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Clerkship Thoughts from Gate 33B

Someone asked in the thread below about a clerkship discussion, which
is something I have been meaning to start for weeks. I guess I was a
little distracted with a test, or something, but what better
opportunity to catch up than now, while I sit here waiting for a
connecting flight at LAX?

Where are you in the timeline? Paper judge lists in? Cover letter
writing? OSCAR deadline looming? That seems about right.

Let me share some off-hand thoughts, and then open a forum. As a
threshold matter, I remember being utterly confused by the lingo, the
timelines, the telephone strategies, and all the rest of it. The
clerkship process is a little like OCIP in that it seems massively
confusing until you have actually gone through it once. Afterward, it
seems relatively simple. So, if you have any questions (particularly
questions you are too embarrassed to ask the CDO in person), fire
anonymously away. Someone will answer.

There are four specific pieces of advice I would like to share. I
realize perspectives vary and so you should not take this as gospel.
Just take it as one person's perspective.

First, do not hang your soul on this process. Being a clerk is in no
way a measure of your legal mind, your academic merit, or career
potential, much less your worth as a human being. Not only is the
hiring process "highly competitive" (how many times have you heard
that one?), but it is also quite arbitrary. Approaching the process
with a "well, let's see what happens" mindset, in my opinion, is the
only healthy approach. Stay healthy.

Second, try not to compare us to Yale and instead reach out to the CDO
and see what they can do for you. We may not have the crazy clerkship
guns of other schools, I found our guns more than adequate. I found
the people there far helpful than I expected. They answered my
questions, they passed on tips based on what they remembered about my
applications, and they really did seem to know what they were doing.
Small example: I know for a fact that ES went the extra mile for at
least one of my classmates well after the clerkship hiring process
ended, and as a result classmate is now a federal clerk with a
prominent bay area judge. I realize opinions vary, and I don't want to
open a debate about the CDO (please, I really don't), but my
experience was positive, and I have no reason to believe that yours
can be positive, too.

Third, if it is your application, it is your responsibility. Even
given what I just said about the CDO, you are seeking a clerkship so
that <i>you</i> can benefit by being a clerk. It matters more to you
than to anyone else, and I think that keeping this perspective is
helpful -- this whole affair isn't profoundly important; it is just
profoundly important to you. On one hand, if things go wrong with your
application, they will affect you more than anyone else. But on the
other, the fruits of extra energy on your part will be reaped by you
and no one else. No one is going to hand you a clerkship for being
yourself -- no matter what your rank, how awesome your personality, or
how catchy your resume's interests section, you still have to put
yourself out there, and a judge still has to decide to like you. What
I am saying is that the more you own this process, the more you will
stand out from the thousands and thousands of other applicants who are
plodding through the paces. Which means the more likely you are to
become a clerk.

Fourth, quality not quantity. I now know that a key to tipping the
clerkship hiring arbitrariness in your favor is to focus on judges
within your reach and show them that you care about working for them.
Try to (professionally) reach out and touch your judges, instead of
spamming every judge in OSCAR. The judges with whom I interviewed all
told me that after routine screening for grades, schools, etc., they
pulled my application because it appeared that I had genuine desire to
work for that judge in particular. We all know to "personalize our
cover letters" and so I can conclude only that despite how common that
advice is, few people actually follow it. Strive to be one of the
people who does. You've heard it a million times, but it's true:
quality buys far more here than quantity.

Those are my off-the-cuff thoughts on this. Fire away in the comments
with your questions. I am sure other folks who have been through this
process will chime in, and even if they disagree with what I have said
here, you should listen to them.

Good luck!

(Sent from my phone.)

Full post as published by Nuts & Boalts on August 02, 2010 (boomark / email).