2018-2019 Post-Clerkship Hiring Forum

[Anonymous User]

Future clerk here. Do I need to worry about general California biglaw prospects if I'm from HYS, have SDNY/DDC + 2/9 Circuit clerkships, but have 0 ties?

[Anonymous User]

Future clerk here. Do I need to worry about general California biglaw prospects if I'm from HYS, have SDNY/DDC + 2/9 Circuit clerkships, but have 0 ties?

No. You will of course be asked the reason you want to be in CA. But as long as you don't say "I want to enjoy the weather for a year and then move back east" you'll be fine. The ties question is not as important in post-clerkship hiring because firms generally assume you want to live in their market, as opposed to your 2L summer vacation destination.

[Anonymous User]

Future clerk here. Do I need to worry about general California biglaw prospects if I'm from HYS, have SDNY/DDC + 2/9 Circuit clerkships, but have 0 ties?

No. You will of course be asked the reason you want to be in CA. But as long as you don't say "I want to enjoy the weather for a year and then move back east" you'll be fine. The ties question is not as important in post-clerkship hiring because firms generally assume you want to live in their market, as opposed to your 2L summer vacation destination.

I don't agree with this. I frequently got grilled on "Why SF?" during my post-clerkship interviews so far. I don't have much ties, but I did summer there. If his clerkship is in the 9th I think it's fine, but he better have a good answer if he's coming from the second.

[Anonymous User]

I will chime in as someone with zero ties to the west coast but “shiny” non-9th Cir credentials. In my experience, the original OP will have no trouble landing in CA at a very good firm.

[Anonymous User]

Future clerk here. Do I need to worry about general California biglaw prospects if I'm from HYS, have SDNY/DDC + 2/9 Circuit clerkships, but have 0 ties?

No. You will of course be asked the reason you want to be in CA. But as long as you don't say "I want to enjoy the weather for a year and then move back east" you'll be fine. The ties question is not as important in post-clerkship hiring because firms generally assume you want to live in their market, as opposed to your 2L summer vacation destination.

I don't agree with this. I frequently got grilled on "Why SF?" during my post-clerkship interviews so far. I don't have much ties, but I did summer there. If his clerkship is in the 9th I think it's fine, but he better have a good answer if he's coming from the second.

Again, of course OP will get asked and should have a "good answer," but only in the sense that you should have a good answer to every interview question. There is no need to worry about general biglaw prospects in CA . . . HYS, SDNY/DDC, 2/9 . . . ties are not going to be all that important

[Anonymous User]

Future clerk here. Do I need to worry about general California biglaw prospects if I'm from HYS, have SDNY/DDC + 2/9 Circuit clerkships, but have 0 ties?

No. You will of course be asked the reason you want to be in CA. But as long as you don't say "I want to enjoy the weather for a year and then move back east" you'll be fine. The ties question is not as important in post-clerkship hiring because firms generally assume you want to live in their market, as opposed to your 2L summer vacation destination.

I don't agree with this. I frequently got grilled on "Why SF?" during my post-clerkship interviews so far. I don't have much ties, but I did summer there. If his clerkship is in the 9th I think it's fine, but he better have a good answer if he's coming from the second.

Again, of course OP will get asked and should have a "good answer," but only in the sense that you should have a good answer to every interview question. There is no need to worry about general biglaw prospects in CA . . . HYS, SDNY/DDC, 2/9 . . . ties are not going to be all that important

OP here. Thanks for the advice. The circuit court clerkship is on the 9th circuit but not in California, unfortunately.

[Anonymous User]

Pessimistic Anon here. You're fine still. It's worth remembering that like 95% of 9th circuit big law is located in California anyways. The important thing is just that you didn't spend the last five years on the East coast in my opinion.

[Anonymous User]

When should we be worried if we don't have an offer? I've been telling myself, I'll reach out to a recruiter in early July if I don't have anything by that point. I am no stranger to a long job search (I didn't get my 2L offer until April, and my post-grad offer until February, although I lucked out with my clerkship 1.5 years in advance lol), but I'm not sure I can deal with a long search on my own again. 2L was particularly draining on me. I'm really distrustful of recruiters (or putting my job search in the hands of anyone other than myself - I'm very independent and I take pride in that) especially given the conflicting information out there, but eventually I think I have to buck up and accept I might need to rely on someone else other than myself.

