerks, etc). This seems very abnormal—anyone have experience with being the only clerk for a full-time judge?

[Anonymous User]

I think I might know who this judge is... does the city name start with J?

But yes, this is unusual af

[Anonymous User]

That’s strange. Does the judge handle a lot of stuff themselves? The upside is that you’re bound to end up quite close with that judge by the end of it.

[lavarman84]

Does the judge have two JAs? Or is it possible the other clerk for this year left a little early?

[Anonymous User]

I think I might know who this judge is... does the city name start with J?

But yes, this is unusual af

Starts with a T, and he’s a late Biden appointee.

That’s strange. Does the judge handle a lot of stuff themselves? The upside is that you’re bound to end up quite close with that judge by the end of it.

It’s a crim-heavy district and he’s an ex-AUSA, so maybe?

Does the judge have two JAs? Or is it possible the other clerk for this year left a little early?

Possibly? Unsure—he definitely has at least one, but I’ve only seen one cc’d on email chains.

[Anonymous User]

Did he say anything to imply you're replacing his current clerk or are you assuming that? It's fairly common to have one career clerk and one term clerk. Or the current clerk could be there for a two year term and you're replacing either a one-year term clerk or one who's term ended early for various reasons.

[Anonymous User]

Is it possible that he has a career clerk and is only having you interact with the other term clerk, because that’s who you will be coordinating the hand-off with?