Temporary Clerkship for only one month Forum

[Anonymous User]

This is anon because it is probably obvious which clerkship this is.

This is regarding a temporary clerkship for a US Court of Appeals. The problem is that it is only for one month. Would it be worth it to resign from my job for something like this? Even though it is only for a month, wouldn't it be a great opportunity to have a circuit court on my resume and boost chances of getting better positions down the road?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Have you clerked/written appellate opinions before? If not, figuring out how everything works in a month will be HARD. And I really don't think it would be worth leaving a job for, unless you hate your job and want an excuse to leave. I don't think a one-month clerkship is going to really alter your hireability, unless you make a really great impression on the judge and they go to bat for you (which may be tough if you haven't done the job before).

[Anonymous User]

Have you clerked/written appellate opinions before? If not, figuring out how everything works in a month will be HARD. And I really don't think it would be worth leaving a job for, unless you hate your job and want an excuse to leave. I don't think a one-month clerkship is going to really alter your hireability, unless you make a really great impression on the judge and they go to bat for you (which may be tough if you haven't done the job before).

Is there no way you can strike a bargain with your job? Are you going to be paid for the month? I had a shorter clerkship during a summer in law school and cannot emphasize enough that you need more time to make the clerkship worthwhile as a learning experience. I have no idea how it would impact future employment prospects, but in terms of education I am skeptical.

[Desert Fox]

I do it for your firm bio.

[mjb447]

Count me as skeptical unless you're looking to make a change anyway. Whenever you list this on a resume, you're going to list your dates of employment and it's going to be obvious that you weren't there long enough to learn much. Forming a relationship with your judge to turn him or her into a reference will also be difficult (though maybe not impossible).