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How competitive is the application process to clerk at the Mass SJC and Superior Courts? I would imagine rather intense, because everyone from BC/BU to Mass SOL would be interested, not to mention people from places like UNH, VT, UCONN, RWU, and UMaine.

What numbers would typically be a good shot of getting in with the SJC, and is clerking at the SJC better from a practicality standpoint than the Superior Court? The pay at the SJC is nice, especially when you compare it to say Maine.

https://www.mass.gov/service-details/su ... applicants

http://socialaw.com/docs/default-source ... f?sfvrsn=2

http://www.courts.maine.gov/jobs/clerks ... 6-2017.pdf

Obviously clerking at the Supreme Court of the state is more difficult than clerking at the trial court of the state.

Sjc competitiveness is comparable to non-2/9/dc fed d court to get an interview. Prior clerkship usually helps. Sometimes you could use mass superior or more likely mass appeals court as a stepping stone.

Superior court clerkship requires median ish at a decent bu/Bc type school. Maybe top third at a tt or ttt

objctnyrhnr wrote:Obviously clerking at the Supreme Court of the state is more difficult than clerking at the trial court of the state.

Sjc competitiveness is comparable to non-2/9/dc fed d court to get an interview. Prior clerkship usually helps. Sometimes you could use mass superior or more likely mass appeals court as a stepping stone.

Superior court clerkship requires median ish at a decent bu/Bc type school. Maybe top third at a tt or ttt

Thanks for the info!

I would guess that a nearby state's supreme court would be a similar stepping stone to the Mass appellate court, correct? Say someone is licensed in RI + Mass, or NH + Mass:

RI Supreme > SJC
NH Supreme > SJC

Or does the SJC have a strong preference to only hire from within the Mass courts system?

SJC is one of the best state supreme courts in the country, so you can look at credentials to clerk on the highest courts in their peers (CA, NY) for comparison. No idea what the floor requirements are, but I got an interview with top 1/4 at MVPD + prior A.III dist ct clerkship. MA ties help, doubly so if they're to western MA.

RE: paths to SJC through prior clerkship, I assume that RI/NH SC would help more than MA Sup Ct, simply because you'd have more transferrable experience with research and writing. MA Sup Ct or MA App would be helpful if your judge has suction (couldn't tell you who that is/n't, though). Good luck!

I actually only got an interview at sjc after I had already clerked in d mass.

Yes another states Supreme Court would also be a great stepping stone, i would think.

And I re-echo from above that you’re looking at one of the top sscs with comparable power to a fedclerkship at some firms (and depending who you ask). Mass sjc is a big big deal.

Good luck!

tk421991 wrote:How competitive is the application process to clerk at the Mass SJC and Superior Courts? I would imagine rather intense, because everyone from BC/BU to Mass SOL would be interested, not to mention people from places like UNH, VT, UCONN, RWU, and UMaine.

HLS always sends a handful of clerks to SJC as well.

radio1nowhere wrote:

tk421991 wrote:How competitive is the application process to clerk at the Mass SJC and Superior Courts? I would imagine rather intense, because everyone from BC/BU to Mass SOL would be interested, not to mention people from places like UNH, VT, UCONN, RWU, and UMaine.

HLS always sends a handful of clerks to SJC as well.

IIRC from our clerkship spreadsheets, Y also sends 1-2 clerks to the MA SSC each year, and they're all qualified for, by way of having recently completed, circuit clerkships (often 1st or 2d Cir. given geographic preferences).

Thanks for the info everyone!