Am I doing anything wrong here (interview question) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Sensitive question. Please don’t quote. I’m currently clerking for judge a. Very nice judge and great chambers, but far away from where I want to be. I just started this clerkship last month. It was for a term of one year; however, at the interview, the judge indicated that, while I did not have to stay longer than a year, the judge liked to keep clerks on longer if there was mutual agreement.

The problem is that I want to clerk elsewhere in 2020 and so interviews are starting now. I have an interview scheduled in the city I want to be soon. Am I doing anything wrong by taking the interview when my judge, though telling me there was no requirement to stay longer than a year, expressed preference that clerks stay longer. (I don’t remember what I said in reference s to the judges comment in the interview; I don’t believe I said anything). Also, do I need to disclose this interview to the judge I’m currently clerking for? Help.

[nixy]

There’s nothing wrong with only staying for a year - the judge has made clear that you didn’t have to commit to anything longer than that. (You also don’t know yet if the judge would actually want to keep you on.) But I would definitely tell them that you’re interviewing, just because it’s polite and they’re likely interested, and if you only want to stay for a year it’s probably best to make that clear. I don’t think there’s anything at all problematic about telling a judge “I’m interested in clerking at another level/location/whatever you think best to say, so I’m applying and interviewing, and if that works out my intent is to leave after a year, but I’m open to staying on longer if those plans don’t work out.” (If that last part is true. If you don’t want to stay longer than a year, period, that’s fine too - just make that clear. If the judge intended to require you to stay 2 years, the position would have been advertised as a 2 year clerkship.)

[flapjacks]

I would absolutely not say anything unless/until you have an offer. If you tell the judge, interview, don't get an offer and end up having to stick around for another year, it might make things awkward. Because the two years was always by mutual agreement, leaving after one year is completely acceptable. The only caveat is timing to ensure your judge has time to hire an adequate replacement. When would the clerkship for which you are now interviewing start?

[Anonymous User]

I disagree with the last post, but it depends on OP's relationship with their judge, which sounds like it's pretty good. OP, the question to ask is whether your judge would feel betrayed by you not wanting to stay for the second year. I'm guessing the answer would be no. Because you make it sound like s/he is a nice person who knows you want to practice elsewhere and the second year would be only by mutual agreement, it would be pretty passive-aggressive of the judge to turn around and feel betrayed because you're interviewing elsewhere.

Assuming that's not the case, OP should tell their judge because judges are really valuable resources into how other judges think. My judge was enormously helpful in helping one of my clerk cohort apply for a second clerkship, both in serving as a reference and doing a strategy session and a mock interview. It's also probably better for your long-term relationship with your current judge that you bring him/her into your process early instead of springing this clerkship on them as a surprise.

[Torts Illustrated]

Another vote for bringing your current judge into the conversation sooner rather than later. I'd assume that, whenever you interview with other judges, those other judges will call your current judge. (It's possible they won't, but the safer bet is that they will.) It probably makes sense to have a conversation with your current judge before they get that call.

I don't think you're doing anything wrong at all. And if you explain this honestly to your current judge (i.e., you have personal reasons to want to be somewhere else, geographically), and if your relationship is otherwise good and the judge is otherwise reasonable, I wouldn't expect this to be a problem.