Legal Commentary

"The system for placing [clerks] with federal judges is breaking down," reports the National Law Journal. 

Are the Wild West days of federal clerk hiring back? That's what some law school administrators and judges fear. They worry that the voluntary system whereby federal judges wait until September of the 3L year to hire clerks is teetering. Judges are choosing clerks earlier in the year and are being inundated with applications as the legal job market narrows. And a trend toward hiring the already graduated means fewer positions are available for fresh law graduates.

I'm not sure how to fix it, but "it" (the clerkship-hiring-"process") seems a mess to me.  Although, as a general matter, I welcomed the success of "the Plan" in moving the clerk-hiring process, and decision, until after the second year (or, more specifically, until after a candidate has at least two years' worth of grades), the situation now seems to be the worst of all worlds.  There is, as the piece reports, a lot of defection from the Plan; schools are not quite sure how to respond; and the fact that the downturn has recent (and not so recent) graduates applying "off-plan" for clerkships puts even greater stress on those who would like to comply with its requirements.  Add to the mix the facts that state judges and courts are on entirely different schedules and systems, and that some (but not all) judges employ the OSCAR system . . . phew.  A mess. 

So, let's harness the Power of Prawfs and . . . clean it up.  Suggestions?