Let's Talk State Courts! Forum

(Seek and share information about clerkship applications, clerkship hiring timelines, and post-clerkship employment opportunities)
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Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Sat May 11, 2013 5:52 am

Seeing as individual state court threads (i.e. the two about Oregon) are woefully unpopular, I thought we could make a broader thread for state clerkships (Supreme Courts and otherwise).

My info:

School range: Vanderbilt-Texas-UCLA
Rank: Top 40%-ish
LR?: Secondary journal
Published?: Sort of.
Recs: Strong, no big names.
2L/3L/Alum?: 2L
Where applying?: Mostly midwest supreme courts. Some others because why the fuck not.
Any other factors: I've been praying to a god of each religion...just in case.

Oregon applications are closed. Any word from anyone? Washington has open spots listed. Wisconsin has an application due at the end of May. Indiana has one spot listed, but applications aren't due until the end of July.

Any other info? A new Vermont guide is coming out sometime next month.

Green Crayons

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Green Crayons » Sun May 12, 2013 10:51 am

From my limited experience (personally, and with some of my peers), connections are very important -- perhaps more so than with federal clerkships. And by "connections," I mean both with the State itself, as well as with the judge/justice. Of course, it's not impossible to get a state clerkship without knowing the judge before hand (either personally or through an internship/externship), but it helps. A lot.

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Sun May 12, 2013 9:25 pm

Green Crayons wrote:From my limited experience (personally, and with some of my peers), connections are very important -- perhaps more so than with federal clerkships. And by "connections," I mean both with the State itself, as well as with the judge/justice. Of course, it's not impossible to get a state clerkship without knowing the judge before hand (either personally or through an internship/externship), but it helps. A lot.
OP here. I understand that. I'm mostly applying to midwestern states where I have connections. But I also realize my number aren't the best, career services pays for shipping, and there's no reason not to give it a shot at some places like Washington. I'm going to have to get lucky to get a quality clerkship. Might as well put myself in a position for luck.

Green Crayons

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Green Crayons » Sun May 12, 2013 10:40 pm

Godspeed with your applications. I was just throwing out my selective bit of knowledge since this is a "general" state courts thread.

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon May 13, 2013 12:06 pm

I applied to just the Oregon courts.

My info is suprisingly similar similar to yours OP:

My info:

School range: GW - WUSTL - Emory
Rank: Top 50% to Top 40%
LR?: Secondary journal
Published?: Not really (e-published in undergrad)
Recs: Strong recs, no big names, although one from Oregon
2L/3L/Alum?: Alum, one year out, currently employed in a good but quasi-legal position (think legal related consulting work) but good law-school legal internships with federal gov
Where applying?: Oregon COA and SC
Any other factors: From OR and went to undergrad in OR

I feel my application is generally strong except for my grades and lack of publication (lol, the two biggest factors! :P )

I haven't heard back from Oregon. I figure if I don't hear back from them in the next two weeks, I'm out of luck.

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon May 20, 2013 9:14 pm

2L top 20%, LR, published, school in 40-50 range


Got a state supreme court clerkship a few weeks back in the same state I live in (midatlantic region), didn't get a biglaw SA so I saw this as a good opportunity to get into an nlj250 in the area (several of the former clerks are at v100s, at least one is a partner). Although most of the judge's former clerks are from the same state, there are some who didn't live in the state and who are leaving the state after the year ends (the current clerk is going to work in the midwest after the clerkship ends for example).

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 25, 2015 12:24 pm

Does anyone know anyhthing about clerking at the Wisconsin Supreme Court?

anonymousposterchild

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by anonymousposterchild » Wed Mar 29, 2017 5:10 pm

Hi there,

I'm curious about trial level state courts - have scanned through the Vermont guide but it doesn't seem to provide many links to postings - is a lot of state trial court clerking all insider trading, or are they more often posted than I'm seeing - perhaps I'm off cycle?

Any insight on what states might still be hiring later in the game would be so appreciated!

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 29, 2017 5:17 pm

I got hired a while back but if this info is helpful:

State: Mountain West/Flyover
School Range: CCNMVP
Rank: approx. top 2%
Law Review: Secondary
Recs: Strong, from professors who are as credentialed as you'd expect at the school
Connections to state: None
Connections to judge: Ideological

If people want more specific info I can PM them if they post questions non-anonymously. I don't want to get more specific here because not a lot of people with my profile clerk on SSCs so I'm easily outable.

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Anonymous User
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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 29, 2017 10:46 pm

anonymousposterchild wrote:Hi there,

I'm curious about trial level state courts - have scanned through the Vermont guide but it doesn't seem to provide many links to postings - is a lot of state trial court clerking all insider trading, or are they more often posted than I'm seeing - perhaps I'm off cycle?

Any insight on what states might still be hiring later in the game would be so appreciated!
You might try looking at a given state judiciary's website. YMMV, but in my state trial court law clerk openings are generally posted there, alongside all the regular job openings. There isn't much of a "cycle"; jobs just get posted whenever a judge has an opening. It can still be pretty informal, though. I got the interview that led to my clerkship after applying to a different judge's online posting; my judge had an unexpected opening, and just asked other judges to forward resumes instead of posting it.

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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 31, 2017 5:34 pm

I'll copy the above format

State: Delaware
School Range: CCNMVP
Rank: approx. top 5%
Law Review: LR
Recs: Strong, 2 profs and clerk from summer judicial internship
Connections to state: None
Connections to judge: Ideological? I guess.

Same as above re, will answer more detail via PM if needed.

Anonymous User
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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Apr 01, 2017 1:18 pm

Anonymous User wrote:I'll copy the above format

State: Delaware
School Range: CCNMVP
Rank: approx. top 5%
Law Review: LR
Recs: Strong, 2 profs and clerk from summer judicial internship
Connections to state: None
Connections to judge: Ideological? I guess.

Same as above re, will answer more detail via PM if needed.
by chance, are you talking about chancery for 2018?

Anonymous User
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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Apr 01, 2017 1:35 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I'll copy the above format

State: Delaware
School Range: CCNMVP
Rank: approx. top 5%
Law Review: LR
Recs: Strong, 2 profs and clerk from summer judicial internship
Connections to state: None
Connections to judge: Ideological? I guess.

Same as above re, will answer more detail via PM if needed.
by chance, are you talking about chancery for 2018?
SSC

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Anonymous User
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Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Apr 01, 2017 4:36 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I'll copy the above format

State: Delaware
School Range: CCNMVP
Rank: approx. top 5%
Law Review: LR
Recs: Strong, 2 profs and clerk from summer judicial internship
Connections to state: None
Connections to judge: Ideological? I guess.

Same as above re, will answer more detail via PM if needed.
by chance, are you talking about chancery for 2018?
SSC
Different Anon but also Delaware Supreme Court.

State: Delaware
School Range: 20-40
Rank: approx. top 10%
Law Review: Yes (senior board position)
Recs: 3 profs who were familiar with my writing and/or me personally
Connections to state: Yes, SA at DE firm but nothing else
Connections to judge: Some ideological similarities I guess

Anonymous User
Posts: 428122
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Let's Talk State Courts!

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:40 pm

Mid-Atlantic SSC

School range: Lower T14
Rank: Median
LR?: Secondary journal
Published?: Yes
Recs: Okay. Nothing special.
2L/3L/Alum?: 2L
Connections to state: None
Connections to judge: Judge is a law school alum

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