Judicial Clerkship Nuts and Bolts

Office of Career Planning

WHY CLERK?

What does a clerkship offer?

Refine your legal research and writing and analytical skills

Exposure to diverse substantive areas of the law

Do’s and Don’t’s of Practice

Networking and mentorship opportunities

CLERKSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

FEDERAL COURTS

• District and Court of Appeals

• Bankruptcy courts

• Specialty Courts - limited jurisdiction

(e.g., Tax, International Trade, Military Appeals)

• Magistrate judges as well as Article III judges

CLERKSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

STATE COURTS

• Highest, intermediate appellate and trial courts

• Courts of limited jurisdiction

(NJ tax and VT environmental court)

CLERKSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES

• 31 agencies with 1,300 ALJs, many of whom hire law clerks

Samples: EPA, NLRB, DOL, SSA, FTC, OSHA, DOJ’s Executive Office of Immigration Review

• State ALJs too.

ONLINE RESOURCES

DEVELOP A STRATEGY

Process is time consuming – plan ahead

Significant increase in applications

Factors to consider:

• Experience desired (trial, appellate, ALJ)

• Geography

• Credentials

• Recommendations

• Must meet with me – in person or by phone

Get organized – print resources you need, keep details on what you learn and where you are in the process

Vermont Guide To State Court Clerkships

Symplicity Clerkship Module

OSCAR – federal courts only

www.lawclerkaddict.com

Westlaw and LexisNexis

PRINT RESOURCES

TIMING OF APPLICATIONS

It depends.

Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan Dates

• Applications released, Sept. 7, 2010

• Judges can contact applicants, Sept. 10, 2010

• Interviews and offers start, Sept. 16, 2010

Early Federal Judges

State courts vary

ALJs vary

** Do your research so you don’t miss any opportunities of interest to you.

BNA’s Directory of State and Federal Court s, Judges and Clerks

Almanac of the Federal Judiciary

The American Bench

Judicial Yellow Book

Federal Yellow Book

Debra M. Strauss, Behind the Bench: The Guide To Judicial Clerkships

OTHER RESOURCES

RESEARCHING VACANCIES

AND TAILORING YOUR SEARCH

While you probably shouldn’t be too picky, consider what you want to do and where do you want to be

OCP outreach re state and federal clerkship vacancies (federal and state efforts 2008 and 2009)

Have particular practice area interests? See ABCs of Clerkship Research: Tailor the

Search to Maximize Fit, NALP Bulletin, March 2010 (handout)

Recent judicial nominations and confirmations. DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy posts background information on each nominee:

www.usdoj.gov/olp

National Center for State Courts: www.ncsonline.org

Federal Judicial Center:

www.fjc.gov

Individual court websites

The Application

• How many applications? Personal Strategy

• Resume - flawless

• Cover letter – why this judge, this court and why should the judge select you – what do you bring to the table?

• Transcripts

• Writing sample – your best writing

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

• Usually need 2-3• This part of the process you cannot control. • Request letters even if you are not ready to apply –

give recommenders time to prepare your letters.

WHO TO ASK? • Strongest recommendations come from people who

know your work and can attest to your work product and character

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Asking: Consult with possible recommenders about your clerkship

aspirations, share with them your latest resume and the judges you are considering applying to

Processing:Faculty provide their letters to their Faculty Assistant. Your

requests for letters to be produced must be made to Vera Mencer.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATIONRead material on website carefully.

PAPER APPLICATIONS:Provide Ms. Mencer with an excel sheet with contact information

for all judges you are applying to, name file: “olan.lorri.april6”

When you add new requests, provide a new excel sheet with ONLY new judges.

ONLINE APPLICATIONS:After you draft new applications in OSCAR, advise Ms. Mencer

and recommendation letters will be uploaded into your account.

Online System for Clerkship Application and Reviewhttp://oscar.uscourts.gov

OSCAR

What Is OSCAR?

• Serves as the single, centralized resource for notice of available clerkships, clerkship application information, and law clerk employment information.

• Accommodates judges who choose to receive electronic applications, judges who want to continue to receive paperapplications, and judges who wish to advise applicants thatthey do not have a clerkship vacancy.

• For judges who choose to receive electronic applications -- allows them to sort, screen, andreview applications on-screen, downloadingand printing only the materials they wish tosee in paper form.

OSCAR System Features

• Judges post their clerkship positions and application requirements.

• For electronic applications, applicant submission consists of applicant profile form, resume, cover letter, gradesheet(s), writing sample, and letters of recommendation.

• Separate user interfaces for judges, court administrators, applicants, recommenders, and law schools.

• Data release to judges timed to meet requirements of the judiciary’s Clerkship Hiring Plan.

Applications from law school alumni will be available for review at the time of submission.

Applications from law school students complies with the hiring plan.

OSCAR Statistics

2005 2006 2007 2008

Total Number of User Accounts Judges 388 624 800 1,273 Applicants 4,902 5,614 5,724 7,556 Recommenders 9,100 15,898 24,391 26,652 Law School Administrators 373 434 494 547 Court Unit Administrators 11

Total Number of Applications 94,693 174,363 180,832 241,529

Total Number of Documents 2.2 million 2.7 million 3.2 million

Maximum Website Hits *Daily 3,280,741 4,491,392 1,828,501 1.8 million

OSCAR System Interfaces

JudgesApplicants Recommenders Law Schools

OSCAR

Applicants RecommendersCourt Admins

Law Schools

Judge Features

Judge Profile:

- Judges maintain a profile that identifies basic judge information.

Position Posting:

- Judges post their clerkship positions and application requirements to include application method of electronic or paper applications.

Accepting Electronic Applications:

- Judges see only the applications directed to them.

- Applications can be sorted and screened by:- Law school and/or college- Year of graduation- Class rank- Law review or journal- Geographic location- Publications

- Judges can perform full-text word searches of application documents.

- Judges can flag applications, rank applications, and move them to folders.

- Judges can communicate with applicants via OSCAR email.

Applicants

• Register for an account and fill out an applicant background form.

• Upload application documents to their account—resumes, cover letters, writing samples, and grade sheets.

• Identify their faculty and other recommenders.

• Search OSCAR for judges hiring for clerkships.

• Submit applications in OSCAR to judges accepting online.

Recommenders

• Receive an Evite email to login into OSCAR.

• View recommendation requests

• Create recommendation letters in templates for use.

• Submit online recommendation letters.

INTERVIEWS

• Prepare yourself: Know your resume and your writing sample

• Review clerkship evaluation forms in Symplicity;

• Research judges – speak with prior clerks

• LexisNexis’s “Courtlink Strategic Profiles”

• Westlaw’s “Profiler-WLD”

• Timing of interviews

Where do I start?

• Make an appointment to see me

• Sign up for judicial clerkship listserv

• Regularly read OCP’s Career Blog over the summer

• Speak with potential recommenders sooner rather than later

• Forthcoming: timeline for application process, grade sheet tips, and more

HANDOUTS – keep for reference

Guide to Post-Graduate Judicial Clerkships

Nuts and Bolts – The Clerkship Application Process. Includes:– Resources

– The rewards of a clerkship

– Lexis and Westlaw research tip sheets

Olan, Lorri, The ABCs of Clerkship Research: Tailor The Search to Maximize Fit, NALP Bulletin, March 2010