Clerks, benefits, resumes, and post-bar life

One of my friends who clerks for one of the district courts (who has since passed the bar of her state) tells me that a lot of her non-law school friends have been asking, "Well, what kind of work are you going to do now that you passed the bar?" To which she replies (to the effect of): "I work as a clerk, I'll do that until the clerkship is over." And the reaction is, unsurprisingly, one of utter confusion. As a clerk, are you a lawyer? Yes and no. Of course, that answer is of no help either.

Honestly, I've just about given up trying to explain what a clerkship is, and to some degree, even the prestige of the clerkship is lost on someone who has never gone to law school. Thus, my answer to my friend's questions about what it is I do is more along the lines of, "it's sort of a one-year transition job some law students do after law school." This seems to be get rid of most of the confusion. I have yet to come up with the question I hope to get from my friends once I (hopefully) get my bar results: "So what are you going to do now that you're a lawyer." Again, the answer, "my clerkship" would likely invoke the same dazed and confused look.

Speaking of MBE scores, this same friend reported that the raw curve for the 2007 MBE was 16 points, give or take one or two points. I still say this is unsubstantiated, but I would say she is credible. Apparently the score report, however, doesn't go into any other detail than that. More info on the MBE will be posted in the future once I get the actual results.

Part of the reason I am writing this particular entry is because I recently got the chance to look at some of the resumes of those who applied for a clerkship in my court and did or did not get an acceptance to interview (or the clerkship for that matter). Having worked in the resume business to a certain degree before law school, and assisting my friends with their resumes during law school, I was nevertheless shocked at the resumes, cover letters, writing samples, and letters of recommendation about. Here are my top 5 things for those applying to clerkships in the future should think about.

First. Don't say you're an excellent writer and can benefit from this clerkship and then use incorrect grammar in the next sentence. That are a ding. Also, don't spell the judge's name wrong. Seriously. I would love to see if this happens at firms as well, and I'm sure their reaction is much less amusing.

Second. If your GPA is low, that's okay. I'll find it on your transcript. Failure to attach your transcript, however, leads me to think that your GPA must be really bad and therefore results in a ding. To be honest, the first thing I looked at was GPA (which directed how closely I looked at the rest of your resume package). The second thing I looked at was your undergraduate school and GPA (since I've met enough jokers from Harvard that I am convinced that the next generation of law students taught by these future professors is in big trouble). Law school was third. Recommendations and publications were next....

Third. I've read hundreds of recommendation letters. I could write an entire separate entry on what makes a good letter and what makes a bad letter, and perhaps someday I will. In the meantime, I am convinced that most law professors (and I emphasize most) are very bad at explaining why or why not a candidate is qualified to clerk. I suspect this is because most students make no efforts to talk to the professor outside of trying to get some insight into the final. Perhaps ironically, professors seem to remember this sparse interaction and decide, for whatever reason, that this is a good thing to write in their letters of recommendation. It is not. Please use recommendations of people who know you beyond your grade. Otherwise... DING.

Fourth. I am more impressed with someone that is published (since how many law review students are published a year, one or two for each journal?). You should selectively apply to judges who may have an interest in your publication, but it is impressive nonetheless. For those of you who aren't published, that's not a deal breaker, but you should have a second short paragraph accompanying your unpublished work giving me a brief synopsis of it. SSRN hits, while interesting to put on a resume, are almost laughable, so I wouldn't recommend taking up the space.

Fifth and last on this short list (since there are probably five or six more things I also consider). The cover letter is important, but not that important. I read all of them first, so I want some sort of short summary of why you are applying and why you want to take a year off from "real" work and clerk. Unsurprisingly, I could care less that you are "applying to clerk in your chambers because [you] think it will benefit [your] career." I am much more interested in something more than a conclusory thought. All I can say is get some disinterested person who is law trained to read it and give you an objective opinion. You may be surprised at the insight you get with a little help.

My last point is that you need to be able to convey, within the few minutes that I am spending looking over your resumes, why you want to be a clerk. At least then, you may have a good answer for when your friends ask you the same question from the non-legal end of things.

Any other clerks want to put their two cents in? Feel free to share in the comment box.

Tags: clerkship resumes, clerkship letters of recommendation, applying for a clerkship advice, law school resumes advice, what is a clerkship