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Yesterday, I finished my last of three clerkships, and I have a few thoughts.
(If they are also helpful to pre-law and law students who are thinking about clerking, that’s a bonus.) 1/14
(If they are also helpful to pre-law and law students who are thinking about clerking, that’s a bonus.) 1/14
1. Clerking was an incredibly rewarding experience; in a perfect world, every aspiring litigator would have the opportunity. If you *do* have the opportunity and your finances and family obligations allow, I highly recommend taking it, even if it requires some sacrifices. 2/14
2. I would not trade away any of my clerkship experiences now that I have had them, but three clerkships is too many.* Imo, two clerkships in different settings (trial vs. appellate; state vs. federal, etc.) is optimal. 3/14
*I offer this as a general rule. You’re mileage may vary if you plan to litigate before specially courts, or if you are hoping to work for a specific judge rather than on a specific court. Also, I can’t speak to SCOTUS clerkships; that is way above my pay grade. 4/14
3. Appellate clerkships aren’t just for appellate attorneys. I have often heard from aspiring trial attorneys that they aren’t pursuing an appellate clerkship becuase it isn’t applicable to their practice. But that was not my experience. Clerking on a trial court 5/14
Certainly taught me more about the minutiae of motions practice and trial litigation than my appellate clerkships did, but working on appeals helped me see the big picture, see how it all fits together. This seems like a valuable perspective for attorneys and their clients. 6/14
4. For applicants: If you have the good fortune to have a choice between two or more options, consider more than the relative prestige of the clerkships; who the judge is and the culture of her chambers make for completely different experiences. I enjoyed each of 7/14
My clerkships, but they each was a dramatically different experiences. I worked in chambers where the clerks were treated like part of the judge’s family, where they are treated like valued and trusted associates, and where they were treated like legal post-docs. 8/14
In some chambers, we had lunch with the judge almost everyday and talked through difficult issues as a group. In others, we rarely if ever interacted with the judge as a group. As for feedback on work product, some was slow in coming, some was only given orally, some 9/14
Only in writing. None of these approaches were “wrong,” just different. 10/14
The court you are clerking on also makes a difference. I clerked on two different fed circuit courts and they were so different that, in many ways, it felt like I was clerking for the first time. These are all things to consider when making a choice between offers. 11/14
5. I can’t speak to SCOTUS justices, but the political motivations among lower court judges are vastly overstated. I clerked for judges appointed by Bush (2), Obama, and Trump, and I never saw any of them make political calculations. I did see imperfect humans struggle 12/14
With difficult legal problems, without enough time and constrained by the arguments presented by lawyers who (usually) also lack sufficient time and resources. Sure, judges have priors, but the judges I worked for took great pains to put their priors on the shelf. 13/14
At bottom, they really just wanted to get the law right.
In short, I didn’t see many (though there are some) politician in robes. I did see *a lot* of humans in robes, doing their best in an imperfect world. 14/14
In short, I didn’t see many (though there are some) politician in robes. I did see *a lot* of humans in robes, doing their best in an imperfect world. 14/14
I am glad others are finding this helpful. I do not claim to be an expert, but if anyone has questions about applying for clerkships or clerking itself, my DMs are open. I am happy to help in any way I can.
