Judicial Clerkship Information
The Federal and
State Clerkship Process
Why
Apply for a Judicial Clerkship?
The value of a judicial clerkship to your professional
development and ultimate career success cannot be overstated.
It is an excellent way to bridge the gap between law school
and the practice of law. In recent years, some graduates
also have chosen to apply for clerkships after practicing
law for a year or two. Clerking should be an option investigated
by all students.
Clerks have the rare opportunity to view the judicial process
from the perspective of a judge, at the start of their careers.
They read the formal papers submitted by the parties to
a dispute, hear their arguments, and research and analyze
the law and legal issues raised by the parties. Clerks further
draft bench memoranda and may assist their judges in drafting
opinions. These experiences allow clerks to sharpen their
legal skills, broaden their understanding of procedural
issues, and develop a sense of what is, and is not, effective
advocacy. In addition, judges often develop mentoring relationships
with their clerks, which continue on after the clerkships
end.
What is a Judicial Clerkship?
Range of Clerkship Opportunities
There are numerous clerkship opportunities for students
with varying backgrounds and accomplishments. Judicial clerkships
exist at both the federal and state levels. Generally speaking,
federal clerkships are considered by many to be very prestigious,
and, as a consequence, the application process for federal
clerkships is very competitive. The application process
for some state court clerkships may be less competitive,
and state court clerkships provide excellent opportunities
to gain exposure to the bar in the jurisdiction where you
are likely to practice. Specialty courts, the competitiveness
of which varies, provide excellent opportunities to gain
practical experience and expertise in a particular area.
When considering clerkships, think about the following array
of opportunities:
| Federal district and appellate courts
(Magistrate, Trial, and Appellate Judges) |
Court of International Trade |
| Court of Federal Claims |
State supreme and appellate courts |
| Tax Court |
Alien Terrorist Removal Court |
| Pro Se Clerk positions |
State (County and City) General Trial Courts |
| Bankruptcy courts |
State Specialty courts |
| Court of Veteran Affairs |
Administrative Law Tribunals (ALJs) |
| Military Courts (for civilian clerks) |
Staff attorney positions |
The Role of the Judicial Clerk
As a judicial clerk, your duties are likely to include
conducting legal research, drafting memoranda and opinions,
editing, proofreading and cite checking. You also may be
responsible for maintaining the library or the docket, assembling
documents, and performing other duties as assigned. Your
attendance and participation may be expected in conferences
with the judge regarding pending cases.
Clerkship Tenure and Salary
Clerkship appointments generally
run one or two years, and salaries generally range from
the low thirties (for some state court positions) to the
mid fifties. Some students do clerkships immediately after
graduation, and some graduates practice for one or two years
and then do clerkships. Students who practice law before
clerking generally earn higher salaries as clerks. Some
students who obtain federal clerkships and who have prior
federal government experience may be able to secure higher
salaries commensurate with their years of government service
or prior GS level. Also, clerkship salaries may increase
after bar passage or the first year of a two-year appointment.
See http://www.opm.gov/oca/payrates/index.asp
for federal salary information.
An increasing number of state and federal judges are hiring
“life-time clerks” or clerks for three-year
tenures or longer. As a result, clerkship positions may
open up unexpectedly when, for example, a long-time clerk
moves on to a new position in private practice. Some district
and appellate courts also hire staff attorneys who clerk
for the court as a whole rather than for an individual judge.
These kinds of clerkships may be of particular interest
to attorneys who choose to practice law for a few years
and then pursue a clerkship.
If you join a firm following your clerkship, you generally
will be considered a second-year, third-year, or mid-level
associate (depending on the length of your clerkship), and
your salary will reflect the seniority. Some firms also
provide fairly substantial clerkship bonuses.
Trial v. Appellate Level Clerkships
There are some basic differences between trial and appellate
level clerkships. A trial court judicial clerk’s duties
are generally much broader in scope and are likely to offer
a greater variety of assignments due to the nature of the
court’s work. Trial court clerks will draft opinions
(short and long), assist with discovery meetings and conflicts,
and attend settlement conferences and trials. Trial court
clerks also may review dispositive motions filed by parties,
research issues raised in the motions, and draft memoranda
for the judge on the issues raised. Extensive contact with
attorneys and exposure to law firms and witnesses are invaluable
to a student interested in eventually becoming a litigator.
