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Home > Career Center > Alumni > Career Files > Judicial Clerkships Judicial ClerkshipsIntroductionThere are many reasons to clerk, including the experience of working behind the scenes in the litigation process, the opportunity to hone important reasoning, research and writing skills, and the chance to develop important professional relationships with a judge and co-clerks. However, there are a few differences between trial and appellate court clerkships. In general, trial court clerkships will allow you to observe the litigation process through more constant contact with attorneys, on-going case file management (including motion practice) and the opportunity to attend trials and hearings. Appellate court clerkships, by the nature of appellate practice, usually allow one to delve more deeply into fewer legal issues. The important thing to remember is that a clerkship is attainable if you invest enough time and effort into your application, judge selection and interviewing. To further discuss judicial clerkship opportunities, please contact the CPDC. FALL 2008 JUDICIAL CLERKSHIP HIRING DOCUMENTS: Judicial Clerkship Basic Resources "Rat Race: Insider Advice on the Competition for Judicial Clerkships," 110 Penn. St. L. Rev. 835 The application traditionally consists of the following components:
For federal judicial clerkships, check the website of the Federal Law Clerk Information System - https://lawclerks.ao.uscourts.gov - for specific requirements of individual judges. Cover letters should briefly discuss your background and why you would be an excellent choice as a law clerk. You may also want to discuss any special connections you have to the judge (e.g., alumni) or location of the court. Your writing sample should be your BEST written work -- be it a law review note, seminar final paper, memorandum of law or other similar written work for an employer. (Please make sure to get the employer's consent to use the latter.) Judges will also expect either two or three recommendations. If three are requested, at least two of the three should be from law professors who are familiar with your work. Summer employers for whom you did outstanding work may also be solid recommenders. You should line up these recommendation letters well in advance. If possible, provide your recommenders with a copy of your resume and transcript, as well as a draft list of the names of the judges to whom you might apply. Remember that faculty members keep less consistent schedules over the summer and will be more difficult to reach. They also will be hard pressed to write strong letters with no notice. However, DO NOT be afraid to ask for recommendations from faculty members. It's part of their job. The Process - For federal judicial clerkships, a recent development has been the creation of an on-line application system, OSCAR. (The website for OSCAR is as follows: http://www.oscar.dcd.uscourts.gov/) This system has vastly reduced the amount of paper application materials and simplified the submission process. OSCAR is designed to release application materials on the first day judges may accept them under the Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan -- the day after Labor Day. However, there are some judges who still accept paper applications. You will need to notify the Clerkship Administrator (clerkadmin@umn.edu) of the names of these judges, so that paper recommendation letters can be created. In addition, the Law School will submit paper applications of all student applicants at one time. While this will save you the cost of postage, it does mean you must have your materials prepared well in advance and submitted to the Clerkship Administrator by the Monday before Labor Day. Please see the Important Dates document referenced above for specific deadlines. Complete information on the federal judicial clerkship hiring plan can be found on the NALP website at the following link: http://www.nalp.org/content/index.php?pid=212 There are some judges who may accept applications in advance of the September start date, as well as others who may set later dates. Again, check the federal law clerk info. system website or call the specific judge for clarification. In addition, most state appellate courts, including the Minnesota Supreme Court, follow a different hiring process. Some, like Minnesota, use a common application and interview process with a common deadline. (For more information, check the Minnesota state court website: www.courts.state.mn.us) Others require applicants to contact individual judges' chambers. The 2008 Vermont Guide to Clerkships (user ID/password: maple/syrup) provides state-by-state information about specific hiring practices. The Law School employs a Clerkship Administrator staff person to support the process of preparing full time law school faculty recommendations and coordinating federal judicial clerkship applications during the fall hiring season. However, students will need to make separate arrangements with outside recommenders and part-time/adjunct faculty, as well as for recommendations in support of all state court clerkship applications and federal court clerkship applications submitted at other times of the year. There are many factors involved in selecting judges to whom to apply. Besides the threshold question of what level court to apply to, there is the question of location. Judges in less populated or dense places tend to receive proportionally fewer (albeit still many) applications. (E.g., lots of people want to live and clerk in the SF Bay Area, fewer in Cheyenne, Wyoming.) If you are sincerely interested in clerking, be willing to travel. One or two years in a different part of the country may be quite an interesting experience. You can get some background information on judges in a variety of ways. For federal judges, the best known are the attorney comments contained in the paper editions of the two-volume Almanac of the Federal Judiciary. (Note: the on-line versions available through Westlaw now has the attorney comments sections.) Copies can be found in the Career and Professional Development Center (CPDC) and law libraries here at the Law School, as well as in many law school libraries around the country. There are other directories (BNA, Judicial Yellow Pages) that can give you helpful contact information, as well. You may also want to search recent opinions by running a search in Lexis and Westlaw. (This is most often done when preparing for interviews, however.) Interviewing Strategies and Logistics - If you are invited to interview, you will need to schedule your interview quickly. The cost of travel expenses will be paid by you. Use the opportunity to interview with a judge in a given city to leverage interviews with other judges to whom you have applied. Call them up and let them know you will be coming to town and would like to meet with them. Judges understand the time, money and logistical costs involved and many will accommodate your schedules (if interested and within limits). If you get offered a clerkship, many judges will give you a day or so to think it over. (There are those that expect an on-the-spot acceptance.) In general, it is extremely rare to decline an offer from the first judge who extends one. You probably should be prepared to accept offers from judges with whom you have interviewed. |
