District --> Appellate Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm on law review at a T14 and recently received a district court clerkship offer. Is this something that would help or open any doors to appellate court clerkships? What sort of calculus exists in deciding to do a second clerkship? Most professors seem to push appellate clerkships, and I know they are more prestigious, but if I don't want to do appellate long term, should I really consider doing it if I will be 30 when it's all said and done?

[lavarman84]

Yes, it will help open doors for a COA clerkship. If you don't want to do appellate work, I'd say don't pursue it. There are others who will disagree with my take because of how prestigious it is, so that'll be for you to weigh.

[Sls17]

Experientially, a district and appellate clerkship are night and day. It’s neat to get both experiences if you want to have them, but I definitely know some people who were pretty strongly suited to just one or the other. I’d start by talking to a friend or alum with appellate clerkship experience to see if that’s something you want to do for a year after district work. They’re prestigious (of course - but your district clerkship is too) and yes, easier to secure with a district clerkship lined up first. But an appellate clerkship is likely not a prerequisite to anything you’d do afterwards. So I’d start by considering whether you want to spend a year of your life clerking on an appellate court (and whether you want to spend a second year of your life clerking generally) and go from there.

[Anonymous User]

Experientially, a district and appellate clerkship are night and day. It’s neat to get both experiences if you want to have them, but I definitely know some people who were pretty strongly suited to just one or the other. I’d start by talking to a friend or alum with appellate clerkship experience to see if that’s something you want to do for a year after district work. They’re prestigious (of course - but your district clerkship is too) and yes, easier to secure with a district clerkship lined up first. But an appellate clerkship is likely not a prerequisite to anything you’d do afterwards. So I’d start by considering whether you want to spend a year of your life clerking on an appellate court (and whether you want to spend a second year of your life clerking generally) and go from there.

Thank you both. This was helpful