Judicial clerks serving in an appellate-level court review
briefs filed by the parties and portions of the record below.
They research legal questions, draft bench memoranda, and
assist the judge in drafting and editing opinions. Appellate
clerks are often present in the courtroom during oral arguments
and discuss cases with their judges prior to and after argument.
In addition to hiring clerks, many appellate courts also
hire staff attorneys. Generally, staff attorneys have the
same responsibilities as clerks, but they work for the court
as a whole rather than for a particular judge.
Courts that offer exposure to special practice areas include
the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims,
U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of International Trade
as well as state specialty courts. Clerks in these chambers
generally will perform duties similar to trial court clerks
while gaining greater understanding in a particular field
of law.
At either level, you will learn by doing. The insight gained
into the process and the association with and exposure to
specific judges, courts, attorneys, and firms is highly
valued by legal employers.
Basic Qualifications
There are no strict guidelines regarding the minimum qualifications
for judicial clerks. In general, though, the positions are
competitive and thus require students who have succeeded
in law school, in college, and/or in the work field. Class
rank in the top quarter is usually necessary for federal
clerkships. The criteria for state clerkships and specialty
federal clerkships are frequently less grade sensitive,
especially for candidates with outstanding recommendations
and strong writing skills. Information on hiring criteria
is available for some judges in the Federal Law Clerk Information
System at www.uscourts.gov
and in the NALP State Judicial Clerkship Directory (available
in CDAS). Additional information about state court clerkships,
including information about application timing and materials,
can be found in the Guide to State Judicial Clerkship Procedures.
That guide is available electronically or in hard copy in
CDAS. Please speak to a career counselor for electronic
access to the guide.
As previously mentioned, clerkships within the federal
judiciary can be more competitive than at the state level.
In addition, certain circuits, specifically the District
of Columbia, the Second, Seventh, and the Ninth Circuits,
are more popular than others. By the same measure, some
clerkships in certain geographic areas are less popular
and, hence, less competitive. For example, positions in
cities in the midwest (except Chicago) and southwest may
have fewer applications than positions in San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Boston, New York, or Washington, D.C.
Students who are not U.S. citizens may be able to serve
as federal law clerks. The Office of the Assistant Legal
Advisor for Treaty Affairs, U.S. State Department, maintains
a list of treaty-allied countries with respect to restrictions
on compensation of non-citizens by the U.S. government.
Students who are interested in clerking, but are not U.S.
citizens, must specifically inquire about their eligibility.
The general information number for the State Department
is (202) 647-6575, and the phone number for the General
Counsel’s Office at the Administrative Office of the
U.S. Courts is (202) 502-1100. In addition, students should
check the U.S. Office of Personnel’s website, http://www.opm.gov/employ/html/non_cit.htm,
for information about the employment of non-citizens. Citizenship
requirements for state clerkships will vary with each state’s
law. Non-citizens interested in clerking for a particular
state court should contact the court’s clerk.
Steps for Enhancing your Application
To enhance their clerkship applications,
students should pursue extracurricular activities and develop
strong relationships with their professors during their
first and second years of law school. One excellent way
to increase your chances of obtaining a clerkship is to
do an internship or externship for a judge. For George Mason
students, this has been especially effective with the Fairfax
Circuit Court (through the Legal Clinic) and the Federal
Court of Claims. Other activities that judges tend to favor
are participation on a journal or in writing competitions,
moot court and trial advocacy competitions, and clinic experience.
Students also should make an effort to develop relationships
with faculty members whom they intend to ask for letters
of recommendation. Most judges require two or three letters
of recommendation as part of the application process. The
better the professors know you and your legal skills, the
stronger their letters of recommendation will be. Students
get to know their professors by speaking with them after
class or in office hours and by serving as research assistants.
Application Process
Developing an Application Strategy
Before sending off any applications, sit down and consider
your interests, goals, and flexibility for clerking. Research
judges to find a good fit for you. For example, perhaps
a judge always hires one clerk from your undergraduate institution.
