Someone forwarded me this book the ABA is offering to sell on its website to anyone interested in clerking: The Federal Appellate Court Law Clerk Handbook. Although some books for prospective law students are good (see my list here), I find it hard to believe that this particular book has much value for the people who are getting these clerkships. I'm sure it has some value for somebody though, and I don't mean the author. Just because there's little chance that I would buy it doesn't mean it isn't worth checking out. As I always say, make an informed decision. This book is certainly one way of going about it. Speaking to your predecessor-clerk is another. Regardless if you figure it out by reading a book or talking to former clerks, once you've started a clerkship (appellate anyway), it is a dive into the deep end, and some learn how to swim faster than others.
I do remember reading an article written by former clerks that was of some use though, and you can get these articles for free with your westlaw or lexis access. That article is Gerhardt & Martineau, Jr., Reflections on Appellate Practice in the Sixth Circuit, 16 U. Tol. L. Rev. 625 (1985). Another one is Bright, Appellate Briefwriting: Some "Golden" Rules, 17 Creighton L. Rev. 1069 (1984). I also wouldn't be surprised if another updated article on the topic isn't published sometime in the next couple years.
If you are interested in clerking, I strongly suggest that you try and do it after your first year of law school. Many courts (trial and appellate) hire 1Ls as summers who work as basically assistants to the law clerk. The odds of you getting a firm job are pretty slim to begin with, so why not take all of your theory and put it to work right away? I would bet that your odds of getting one of these summer positions is much greater. Personally, I know lots of law students that did this after their first year, and the value of the experience far outweighs the money you will make (which is zero dollars). Of course, making two grand a week at a big firm after your first year has its perks also.
My pitch for the value of this summer experience as compared to something else has this nugget as an added bonus: you'll have plenty to talk about during your 2L interviews, and chances are you'll have a much better summer than most of your friends. That's the best advice I can do for all you 1Ls about to start finals. Work on those apps during the winter break and send them out the second you get your first semester grades. As far as states and circuits, you've got 1000+ courts to choose from. Most aren't opposed to turning away free labor if you've got the credentials to back it up. Things to think about.
For those of you still in school, good luck on finals. That, for sure, is something I do not miss about law school or school generally.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
A book on appellate clerking? Don't necessarily be suckered in
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Behind the Scenes of an Appellate Court: Clerkship 101
Someone posted a question asking me to describe what my experience as a clerk has been so far. I think if you ask any clerk about their clerkship experience, you're going to get a different story every time. Obviously my story will get better as the year goes on, but I am happy to give my take on my first month of working behind the scenes of an appellate court.
Compared to working in a firm, the first big difference is that you aren't accountable for your time (for the most part). You have plenty of work to do to keep you busy, and obviously organization helps, but you can spend as little or as long as you want on an issue. As long as you get your assignments done on time, with everything perfect, you're doing great. So, in that sense, it is like doing work for a partner or associate; on the other, it's very academic. If you like that sort of thing, you should consider doing a clerkship for a year.
For federal clerkships, I know there is a real trend in working for two or three years before going applying or doing a district court clerkship first, but if you have strong credentials, you will still be fine and still have a good shot. Only about half of the people you'll work with who will be a little older (besides the secretaries and judges). For state clerkships, I think it's a little different, but from my friends who are clerks in state courts, most are right out of law school or clerked somewhere else for a year first. In either case, you will need to have a high GPA, be or have been on a law review, and have an ability to communicate why you want to be a clerk. Once you're in the door, and have accepted your offer, the question turns to this: What's it like to be a clerk? Here's my answer. I'm sure for trial court clerks, their answers would vary.
As far as the learning curve and workload, it all depends. The first month has had some long days, and some shorter days (no golfing days yet). I think the first thing you need to pick up quick is how your judge (and your court) writes. The easiest way to do that is to find opinions that have been previously written in the same area of law that you are working on. For novel things, I usually try and pattern other well-written opinions (or at least ones that seem to be well-written). The faster you can pick up on your judge's writing style, the faster you will get to the top of the curve. Of course, you'll always have to take the edits you are given and learn from them. I would say that it's a work in progress. As far as technical stuff, get used to using short, concise sentences in the active voice.
As far as whether I think I was prepared for the clerkship when it started, I would say I was. Of course, working as an articles editor certainly helped with the bluebook aspect of things, but each court has its own nuances that you have to pick up. For the most part, courts follow the bluebook, so I would make sure that you learn as much as you can from the senior members of your law review if you have any interest in clerking. Of course, there's probably a judge in the court that is far superior to you in editing and can help you out if need be.
Would I have done anything different so far? I think it's too early to tell. Personally, I'm pretty organized, so I can schedule my work day around my assignments fairly easily. Of course, you never know what comes up that needs to be taken care of, so you have to be able to switch gears at a moment's notice. You should also be nice to all the clerks and secretaries. They have been there longer than you, and will remember you if you're good, and even more if you're a jerk.
Is my judge easy to work with? Yes. The most important thing you are looking to get out of the clerkship is mentoring, so if you're personable, it should be easy to get along with most judges. Some judges are more personable than others though, so every clerkship will be different. I'm sure some judges are harder to work with than others, and that's the nature of the working world anyway. I think you just have to hope to luck out. For the most part, you should. One of the most rewarding things you'll get out of the clerkship is the conversations with the judge about the law.
Will you learn a lot? Absolutely. If anything, you'll get an appreciation for how the court thinks about things. You'll also see how ... diverse lawyer's writing styles are. I think you'll be, let's say, surprised at the range of briefs you'll get. You'll be a better writer by the end of your clerkship, that's a guarantee.
I think that's enough for now. The only other thing I would say is important is to get along with all your co-clerks. Dating them is another post for another day. Either way, they are in the same boat with you and pretty much the extent of your social circle for this year of your life.
I'm happy to write about any other questions. Post away.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
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.