I have been interviewing for the past 3 weeks so it hasn't been that long, still have 5 pending responses, but I'm pretty doubtful any of those will turn out. I've been accustomed to disappointment lol. I'm not sure I can handle this stress if it goes into July. I keep telling myself, end of May something should pull through...

[MichelleMichelle]

When should we be worried if we don't have an offer? I've been telling myself, I'll reach out to a recruiter in early July if I don't have anything by that point. I am no stranger to a long job search (I didn't get my 2L offer until April, and my post-grad offer until February, although I lucked out with my clerkship 1.5 years in advance lol), but I'm not sure I can deal with a long search on my own again. 2L was particularly draining on me. I'm really distrustful of recruiters (or putting my job search in the hands of anyone other than myself - I'm very independent and I take pride in that) especially given the conflicting information out there, but eventually I think I have to buck up and accept I might need to rely on someone else other than myself.

I have been interviewing for the past 3 weeks so it hasn't been that long, still have 5 pending responses, but I'm pretty doubtful any of those will turn out. I've been accustomed to disappointment lol. I'm not sure I can handle this stress if it goes into July. I keep telling myself, end of May something should pull through...

I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new, but very junior associates generally do not use recruiters. From the firm's perspective, the recruiter makes you even more expensive. Unless you have pre-clerkship experience that makes you particularly attractive as a candidate, I don't see how the recruiter would help, but YYMV of course.

That said, I completely sympathize with the stress. The old advice about networking is good--but I'm sure you are already doing that. Are you limited geographically? My predecessor law clerk looked exclusively in a small market. He didn't find anything until well after he left the clerkship and he had to go move to a larger market. I think he regretted not expanding his search a bit earlier. Another friend of mine who had great credentials did not find anything until about a month before his clerkship ended. Which is just to say that you should not panic. For some, the process just takes a bit longer.

[nixy]

FWIW, I knew plenty of people who didn't get jobs lined up till July. They all ended up in good places. So I totally understand worrying about it, but I don't think you need to panic yet.

[Anonymous User]

When should we be worried if we don't have an offer? I've been telling myself, I'll reach out to a recruiter in early July if I don't have anything by that point. I am no stranger to a long job search (I didn't get my 2L offer until April, and my post-grad offer until February, although I lucked out with my clerkship 1.5 years in advance lol), but I'm not sure I can deal with a long search on my own again. 2L was particularly draining on me. I'm really distrustful of recruiters (or putting my job search in the hands of anyone other than myself - I'm very independent and I take pride in that) especially given the conflicting information out there, but eventually I think I have to buck up and accept I might need to rely on someone else other than myself.

I have been interviewing for the past 3 weeks so it hasn't been that long, still have 5 pending responses, but I'm pretty doubtful any of those will turn out. I've been accustomed to disappointment lol. I'm not sure I can handle this stress if it goes into July. I keep telling myself, end of May something should pull through...

I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new, but very junior associates generally do not use recruiters. From the firm's perspective, the recruiter makes you even more expensive. Unless you have pre-clerkship experience that makes you particularly attractive as a candidate, I don't see how the recruiter would help, but YYMV of course.

That said, I completely sympathize with the stress. The old advice about networking is good--but I'm sure you are already doing that. Are you limited geographically? My predecessor law clerk looked exclusively in a small market. He didn't find anything until well after he left the clerkship and he had to go move to a larger market. I think he regretted not expanding his search a bit earlier. Another friend of mine who had great credentials did not find anything until about a month before his clerkship ended. Which is just to say that you should not panic. For some, the process just takes a bit longer.

Not anything new but you're exactly right that's why I'm weary of recruiters. Yet, I have friends for whom recruiters HAVE worked so that's why I'm like, what's the hurt?

I'm limited in the sense that it seems every job requires you to be barred in the state...but I'm lucky to be in a major market (but not NY). I actually have a bar app pending in NY but they take FOREVER so I won't get barred until 2020 most likely. Primarily I was thinking of a recruiter for NY because I don't think I'd be able to advocate on my behalf as effectively as a recruiter could (not sure how far my - I will be barred next year though! - will go).

