Impact of getting fired from a clerkship? Forum

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Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jun 07, 2019 12:54 pm

What impact does getting fired from a clerkship have? FYI I did pass the background check for my subsequent legal job in spite of this; just wondering what ramifications anyone in the same boat has faced.

nixy

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by nixy » Fri Jun 07, 2019 1:54 pm

Well, you’ve certainly burned bridges with that judge, have to hope they don’t know a lot of people you end up working with in the future, and you pretty much lose any benefit you’d have had from clerking, as I wouldn’t put this on your resume from now on. But it’s not like it’s a crime or an ethical violation (unless you got fired for either of those things). You’ve just probably screwed yourself/your reputation in certain quarters.

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Jun 08, 2019 12:14 am

A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:18 pm

nixy wrote:Well, you’ve certainly burned bridges with that judge, have to hope they don’t know a lot of people you end up working with in the future, and you pretty much lose any benefit you’d have had from clerking, as I wouldn’t put this on your resume from now on. But it’s not like it’s a crime or an ethical violation (unless you got fired for either of those things). You’ve just probably screwed yourself/your reputation in certain quarters.
Thankfully I don't want to end up working in the same state that this clerkship was in.

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Anon-non-anon

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anon-non-anon » Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:52 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.
As in, you didn't keep a good list; or you didn't keep up with the motions and they stacked up/passed six month list?

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:08 am

Anon-non-anon wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.
As in, you didn't keep a good list; or you didn't keep up with the motions and they stacked up/passed six month list?
I was inconsistent in maintaining the log and things sometimes stacked (though not to the point of six months).

wwwcol

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by wwwcol » Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:40 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anon-non-anon wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.
As in, you didn't keep a good list; or you didn't keep up with the motions and they stacked up/passed six month list?
I was inconsistent in maintaining the log and things sometimes stacked (though not to the point of six months).
Not that it matters to anything, but what is a “motions log?” There’s literally a report function on CMECF that generates a list of all pending motions. Are you saying you didn’t resolve motions on that list quickly enough?

lavarman84

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by lavarman84 » Mon Jun 17, 2019 2:54 am

wwwcol wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anon-non-anon wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.
As in, you didn't keep a good list; or you didn't keep up with the motions and they stacked up/passed six month list?
I was inconsistent in maintaining the log and things sometimes stacked (though not to the point of six months).
Not that it matters to anything, but what is a “motions log?” There’s literally a report function on CMECF that generates a list of all pending motions. Are you saying you didn’t resolve motions on that list quickly enough?
In my chambers, we keep a log (it's a table) with all our cases and the recent activity in the case as well as the pending motions. We give the judge an updated copy every month (and usually go over it). I don't know if anon had a similar arrangement.

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mjb447

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by mjb447 » Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:04 am

lavarman84 wrote:
wwwcol wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anon-non-anon wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.
As in, you didn't keep a good list; or you didn't keep up with the motions and they stacked up/passed six month list?
I was inconsistent in maintaining the log and things sometimes stacked (though not to the point of six months).
Not that it matters to anything, but what is a “motions log?” There’s literally a report function on CMECF that generates a list of all pending motions. Are you saying you didn’t resolve motions on that list quickly enough?
In my chambers, we keep a log (it's a table) with all our cases and the recent activity in the case as well as the pending motions. We give the judge an updated copy every month (and usually go over it). I don't know if anon had a similar arrangement.
We had a similar manual list because the CM-generated report sometimes missed things and often didn't include everything we needed. Wouldn't be surprised if the original anon was charged with maintaining something similar.

Anonymous User
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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:58 am

wwwcol wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anon-non-anon wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.
As in, you didn't keep a good list; or you didn't keep up with the motions and they stacked up/passed six month list?
I was inconsistent in maintaining the log and things sometimes stacked (though not to the point of six months).
Not that it matters to anything, but what is a “motions log?” There’s literally a report function on CMECF that generates a list of all pending motions. Are you saying you didn’t resolve motions on that list quickly enough?
It's an Excel spreadsheet that I had to maintain. I had to list the title of the motion/petition, docket #, type of case, when it arrived at my desk, where it came from, and where it eventually went.

Anonymous User
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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jun 17, 2019 12:16 pm

lavarman84 wrote:
wwwcol wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anon-non-anon wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.
As in, you didn't keep a good list; or you didn't keep up with the motions and they stacked up/passed six month list?
I was inconsistent in maintaining the log and things sometimes stacked (though not to the point of six months).
Not that it matters to anything, but what is a “motions log?” There’s literally a report function on CMECF that generates a list of all pending motions. Are you saying you didn’t resolve motions on that list quickly enough?
In my chambers, we keep a log (it's a table) with all our cases and the recent activity in the case as well as the pending motions. We give the judge an updated copy every month (and usually go over it). I don't know if anon had a similar arrangement.
OP here. Yes, in my case it was similar.

Anonymous User
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Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jun 17, 2019 2:47 pm

wwwcol wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anon-non-anon wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:A lot depends on how badly things ended with your judge. My judge once “allowed a clerk to leave early for personal reasons,” and will stick to that story if called as a reference. S/he felt like the clerk had to go, but didn’t want to screw the clerk over for future jobs. In the more likely scenario where the judge straight-up fires you, that’s something you have to disclose and work around.
I was fired for not maintaining a motions log diligently enough.
As in, you didn't keep a good list; or you didn't keep up with the motions and they stacked up/passed six month list?
I was inconsistent in maintaining the log and things sometimes stacked (though not to the point of six months).
Not that it matters to anything, but what is a “motions log?” There’s literally a report function on CMECF that generates a list of all pending motions. Are you saying you didn’t resolve motions on that list quickly enough?
Is CMECF just for fed clerkships?

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nixy

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by nixy » Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:23 pm

Federal district court, yes. (Oh and I guess bankruptcy court.)

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Re: Impact of getting fired from a clerkship?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:55 pm

nixy wrote:Federal district court, yes. (Oh and I guess bankruptcy court.)
OP here. I was clerking in state court. So the motions list was not auto-generated.

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