LawSchool.Life

I clerked a few times, and most of my judges had done it at least once. If you've got a career person in chambers who manages the judge's duties outside of chambers (e.g., a JA) you could ask them what they think if you're unsure. I ask virtually everything by email so that judge can deal with it wh...

I agree with nony. It sounds like the second COA judge's name might go a little further in the market where you want to practice than the first COA judge's name, but that's a pretty thin basis on which to delay starting your career another year. It's also worth considering whether you'll want to cle...

I agree with Nony. If you're not quite ready to settle into a long-term job yet and you still want to see what's out there/build a "liquid" resume, applying for another clerkship is reasonable, and taking a few days during bar prep for interviews (or illness, or a friend's wedding, or whatever) isn'...

ggocat wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:24 am

Like most jobs, I imagine, worker satisfaction depends heavily on the quality of the manager.

Dialed up to 11, given how small a working environment chambers is and how unfettered judges are within it.

No, but mileage varies a lot.

Oh, good luck on the interview! +1! Bullet points are a particularly good choice for a "getting to know you" interview, as slotting your points into the conversation naturally tends to be especially important and there are often fewer opportunities to speak at length. Thanks guys! Interview lasted ...

lolwat wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 1:53 pm

Oh, good luck on the interview!

+1! Bullet points are a particularly good choice for a "getting to know you" interview, as slotting your points into the conversation naturally tends to be especially important and there are often fewer opportunities to speak at length.

Re: writing out talking points, I'd probably bullet point a few things to say about most things on your resume and maybe about questions you'll almost certainly be asked (e.g., why do you want to clerk [for me, at this location, for this type of judge/level of court]?), but I wouldn't do too much be...

Ok, follow-up. Bracket in the redactions or no brackets? I bracketed in the redactions in my first sample. I don't think it matters too much (i.e., I probably wouldn't bother modifying your first sample), but I agree that brackets are unnecessary here and make it more difficult to read your sample....

Does it matter if I swap out a recommender for my OSCAR application? About a month ago, I sent in paper apps with Recommenders A, B, and C. I'm monitoring OSCAR as listings open up, and one just recently came up. I applied to this judge previously in a paper application. Would it matter if my OSCAR...

Should I avoid taking any seminars? I agree with Nony. You don't want to go overboard, but seminars can help give your application a little flavor if you're otherwise a pretty plain vanilla candidate. A judge trying to get a sense of who you are, which is usually what the interview focuses on, is m...

Aye or nay on mentioning a CALI for Professional Responsibility (required ethics, MPRE class) in a clerkship cover letter? State judges if it makes any difference (course was based on the Model Rules). I’d probably just put it on your resume and omit it from the cover letter unless you have somethi...

What do we need to bring to interviews? A copy of everything in our app, or? I would (with unofficial transcripts only and excepting letters of recommendation). They'll probably have a copy of everything you gave them, but you'll be prepared in case they don't, you'll be able to go over anything yo...

Agreed - this isn’t something it’s really possible to put a percentage on because it’s so dependent on the judge. Just another great reason to do as much research as you can while applying, especially once you land an interview. (It’s not “super uncommon,” though - judges are at the top of an indust...

This is pretty common.

In the chambers I've worked in, you probably wouldn't have had the chance to schedule further out. Once my judges were ready to start interviewing, they were also ready to hire, and the offer to interview was generally presented as "here are two days the judge has available [usually in the very near...

It sounds alright to me. A few random thoughts on writing samples: (1) Something prepared in litigation is usually better than something academic, as it's closer to what the court actually does. You've got that. (2) Relatedly, something taking a definite position is better than a "survey of the law"...

No.

My co-clerk and I were debating whether we should get gifts for everyone in chambers for Christmas and I was wondering if there was a general consensus on this. No one has mentioned a gift exchange and I just assumed there wouldn't be one. My co-clerk really wanted to get a something small (like ca...

I'd call COA "possible," but not much about your application stands out (except maybe work experience, depending on what you were doing). I think your chances would improve significantly with good legal work experience or a district court clerkship, though.

Any reason you're planning to filter by politics at some point? At least on the federal side, and particularly outside of SCOTUS and appellate level, it doesn't come up as often as you'd think and, if you lose a few of your four to five positive responses after filtering for politics, you're not lea...

Your clerkship office should have resources (assuming they'll let you use them for off-plan judges if you're not a 3L) - it's been a while, but I think the Judicial Yellow Book had some of that information. You might also be able to find some of them as reference materials in a law library if your c...

If all else fails, you can try cold-calling former clerks if you can find any on the internet - I never had a problem getting one to talk to me, even absent anything in common, for interview prep. (Bonus: if you end up wanting the job, doing prep can help you look conscientious.) You can't really as...

+1 to most of what's been said here. I don't want to say that it's going to be impossible, but (if you really want to clerk) you're probably going to have to go a lot broader than 20 judges or so - people with much better grades from much better ranked schools would still have a pretty rough time wi...