2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread Forum

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runinthefront

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by runinthefront » Thu Mar 02, 2017 10:44 pm

Anonymous User wrote:For those who unsuccessfully applied to Kearse, did you recently receive a signed letter in the mail? I'm just wondering if she does this for everyone, or only those deep in the running.
What difference would/should this make to a rejected applicant? (I hope my tone doesn't come off aggressive/snarky; I'm genuinely curious)
Last edited by runinthefront on Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 02, 2017 11:14 pm

Because it indicates how competitive one is for other judges on that circuit. Thanks for taking the time to express your genuine curiosity.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 02, 2017 11:18 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Because it indicates how competitive one is for other judges on that circuit. Thanks for taking the time to express your genuine curiosity.
I received a signed Kearse rejection letter last year and came away with the impression that if she is that kind in her rejections she is probably an excellent judge to work for. I have no idea whether I was close to her hiring standard or not, but FWIW I was eventually hired on the 9th.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 02, 2017 11:20 pm

Thanks. I got the same exact impression.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:35 pm

I got a rejection letter from Kearse 2 years ago. Ended up with a different 2d circuit clerkship.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 06, 2017 10:44 pm

Has anyone heard back from Chief Judge Howell on DDC after an interview?

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A. Nony Mouse

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Tue Mar 07, 2017 7:52 am

Anonymous User wrote:Because it indicates how competitive one is for other judges on that circuit. Thanks for taking the time to express your genuine curiosity.
I really don't think an individual judge's rejection practices serve as any kind of reliable indicator of your competitiveness.

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mjb447

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by mjb447 » Tue Mar 07, 2017 11:01 am

A. Nony Mouse wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Because it indicates how competitive one is for other judges on that circuit. Thanks for taking the time to express your genuine curiosity.
I really don't think an individual judge's rejection practices serve as any kind of reliable indicator of your competitiveness.
Yeah, I didn't think runinthefront's question was unreasonable. Clerk hiring is idosyncratic, so you can't know if something in your application that made ALK like you (not enough to hire you, though) is something that another judge is going to like. To the extent that competitive for ALK is also competitive for other judges, you probably already have a lot of information about whether you're generally competitive because you know what law school you went to, what your GPA/class rank were, what your work/extracurrics are, etc. Not sure how much additional information there is in a single written rejection. (Also, it's worth noting that some judges on the 2d [e.g. RCW, PWH] are willing to reach a lot lower than others [e.g. RAK, PNL, GEL, DAL]. )

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Mar 12, 2017 3:55 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Also curious if anyone has received a Wilkins (DC Cir) interview. His OSCAR profile says interviewees will be notified no later than Monday 2/13.
Anyone get a call today? Assuming if we don't hear today then it's a ding.
He appears to be following his OSCAR post.
Apparently, Wilkins has now finished hiring up to 2019-20. (!)
Last edited by Anonymous User on Sun Mar 12, 2017 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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radio1nowhere

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by radio1nowhere » Sun Mar 12, 2017 6:39 pm

le tag

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:03 pm

Anyone heard from Thacker on the 4th Cir.?

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anon sequitur

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by anon sequitur » Wed May 10, 2017 11:58 am

People giving up on 2018-19 already?

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deuceindc

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by deuceindc » Wed May 10, 2017 1:00 pm

anon sequitur wrote:People giving up on 2018-19 already?
Not entirely, but the numbers are simply against us at this point. Don't fight reality.

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nothingtosee

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by nothingtosee » Wed May 10, 2017 1:28 pm

deuceindc wrote:
anon sequitur wrote:People giving up on 2018-19 already?
Not entirely, but the numbers are simply against us at this point. Don't fight reality.
Numbers were always against you. There are still many good judges hiring

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mjb447

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by mjb447 » Wed May 10, 2017 1:43 pm

I think people have more of an opportunity to 'shop' and be strategic earlier in the cycle when there are more positions available and a lot of hiring is happening all at once. Most of the activity in this thread is about shopping and being strategic, so there are fewer questions now. Doesn't mean people have totally given up or that you can't still land a good position for this term.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by magikarp » Wed May 10, 2017 7:10 pm

mjb447 wrote:I think people have more of an opportunity to 'shop' and be strategic earlier in the cycle when there are more positions available and a lot of hiring is happening all at once. Most of the activity in this thread is about shopping and being strategic, so there are fewer questions now. Doesn't mean people have totally given up or that you can't still land a good position for this term.
^^^

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu May 11, 2017 12:41 pm

I think people have more of an opportunity to 'shop' and be strategic earlier in the cycle when there are more positions available and a lot of hiring is happening all at once. Most of the activity in this thread is about shopping and being strategic, so there are fewer questions now. Doesn't mean people have totally given up or that you can't still land a good position for this term.
Is it already past this stage for the 19-20 cycle?

