First Impressions 2018 Forum
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Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about clerkship applications and clerkship hiring. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
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First Impressions 2018
Hey guys, it's August and most clerkships are starting now or within the next couple weeks. So I thought it would be a fun idea to have a thread where we can talk about first impressions of our job/judge/etc. Voice any complaints that immediately are apparent. Or just complain about the fact that people going to firm have a fun filled August on a beach somewhere.
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Re: First Impressions 2018
“Hey everyone, we’ve been working our asses off for years trying to obtain the coveted brass ring of a clerkship. Let’s now take the earliest possible opportunity to whine about getting exactly what we wanted.” FTFY
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Re: First Impressions 2018
Yeah, of course. Isn't that what law school trained us to do? complain about expected minor inconveniences?Anonymous User wrote:“Hey everyone, we’ve been working our asses off for years trying to obtain the coveted brass ring of a clerkship. Let’s now take the earliest possible opportunity to whine about getting exactly what we wanted.” FTFY
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Re: First Impressions 2018
You forgot the added step of treating those anecdotal inconveniences as if they were representative of the majority of experiences.Anonymous User wrote:Yeah, of course. Isn't that what law school trained us to do? complain about expected minor inconveniences?Anonymous User wrote:“Hey everyone, we’ve been working our asses off for years trying to obtain the coveted brass ring of a clerkship. Let’s now take the earliest possible opportunity to whine about getting exactly what we wanted.” FTFY
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Re: First Impressions 2018
I'm an outgoing law clerk and I can tell you that my replacement has acted like a total jackass. PSA: if you are starting a new clerkship, your job is to be nice, ask questions, and try to get a handle on your basic duties. Do not make little comments around chambers about how you intend to "improve things" once you take over as clerk.
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Re: First Impressions 2018
First impression (COA) is that I’m surprised how much clerks are trusted with—first to review the briefs and record, first to draft everything, opinions, dissents, emails to other judges, you name it. That’s not to say my judge is distant or uninvolved—quite the opposite as a matter of fact. But he/she expects us to form strong and correct opinions about the cases.
On the negative side....Word Perfect.
On the negative side....Word Perfect.
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Re: First Impressions 2018
Outgoing clerk here. If there's one thing I suggest to new clerks, especially those coming straight from law school, is that it's your job to make a recommendation on the ultimate disposition of the case. If it's a close case, say so, and say why; if you're not 100% sure, say so, and say why. But come to a conclusion, since that's what the judge's job is, and it's your job to make the judge's job easier.Anonymous User wrote:First impression (COA) is that I’m surprised how much clerks are trusted with—first to review the briefs and record, first to draft everything, opinions, dissents, emails to other judges, you name it. That’s not to say my judge is distant or uninvolved—quite the opposite as a matter of fact. But he/she expects us to form strong and correct opinions about the cases.
On the negative side....Word Perfect.
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Re: First Impressions 2018
My first impression, although my judge sends as laid back and approachable as suggested/remembered, I distinctly remember the clerk I interviewed with saying she left at 4-4:30 everyday, but the outgoing clerk said that it's usually 6-6:30. Which is an annoying surprise, although not horrendous.
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Re: First Impressions 2018
Apparently my appellate court's daily dress code is business formal, really wasn't expecting that outside of court days. Guess I need to buy more suits. . .
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Re: First Impressions 2018
SAME. I came from biglaw, where the dress code was standard business casual. Fortunately there’s an outlet mall in town, definitely hitting that up this weekend.Anonymous User wrote:Apparently my appellate court's daily dress code is business formal, really wasn't expecting that outside of court days. Guess I need to buy more suits. . .
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Re: First Impressions 2018
My judge is extremely nice. Co-clerks are great. Nothing to improve, except I don't quite know how to do anything at this point. But that's on me.
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