Perhaps the judge has a history of hiring George Mason students.
A list of George Mason alumni who
have clerked or will clerk is included on the CDAS website.
What cities or states would you be willing to live in for
one or two years? In what state do you hope to practice?
At a minimum, students should consider the following in
developing an application strategy:
Geographic Area: As noted above, the most
competitive areas for clerkships are major urban areas (Boston,
New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles). Judges
in other cities may attract fewer applicants. Additionally,
students interested in state court clerkships and/or federal
district court clerkships should consider clerking where
they would like to practice.
Ideology: Some students only apply to
judges who run for election as Republicans or Democrats
or who are appointed by Republican or Democrat presidents
or governors based on the students’ political beliefs.
Political affiliation is not necessarily a strong indicator
as to how a judge will rule on particular issues, and judges
resolve many issues that do not implicate strongly held
political beliefs. Students should consider whether they
could clerk for a judge whose views differ from their own.
Many judges welcome clerks who can thoughtfully articulate
ideas that differ from the judges’ views.
GMU Connection: Students are encouraged
to target judges and courts that have traditionally hired
GMU law students and judges who have participated in conferences
hosted by the Law and Economics Center (LEC). For information
about the LEC, visit its website at www.law.gmu.edu/lawecon.
For the names of judges who have participated in the LEC’s
conferences, speak to CDAS or the LEC.
Personality: Judges have different personalities
and approaches to work. Generally, a judge and his or her
clerk work closely together, and students should consider
whether they would feel comfortable working for a particular
judge before applying for a clerkship.
Senior Judges: When a judge takes “senior
status,” he or she may choose to carry a regular case
load or reduce it to a few cases a year. Senior judges also
may sit by designation in courts of other jurisdictions.
For example, a senior trial judge may sit by designation
in an appellate court and hear and decide cases on appeal.
Senior judges may only hire one clerk, making the clerk’s
work load comparable to that of clerks for active judges,
or two or three clerks. Senior judges may receive fewer
applications for clerkships, making them a bit less competitive.
New Judges: Students should consider applying
to newly confirmed judges. The competition for clerkships
with new judges may not be as great. For information concerning
federal judicial nominations and confirmations, students
should monitor www.law.umich.edu/currentstudents/careerservices/nomdb.htm
or www.usdoj.gov/olp/judicialnominations.htm.
Students who have questions about their application strategy
should consult with a CDAS counselor or members of the Clerkship
Committee. Applicants also should speak with current students
or alumni who have interned or clerked for judges in whom
the applicants have an interest. Additionally, law school
professors and administrators may have clerked for judges
or know judges for whom students would like to clerk.
Application Materials
Generally speaking, you will need to have all of the following
materials included in your clerkship application packets:
- Current resume.
- Concise, well-written cover letter.
- Law school transcript including class rank. (If you
are applying in January, please note that fall semester
ranks generally are not available until February. Plan
to send your spring semester rank and consider sending
an update with your fall rank when it is available.)
- Your very best writing sample.
- Two or three confidential recommendation letters. Please
give recommenders sufficient time to draft a thoughtful
letter. Note that in rare instances, some judges (typically
state trial court judges) do not require letters of recommendation
but require only references.
- List of references (especially for state judges).
NOTE: All of your materials should be mailed together in
one large envelope. Recommendations may be included in your
application package or sent under separate cover. The federal
judges strongly encourage students to submit all of their
application materials in one package, including letters
of recommendation. If the recommendations are complete at
the time you are prepared to send your materials, they can
be included. Otherwise it may be best to mail your materials,
noting in the cover letter that the recommendations will
follow under separate cover. If you mail your materials
without including your cover letters, you will want to send
your cover letters as soon as possible because some judges
may not review your application packet until it is complete.
It is a good idea to wait about a week or two, then call
the judge’s secretary or court clerk to make certain
the judge received the packet. Keep copies on disk of all
correspondence and maintain at least one complete set of
materials. This will save you time in the event that a packet
is lost in the mail.
