Less than a month of the clerkship to go

With what little time I have left in my clerkship, I must confess that I am going to miss it. I certainly recommend it to anyone, and I believe it's reasonable to assume that anyone who took a clerkship would agree that it's a wonderful experience. I've written about clerking a few times over the past few months, so here are some more thoughts about it.

I could write many things about it, and perhaps I will write more over the next month and between the time I start the new job, but I'll hit on the high points since now is the time people are probably getting their applications together to apply for clerkships to begin in fall 2009.

Over the course of your clerkship, and hopefully early on, you (the clerk) will start to get a feel for your judge and the way cases are handled in your court. The workload probably accelerates this effort. I found the best way to learn the writing style of the court (and more importantly, the judge) was to read carefully other opinions that had been written in whatever area I was covering. Not only did that give me a good idea for the law, it gave me a good idea of what facts were considered important and how they were presented.

After a dozen or so cases and probably as many weeks, you should become more comfortable in spotting the underlying issues that are really being debated within whatever area of the law is. This is usually more clear in criminal cases, since there are 50 state jurisdictions and over a dozen circuits (plus a supreme court) that have probably already answered the question, albeit perhaps in different ways. I was always pleasantly surprised when I saw a brief intelligently cite to how other jurisdictions or circuits have resolved or handled various issues, and obviously my role as a clerk was to attempt to synthesize them into some workable and easily read format.

After eleven months of dealing with various criminal issues, I am certain I can put together a brief that would either affirm or reverse any criminal conviction (depending on what side I am on), or at least cause the court some pause in going with the other side. (This last comment is a joke).

At the halfway mark, you should be able to spot whatever issue and gauge relatively quickly the merits of the case. Given the volume, you probably have already learned this, and if you've set your RSS feed to whatever decision the US Supreme Court (or your fellow clerks) have written, you should be well aware that current issues always crop up pretty quickly in unforeseen ways. At the very least, if you have the opportunity to analyze some newly created precedent (good or bad), why not use it?

By the end, however, you'll probably be pretty anxious to get started on learning the ropes at a job where your role is less of a neutral arbiter and more of an advocate. Chances are a lot of your habits will carry over, and you've gained a perspective that is valuable to whatever firm you've decided to go with. You'll also be pretty used to the government hours, and I would venture to say that it's fair to assume that's one nicety you won't be able to take with you.

I'm sure I have some other thoughts rolling around in my head about this, but that's enough for now. If any other clerk has something to add, feel free to comment away. I'll save thoughts on the clerkship bonus, some updated application thoughts, and what not for another day.

Tags: judicial clerkships, things you'll learn from a judicial clerkship