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Magistrate Clerkship - Is it worth it?
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Date: February 22nd, 2009 1:32 AM Author: smoky naked garrison I will probably finish my 2L at just above median at a top 40ish law school and really wanted to do a clerkship. I realize clerkships will be harder to come by because of the economy, but I feel like I have a decent shot at a Federal Magistrate clerkship in a smaller town in my state. Assuming I don't have a full time job offer at a firm before 3L year, will a magistrate clerkship still make me marketable for firms even if the clerkship is in some rural town?
Also, assuming I do a clerkship for a magistrate judge, would I be competitive for a more prestigious federal district clerkship the following year (relative to a new law school grad with better grades/law school)? |
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Date: February 22nd, 2009 1:36 AM Author: Turquoise People Who Are Hurt Way better than being unemployed. I wouldn't count on getting a boost out of it though. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#10969839) |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 6:50 PM Author: floppy wine wrinkle cuckoldry nah man, midlaw likes magistrate and it'd make him more competitive for a better clerkship (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14316063) |
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Date: February 22nd, 2009 1:49 AM Author: Spectacular orchid public bath Sure, it's a good experience. Do you or a prof you're tight with have a connection to the MJ? MJ's in a major city will get hundreds of apps, and even one in a small town will probably get 50-100 ... and I have to say median at a T40 will not make you stand out.
Might make you a bit more marketable to firms. D.Ct. will depend on how tight your MJ is with the D.Ct. judges. It won't hurt, but it's far from a guarantee. |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 6:47 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14316019) |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 7:16 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14316276) |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 8:06 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14316598) |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 11:54 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14318529) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:53 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14355196) |
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Date: March 13th, 2010 1:46 AM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14376570) |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 6:50 PM Author: floppy wine wrinkle cuckoldry magistrate would be cr under those circumstances (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14316057) |
Date: February 24th, 2009 3:22 PM Author: smoky naked garrison Assuming I get and take a magistrate clerkship in a really small town, how much of a competitive boost could I receive when applying for first-year associate positions in 2011?
For example, would an employer prefer someone who graduated median from a 40ish law school with a federal magistrate clerkship over a grad straight out of law school who graduated top third from a similarly ranked law school (assuming everything else is relatively equal)?
I know a federal magistrate clerkship won't HURT my employment prospects, but I wanted to see what kind of boost I can get from a clerkship. Also, I'm not taking about getting into BIGLAW, but at a decent regional or boutique firm. |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 6:51 PM Author: floppy wine wrinkle cuckoldry it won't hurt you. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14316072) |
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Date: February 24th, 2009 3:30 PM Author: Vibrant rigor MJs are just fine. It's good experience. You see just about everything a DCt judge sees, just a little more of the dirty work.
It's marginal, at best, for applying up the chain later. It's nice that you have the experience clerking, which means that a DCt judge might want you because you "get" the system a little more, but a lot more is on grade.
As for employment options, you're in a bind with those grades. Same thing--MJ will help, but it's marginal at best. Maybe your MJ still has some connections at his old firm.
Basically, it's much more worthwhile to work your tail off as a 3L to bring that cumulative GPA up than poke around XO asking how much an MJ can add to your resume. A 0.05 GPA bump is going to look a lot better than most resume filler. |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 8:13 AM Author: federal nowag would it give you a boost for other federal jobs? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14312180) |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 8:49 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14317044) |
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Date: March 7th, 2010 2:50 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14322286) |
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Date: March 8th, 2010 12:38 AM Author: exhilarant fortuitous meteor library maybe jobs with the social security administration... (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14329068) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:12 PM Author: federal nowag why them specifically? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354754) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 10:51 PM Author: Lascivious state b/c MJs routinely handle appeals from SSA rulings. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14356722) |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 6:47 PM Author: diverse macaca step-uncle's house What school? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14316026) |
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Date: March 6th, 2010 6:55 PM Author: federal nowag I am in an almost identical situation. Have already passed a bar and worked for a bit though. Went to a T50, top 40% grades, 2ndary journal, moot court and have a flyover magistrate interview in a couple weeks. My current job is fed, but in a horrible city where I have no intention of living longterm and the work is dead end, monotonous, and terrible. The clerkship is closer to where I want to live, but is only a year long. Quitting a permanent job, no matter how terrible, takes balls ITE, but doing the clerkship would add to my resume. Go for it if offered? My goal is to stay in fed govt long term. Would doing this for a year improve chances at getting a better federal job (at an agency that does litigation, etc ie EEOC, Labor et al)? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14316100) |
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Date: March 8th, 2010 12:39 AM Author: exhilarant fortuitous meteor library if you like the MJ and feel he/she has decent gov connections, this would be a wise move. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14329078) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:11 PM Author: federal nowag ty dood (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354748) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:22 PM Author: Bipolar spruce weed whacker is this a coast or central flyover? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354862) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:22 PM Author: federal nowag flyover (I am from flyover) (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354872) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:23 PM Author: Bipolar spruce weed whacker mind saying coa? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354884) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:27 PM Author: federal nowag it isnt a COA clerkship, but the circuit is in flyover. That's all Im saying. Why? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354922) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:29 PM Author: Bipolar spruce weed whacker just curious brosef. was asking in which circuit is the dct. trying to gauge my chances is all (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354954) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:30 PM Author: federal nowag you got a DCt interview? good luck (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354968) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:31 PM Author: Bipolar spruce weed whacker no dooder i got dinged from my dct. but im trying to see where im competitive for this fall. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354976) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:32 PM Author: federal nowag how do you think you messed up in the interview? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14354988) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:34 PM Author: Bipolar spruce weed whacker i did only corp work at latham and took all corp courses at CLS. i have no lit or writing experience. ive gotten dinged from 5 clerkships after being grilled about things like a motion in limine, whatever that is!