Cover Letters
Your cover letter should be brief and
addressed to the judge to whom you are applying. You should
state that you are a George Mason University School of Law
student, and that you would like to clerk for the judge
in a specified year. If you have ties to the geographic
area where the judge is located, you may include that information.
You should note the application materials you have enclosed.
If your letters of recommendation will follow under separate
cover, you should note this fact in your letter. Generic
sample cover letters are included in this packet at Appendix
A. Some judges prefer very personalized letters.
Those letters may reference connections the student has
to the judge’s alma mater, the fact that the student
has reviewed some of the judge’s cases, or why the
student in interested clerking for the judge’s court
(state or federal, trial or appellate)
Writing Samples
Excellent legal research, analysis and
writing skills are absolute necessities. As such, you will
need to demonstrate your abilities to the judge by selecting
your best writing sample. Generally, students use their
most academic piece as their writing sample. Journal notes,
briefs prepared for moot court competitions, and articles
submitted to writing competitions often make good writing
samples. Students also may use a memorandum written as a
law clerk or judicial intern, with the employer or judge’s
permission, or a paper prepared for a writing or seminar
class. Speak to your recommenders and CDAS about selecting
your best sample.
Recommendations
Most judges will require two to three
letters of recommendation. If a judge requires three letters,
at least two of them should be from your law school professors,
preferably tenured or tenure-track professors. The third
letter, if required, may be from a law school professor,
an adjunct or clinical professor, or a legal employer. Choose
recommenders who will write specifically about your intellectual
abilities and your promise as an attorney as well as about
personal traits that suggest what it would be like to have
you as a clerk in chambers for a year or more. If you know
very influential people whose names are sure to be known
by the judge and who can write thoughtful recommendations
about you, have them write a recommendation for you.
When asking for recommendations, please be sure to give
your recommenders sufficient time to write a letter for
you and provide them with a resume and a brief note indicating
your clerkship preferences and plans. If you ask a tenured
or tenure-track professor at the law school for a letter
of recommendation, please ask them to email the letter to
CDAS at lawcareer@gmu.edu
when the letter is ready. CDAS works with the professors
to generate their letters of recommendation.
You also will need to work with CDAS to create an Excel
spreadsheet containing the names and addresses of the judges
to whom you are applying. Each letter of recommendation
should be individually addressed to each judge to whom you
are applying or to the appropriate contact person for judges
participating in centralized court hiring. The spreadsheet
will be used to create a merge file to produce your letters
of recommendation. CDAS has the names and addresses of all
federal judges in a master spreadsheet, from which students
will create individualized spreadsheets including only the
names and addresses of the judges to whom they are applying.
CDAS also has created a spreadsheet with the appropriate
merge fields for students applying for state court clerkships.
Students applying to state judges will need to obtain the
spreadsheet from CDAS and fill in the names and addresses
of the judges to whom they are applying.
Letters of recommendation are prepared on a first-ready,
first-served basis. In short, the addressing and mailing
of recommendations can be very time consuming, and in most
cases, you will need to assist with this process. Contact
CDAS for information on how to create the required Excel
spreadsheet and to work out specific mailing schedules.
Paying for the postage and mailing the letters are your
responsibilities.
Please note: Confidential recommendations may carry a great
deal more weight than ones the judge knows you have seen.
If you use a non-faculty recommender, have him or her enclose
the letter in a sealed envelope, sign across the seal and
return the envelope to you.
Timetables
and Deadlines
For the latest information on hiring
timetables for federal, state, and specialty courts, please
speak to a CDAS counselor or review the information contained
in "Judicial Clerkships: A Guide for the Application
Process," which is available in CDAS.
Special Note: CDAS Job Bank
For all clerkship positions, do not forget to check the
GMU Job Bank on eAttorney (www.eattorney.com) and/or the
Judicial Clerkship binder for judicial clerkship postings.
CDAS routinely receives announcements for federal, state,
and specialty judicial clerkship openings.
Clerkship Interviews
The Interview
Interviews for judicial clerkships tend
to be quite different from interviews with other employers.
Due to the need for a very close working relationship between
judge and clerk, many judges feel free to ask detailed questions
about your personal life and habits, family life, views
on social, political or legal issues, etc. For example,
judges may ask about your favorite books, or Supreme Court
Justice, or they may ask about recent Supreme Court decisions.
