S.D.Fl. & 11th Cir. Hiring Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have insight on the credentials needed for a shot at an A3 clerkship in Miami, either S.D.Fl. or 11th Cir.? Most interested in credentials necessary from HYS (with strong ties) as well as if an S.D.Fl. clerkship opens up the door for an interview with Marcus, Jordan, or Rosenbaum

[Anonymous User]

Given strong ties, anything at or above median for dc. And yes, clerking at dc helps for appeals.

Usually top 5% for from a T1; top 10% or so from a lower-tier t-14; at or above median from HYS. Local ties tend to help a lot, though.

[Anonymous User]

Marcus is very into prestige, so HYS opens the door for him. Clerking for him can apparently be very rough though. Jordan requires strong ties and usually a first clerkship or several years of experience. Rosenbaum also requires several years of experience. Jordan hires a lot of SDFLA clerks, especially from Altonaga. Rosenbaum also hires district clerks.

District judges in Miami vary. Many have 2 year clerkships, which is no good. Some others seem to mostly hire local. Your best shots coming from HYS are Altonaga, Moreno, Gayles, and possibly the new judges Altman and Ruiz.

[Anonymous User]

I’d just blanket sd. As for two-year terms, I’m only aware of Ungarro, Williams, and Graham requiring that. Rest are one-year terms, with the exception of Cook who I think requires 1.5.

Given ties, OP should have a decent chance if he/she has decent grades and recs. Best bet would be to find a mutual contact with one of their clerks and have them pass it along or put a word in.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the responses. This is great info considering the lack of talk about Miami on TLS! Is it true most S.D.Fl. Judges want experience?

[Anonymous User]

Why are two year clerkships no good? It gets redundant after year 1? The financial opportunity cost? Too much time out of practice?

[Anonymous User]

Also, as to being local: would someone at, say HK Or WC have a better shot than a Miami native working at a tippy top NY firm? It seems like the people at local firms clean up but wondering how much of that is self selection, although I’ve heard something about Jordan wanting people committed to the local community

[Anonymous User]

Why are two year clerkships no good? It gets redundant after year 1? The financial opportunity cost? Too much time out of practice?

All three of these, assuming your post-clerkship goal is biglaw. The marginal benefit of a second clerkship year for the same judge just isn't great: you're losing another year of biglaw pay, not getting an additional bonus, and not picking up all that much experience of value to your career at the firm that you couldn't get in one year. But judges LOVE two-year clerkships--my judge always half-joking complains that by the time his clerks (all one-year) learn how to do the job, it's time for them to leave.

If you want to clerk and your best/only option is a 2-year spot, this shouldn't stop you. But it's a better bet for someone looking to become an AUSA, public defender, or career clerk than for someone firm-minded.

[Anonymous User]

Why are two year clerkships no good? It gets redundant after year 1? The financial opportunity cost? Too much time out of practice?

All three of these, assuming your post-clerkship goal is biglaw. The marginal benefit of a second clerkship year for the same judge just isn't great: you're losing another year of biglaw pay, not getting an additional bonus, and not picking up all that much experience of value to your career at the firm that you couldn't get in one year. But judges LOVE two-year clerkships--my judge always half-joking complains that by the time his clerks (all one-year) learn how to do the job, it's time for them to leave.

If you want to clerk and your best/only option is a 2-year spot, this shouldn't stop you. But it's a better bet for someone looking to become an AUSA, public defender, or career clerk than for someone firm-minded.

Even better honestly, my end goal is AUSA in S.D.Fl.

[Anonymous User]

In that case the second year could really be helpful, depending on how the SD Fla office hires. If they hire directly off of clerkships, having clerked for two years probably helps more than it hurts, because you'll have an extra year of trial experience and will also have more time to familiarize yourself with the office. Some offices, generally in bigger cities, hire mostly biglaw alums though, and if that's the case it might be beneficial to get back to biglaw sooner.

[wwwcol]

Others already mentioned the cons, but there are several pros of a two-year clerkship:

If you do big law you largely miss two of the worst years (where you’re doing lots of doc review)

More likely to see trials (many one year clerks never see a trial)

More experience with different areas of law (in two years in a major district you’ll probably have at least some exposure to almost all the most common types of federal lit)

Easier to get hired for a two year clerkship because there’s less competition

This isn’t to say it’s always worth it but a closer call than some might think. And there’s worse place to live for two years than FL