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu May 11, 2017 12:55 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
I think people have more of an opportunity to 'shop' and be strategic earlier in the cycle when there are more positions available and a lot of hiring is happening all at once. Most of the activity in this thread is about shopping and being strategic, so there are fewer questions now. Doesn't mean people have totally given up or that you can't still land a good position for this term.
Is it already past this stage for the 19-20 cycle?
No but it's right at that stage. The biggest rush of hiring is starting now and will run through the summer. I got my 18-19 clerkship this time last year and there was a ton of activity around that time.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Thu May 11, 2017 5:31 pm

I just got a 2018–2019 interview this week, and plenty of district judges I've applied to haven't hired yet. Bigger-name judges do tend to hire earlier, but many perfectly solid district judges are planning for interviews in summer/fall. No reason to panic yet!

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Wed May 17, 2017 9:08 pm

Anyone with a bankruptcy clerkship offer? Haven't seen much movement with bk judges.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by deh4 » Fri Jun 16, 2017 3:43 pm

Recommender suggestions?

So I'm a bit behind but there are still some local district court positions open that I'm looking into for 2018.

Of these possibilities, who should I approach about being recommenders:

state district judge (externship)
Well known public interest firm (SA2)

Con. law II prof (well known in the circuit, but only have had one class with him, I'm not worried about this from his point of view, but rather the judge seeing it as only a one off class.)
Judicial externship professor, who I'm currently a research assistant for.
Crim/Int. Crim professor, (professor I'm closest too and 2 of my highest grades, but he doesn't have many ties to the circuit)

As it stands I'm thinking:
Public Interest firm
Externship/RA prof.
Con law II prof.

Thanks for any help. Also, if a judge is non-participating on Oscar, what is the best way to find out their application timelines?

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nothingtosee

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by nothingtosee » Fri Jun 16, 2017 4:07 pm

deh4 wrote:Recommender suggestions?

So I'm a bit behind but there are still some local district court positions open that I'm looking into for 2018.

Of these possibilities, who should I approach about being recommenders:

state district judge (externship)
Well known public interest firm (SA2)

Con. law II prof (well known in the circuit, but only have had one class with him, I'm not worried about this from his point of view, but rather the judge seeing it as only a one off class.)
Judicial externship professor, who I'm currently a research assistant for.
Crim/Int. Crim professor, (professor I'm closest too and 2 of my highest grades, but he doesn't have many ties to the circuit)

As it stands I'm thinking:
Public Interest firm
Externship/RA prof.
Con law II prof.

Thanks for any help. Also, if a judge is non-participating on Oscar, what is the best way to find out their application timelines?
I would replace Con Law prof with Crim Prof, unless Con Law Prof a) is known for making calls/reaching out and b) you think he/she would do that for you. A professor who writes a great rec > a big name prof who writes a solid but non-noteworthy rec

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:02 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Anyone heard from Thacker on the 4th Cir.?
Late reply, and I'm applying for 2019-2020, but I got a hand-signed ding shortly after applying. I get the sense she wants WV ties.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 16, 2017 11:55 pm

nothingtosee wrote:
deh4 wrote:Recommender suggestions?

So I'm a bit behind but there are still some local district court positions open that I'm looking into for 2018.

Of these possibilities, who should I approach about being recommenders:

state district judge (externship)
Well known public interest firm (SA2)

Con. law II prof (well known in the circuit, but only have had one class with him, I'm not worried about this from his point of view, but rather the judge seeing it as only a one off class.)
Judicial externship professor, who I'm currently a research assistant for.
Crim/Int. Crim professor, (professor I'm closest too and 2 of my highest grades, but he doesn't have many ties to the circuit)

As it stands I'm thinking:
Public Interest firm
Externship/RA prof.
Con law II prof.

Thanks for any help. Also, if a judge is non-participating on Oscar, what is the best way to find out their application timelines?
I would replace Con Law prof with Crim Prof, unless Con Law Prof a) is known for making calls/reaching out and b) you think he/she would do that for you. A professor who writes a great rec > a big name prof who writes a solid but non-noteworthy rec
I would be careful about the bolded statement above. For at least some judges, it is incorrect: if judges know a particular professor or hold him/her in high esteem for whatever reason (scholarship, reputation, previous work, etc.), that prof's recommendation, even if not as glowing, can carry more weight than a professor who knows the applicant better. I've had judges (multiple) say this to me in person, during interviews, about how much they respect/value the word of particular professors. I'd advise you ask your career services office for more info on this particular question, at the least.

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Re: 2018-2019 Clerkship Application Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Jun 18, 2017 3:02 pm

Has Pallmeyer (ND-IL) made her calls yet?

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


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