Judges frequently will ask where else you have applied and
with whom you have interviewed. Do not be coy. There is
a great deal of discussion among judges during the selection
process. In addition, some judges will test your analytical
and writing abilities under pressure by discussing your
writing sample (read before the interview), past work experiences,
or coursework or by having you write for them while you
are there for an interview. For specialty court judges (i.e.,
court of claims, tax court, bankruptcy judges, family law
courts, etc.), be prepared to demonstrate and converse about
your interest in and knowledge of the particular field.
Many judges also will inquire about why you want to clerk
for them in particular and your career plans for the future.
When a member of the judge’s staff calls to invite
you for an interview, find out as much as possible about
the interview set-up. For example, how long should you plan
to spend in the office? With whom will you be meeting besides
the judge? If possible, obtain the names of the current
clerks and other staff members so they will be easier to
remember while you are interviewing. (Also check the NALP
directory or Judicial Yellow Book, which may list current
clerks and their law schools.)
To prepare for your interview, research the judge, the
court, and clerks. Be familiar with the judge’s most
significant opinions and the types of legal issues that
arise frequently in his or her court. Make certain you know
the jurisdiction of the court and its geographical boundaries.
In the interview, however, be careful not to reveal the
full extent of your research about the judge. Unlike law
firm interviews where you are expected to show your knowledge
of the firms, a judge may feel uncomfortable if you know
too much about his or her biography or opinions.
Feel free to consult former clerks (especially alumni)
for helpful advice about how to interview. Read carefully
the “Legal Interview and Thank You Letter Guide”
available in CDAS. Always treat secretaries, law clerks,
interns and anyone else with whom you come into contact
at the judge’s chambers with utmost respect. The judge
depends heavily on his or her staff for other matters; there
is no reason to assume he or she does not also depend on
these people to assist in the selection process. You should
be very aware that the law clerks are often heavily involved
in the interview process. Research the current law clerks,
if possible, to prepare for this segment of the interview.
Be sure to have copies of everything you sent to the judge
with you at the interview. And remember to send a thank
you letter as soon as possible after your visit.
Keep in mind that you are responsible for paying your travel
expenses to interview with a judge. You may wish to consider
this fact before mailing your applications. If you are having
financial difficulties, the We Help Each Other Fund may
be able to help with your travel expenses for clerkship
interviews. To request financial assistance from this fund,
you should contact Victoria Huber. In addition, you should
try to schedule out-of-town interviews during the same trip,
if possible, to cut down on expenses. Once you have an interview
lined up with a judge who is out of town, it is appropriate
to contact other judges in the same or near-by courthouses
and inform the secretary or clerk that you will be in town
interviewing with Judge X and would be very happy to also
meet with Judge Y if his/her schedule permits. (If these
judges do not want to schedule you for an interview, you
can consider stopping by the chambers when you are in the
courthouse interviewing with another judge. Some George
Mason students have in the past “stopped by”
chambers when they happened to be in the courthouse interviewing
with another judge. PLEASE check with CDAS for tips before
you attempt such a rarely used strategy.) Finally, you also
may inform a judge in your cover letter that you plan to
be in his or her area over the holidays or spring break;
you might be able to interview during your vacation!
On very rare occasions, a student decides that he or she
cannot work for a particular judge after interviewing with
him or her. If you find yourself in this situation, you
should speak to a CDAS counselor immediately. CDAS will
assist you in withdrawing your name from consideration before
the judge makes you an offer.
The Offer
Forget everything you have ever been
told about job offers! Traditionally, judges have played
by different rules. While it is usually customary to be
given several days, if not weeks, to decide whether to accept
a job offer from a law firm or government agency, an offer
made directly by a judge should be accepted on the spot
(or no later than 24 hours under special circumstances).
It is not considered appropriate to hold an offer while
waiting to see if something better comes along. Most judges
will want a response immediately. Please meet with CDAS
before going on your interviews to discuss the offer and
acceptance process.