edit: also, ite, of the 5 dings, 4 judges interviewed 10-20 people for one spot; 1 judge interviewed 3. even if you give a great interview you still will prob get dinged. |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:46 PM Author: federal nowag were all the interviews really substantive questions? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14355130) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:57 PM Author: Bipolar spruce weed whacker interview Qs tend not to be substantive. usually it goes like this: 1) discuss how you came (plane/train/car) 2) discuss geographic trend of resume 3) discuss latham pwnage x-- [at some point between 1)-5) ......Discuss commmon interests / interest listed at bottom of resume / organic good conversation 5) so you did corporate work at latham? 6) discuss corporate work you did and why lit now? 7) so why do you want to clerk exactly? 8) and where is your writing experience then? 9) ok but you wouldn't know what a [insert litigation motion i have never heard of] is? 10) is there anything you want to tell me that's not on your resume? 11) well you are a great candidate and have a great resume. 12) i have a few more candidates i promised id interview! 13) youll hear from me in the next 2-3 weeks. |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 7:58 PM Author: federal nowag im just gonna try to shoot the shit with the guy (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14355272) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 8:01 PM Author: Bipolar spruce weed whacker they de-rail shit every time. this isn't a firm interview: completely different. i tried appearing aloof/friendly/shooting shit on my first one and judge kept trying to switch back to the inorganic "why clerk," "why this district," "where is your writing experience" questions. That was my only 3 ppl interviewing for 1 spot interview. And I got pwnd, likely because I treated it like a firm interview instead of appearing like a super eager lit douche. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14355303) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 8:15 PM Author: federal nowag those three questions are cake for me: I have family there and want to return longterm, I want to tackle new complex challenging problems while contributing to judicial process and learning interesting areas of law, and I was on ed board, published, moot court etc (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14355415) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 10:53 PM Author: Lascivious state "I want to tackle new complex challenging problems while contributing to judicial process and learning interesting areas of law"
If you were interviewing in my chambers I would ding you for this before you even got to the judge. |
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Date: March 11th, 2010 7:01 PM Author: demanding spot circlehead what should the answer be? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14364480) |
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Date: March 13th, 2010 4:58 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14381580) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 8:08 PM Author: Seedy Ladyboy Stage no (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14355371) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 8:14 PM Author: federal nowag y dooder (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14355408) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 9:40 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14356001) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 10:54 PM Author: Lascivious state Worth it compared to what? Read up on what MJs do and then figure it out. Ironically, MJ work is probably better for biglaw than D. Ct. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14356758) |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 11:41 PM Author: Supple liquid oxygen den What rank would you need at a T30 state school (think Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana) to get one of these? Need law review? I mean, not for the purpose of getting biglaw of course, but just to get some sort of job.
I would imagine it's harder than a state-level appeals court but how much harder? |
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Date: March 10th, 2010 11:46 PM Author: Lascivious state Depends where. In a competitive district you'd probably need top 10-15% + journal. In Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana you'd probably be OK with top 1/3 + journal. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14357224) |
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Date: March 19th, 2010 9:16 PM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14438792) |
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Date: March 13th, 2010 10:00 AM Author: federal nowag (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=937821&forum_id=2#14378004) |