[Anonymous User]

FWIW, I knew plenty of people who didn't get jobs lined up till July. They all ended up in good places. So I totally understand worrying about it, but I don't think you need to panic yet.

That is comforting. I'm definitely not in panic mode yet, but that makes my panic mode button in July make more sense lol. It's so hard to tell when firms are all on a different schedule and many don't even end up hiring clerks due to need. I miss the structure of 2L hiring lol.

[Anonymous User]

What are people's thoughts on cold-emailing hiring partners about positions if you graduated from the same law school? Seems like the alumni connection would be a decent way to open the email.

[Anonymous User]

What are people's thoughts on cold-emailing hiring partners about positions if you graduated from the same law school? Seems like the alumni connection would be a decent way to open the email.

I've done so. In my mind, there's little downside.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if any NYC firms are still shopping around? Or is it too late at this point? I had an interview a few weeks ago and still haven't heard back, wondering if no news is bad news or if they're still in the process.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know of any offers or dings from Kirkland DC?

[Anonymous User]

How are my fellow mag clerks doing? I knew it would be rough but it's tough. It's hard to tell if I'm doing something wrong. For the interviews I think go really well, I'm still getting rejected. It's hard to keep falling back on "guess they found a Dist or COA clerk!" but I really don't know what I'm doing wrong

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone else had even-worse-than-2L timing on firms reimbursing callback expenses?


I did most of mine in January and February, and I'm still waiting on all but one of them to send me a check.

[Anonymous User]

what are my chances if I am emailing recruiting contacts at V50 NYC firms for fall or even winter 2019 hiring ? I am currently at district court clerkship

[Anon-non-anon]

what are my chances if I am emailing recruiting contacts at V50 NYC firms for fall or even winter 2019 hiring ? I am currently at district court clerkship

Need way more information to say anything accurate. School rank range, gpa, experience, which court, other softs, etc.

You're a bit late for the main post-clerkship hiring from my understanding, but I'm sure spots still open up periodically.

[Anonymous User]

I imagine most people on here have the same March 1 deadline to respond to your summer firms. I'm not against going back, but have other options pending I'd still prefer. What's the best way to defer making a decision? I've heard a lot of people just say their judge doesn't want them to commit until later in the clerkship?

Also interested in the answer to these questions, as I may well be in the same position next year. Is March 1 the standard deadline for NY biglaw? I don't actually know if my firm has a fixed deadline.

[Anonymous User]

Is it totally inappropriate to ask my judge if he might be willing to make a phone call to a law firm recommending me for employment after my clerkship ends (sort of like professors sometimes make phone calls to judges recommending students)? I guess there might be conflicts/ethics concerns, but it seems that in large cities plenty of former clerks work at the firms appearing before their former judges. Just curious if people do this, as I know that at least for some elite law firms, having people call on behalf of an applicant can be helpful when they are applying.

(This might be moot if it's too late to apply to elite firms in places like DC/NY, where apparently they do post-clerkship hiring in the early spring. But my judge didn't allow interviewing at that point of the year.)

[Anonymous User]

Is it totally inappropriate to ask my judge if he might be willing to make a phone call to a law firm recommending me for employment after my clerkship ends (sort of like professors sometimes make phone calls to judges recommending students)? I guess there might be conflicts/ethics concerns, but it seems that in large cities plenty of former clerks work at the firms appearing before their former judges. Just curious if people do this, as I know that at least for some elite law firms, having people call on behalf of an applicant can be helpful when they are applying.

(This might be moot if it's too late to apply to elite firms in places like DC/NY, where apparently they do post-clerkship hiring in the early spring. But my judge didn't allow interviewing at that point of the year.)

Some judges would be fine with making that call, but I don't think there's a chance in hell that yours would be if he doesn't even allow his clerks to interview at certain times of the year.

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone else still struggling? I feel so defeated.

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone else still struggling? I feel so defeated.

You definitely aren't the only one. The only thing keeping me going right now is my friends that clerked last year telling me that a lot of people end up leaving their firms after taking summer vacations, opening up another large batch of spots. We're just going to have to wait our turn.