After orally accepting the judge’s offer, you should
write to your judge to accept the clerkship formally. The
letter should be short. Once you accept an offer be sure
to promptly contact all other judges to whom you have applied
to remove your name from consideration. Please remember
to also advise CDAS of your good news!
Clerkship Resources
Researching Courts and Judges
It is imperative that you research courts and particular
judges. You should know whether you are likely to “fit
well” with the judge and his or her courtroom. It
is also helpful to know judges’ general hiring timetable
and application requirements, if available. In addition,
for federal court clerkships, it is helpful to know whether
a judge has participated in one of George Mason’s
Law and Economics conferences. The Law and Economics Center
(LEC) is directed by Professor Frank Buckley, and judges
who have participated in LEC conferences may be particularly
supportive of GMU and its students. CDAS maintains a list
of LEC judges or students may speak with the LEC directly.
For general research, there are a variety of electronic
and print resources. The Federal Judiciary web site has
the Federal Law Clerk Information System (www.uscourts.gov),
and this site is extremely helpful for finding information
about judges and their application deadlines. Both Westlaw
(under WLD-JUDGE or AFJ, for example) and Lexis (under Martindale-Hubbell
Law Directory) also have directories and information on
judges. Listed below are some of the most popular research
tools for clerkship information:
HELPFUL INTERNET RESOURCES
Federal Judiciary Web site www.uscourts.gov
(Federal Law Clerk Information System)
Map of Federal Circuits and links to websites of all
Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy Courts www.uscourts.gov/allinks.html
Information about Administrative Law Judges and Administrative
Judges www.faljc.org
US Court of International Trade www.cit.uscourts.gov
US Court of Appeals for Veteran's Claims www.vetapp.gov
US Department of Labor Office of Administrative Law Judges
www.oalj.dol.gov
US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces www.armfor.uscourts.gov
US Court of Federal Claims www.uscfc.uscourts.gov
US Tax Court www.ustaxcourt.gov
US Social Security Administration www.ssa.gov
US Sentencing Commission www.ussc.gov
US Department of Justice www.usdoj.gov
US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Administrative
Law Judges
www.ferc.gov/about/offices/oalj.asp
US Housing and Urban Development Office of Administrative
Law Judges www.hud.gov/aljshell.cfm
US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Administrative
Law Judges www.epa.gov/aljhomep
Virginia Judicial System www.courts.state.va.us
Maryland Judicial System www.courts.state.md.us
District of Columbia Courts
Superior Court www.dcsc.gov
Court of Appeals www.dcca.state.dc.us
National Center for State Courts: links to various state
court websites http://www.ncsconline.org/d_kis/info_court_web_sites.html
Pending Judicial Nominations www.senate.gov/~judiciary
www.law.umich.edu/currentstudents/careerservices/nomdb.htm
www.usdoj.gov/olp/nominations.htm
ABA Judicial Division Section www.abanet.org/jd
For biographies, important rulings, and
insights on judges:
Almanac of the Federal Judiciary (library reference
section)
The American Bench: Judges of the Nation (library
reference section)
Judicial Yellow Book (library reference section
and CDAS)
Judicial Staff Directory (library reference section)
GMU Law and Economic Center's Cumulative List of Participating
Judges (CDAS and Law and Economics Center in the Dean's
Suite)
For addresses and application information:
Judicial Yellow Book (library reference section
and CDAS)
NALP Federal and State Judicial Clerkship Directory
(CDAS and Lexis)
Directory of Minority Judges in the United States
(ABA) (library reference section and CDAS)
BNA's Directory of State and Federal Courts, Judges,
and Clerks (library reference section
and CDAS)
Federal-State Court Directory (Want Publishing
Co.) (library reference section)
Vermont Law School Guide to State Judicial Clerkship
Procedures (CDAS) Behind the Bench, The Guide to
Judicial Clerkships (CDAS)
For general descriptions of court life
and duties of a law clerk:
Chambers Handbook (CDAS)
Law Clerk Handbook (CDAS)
Judicial Externships: The Clinic Inside the Courthouse
(CDAS)
The Courts, an Excellent Place for Attorneys of Color
to Launch Their Careers (CDAS)
copyright © 2004
last updated:
Jun 15, 2005
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