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| Clerkship Application Procedures and Policies |
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• The Application Process
• Clerkship Application Materials
• John Marshall's Judicial Clerkship Application Plan |
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The Application Process
To be successful in the judicial clerkship application process, you must plan ahead and adhere to specific timing guidelines. This is especially true for federal clerkships, as detailed later in this section.
When to Begin Researching Clerkship Options
Students should begin researching state clerkship options and judges during their second year of law school, and at the latest, during the following summer. There is no set or established timeframe to apply for state clerkships, and therefore early research can pay off big rewards. As for federal clerkships, specific and mandatory rules regulate the application process, which will be discussed in detail below. Still, early research of opportunities to clerk in the federal system can translate into well-framed applications for clerkships at the appropriate time.
Where to Apply
Outstanding clerkship opportunities are available all over the country and at all levels of both the state and federal systems. The application process, however, is extremely competitive. For example, the application process for the federal trial and appellate clerkships in Chicago is very competitive. Unless your credentials are stellar, you run a serious risk of disappointment if you limit yourself exclusively to these judges or this location.
Unfortunately, applicants tend to concentrate their efforts in relatively few cities. Frankly, it is much easier to get a rewarding clerkship if you are able and willing to apply to areas other than Chicago, Los Angeles, and the major East Coast cities (e.g., New York, Washington, Boston). Therefore, be realistic if you want to try to secure a judicial clerkship. If possible, consider the South, and the Plains, in addition to the major legal markets. John Marshall students have been quite successful over the years in obtaining clerkships in such far away locales as Hawaii and the Northern Marianna Islands.
How Many Applications to Make
You may apply to as many judges as you wish. A very important point to keep in mind is you should never apply for a clerkship that, if offered, you would not accept. A student must make his or her decision on where to apply based on a variety of factors, including credentials, professional and intellectual interests, geographical preferences, and career and personal plans.
Students should also consider whether the judge has a connection with The John Marshall Law School that may increase the judge’s interest in hiring John Marshall graduates. Visit the CSO to pick up guides on where John Marshall alumni have clerked and on the John Marshall alumni within the judiciary.
When to Apply - Federal
The John Marshall Law School fully supports and adheres to the Federal Judicial Law Clerk Hiring Plan for 2007. This plan sets forth the timing of applications, interview schedules, and offer dates for eligible judicial law clerks. Perhaps most importantly, this plan prohibits law students and law graduates from submitting applications to federal judges prior to the Tuesday following the Labor Day holiday of their third or final year of law school.
In keeping with this plan, The John Marshall Law School and its faculty will discourage the mailing of federal clerkship applications prior to August 31, 2007. Further, the law school will not process or release official transcripts and will discourage faculty from formally promoting a law student’s application in any way, through letters of reference, telephone calls or otherwise, prior to the day after Labor Day.
The specific dates for the Federal Judicial Law Clerk Hiring Plan for 2007, which apply to federal District Court judges, Magistrate judges, and Bankruptcy judges, are as follows:
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Day After Labor Day:
First date when applications may be received.
September 5-19, 2007
Reading Period:
During this two week reading period, judicial clerkship application materials, including letters of reference, can be received, sorted, and reviewed by chambers. No interviews may be held and no offers may be extended during the reading period.
September 10, 2007
Interview Scheduling:
Beginning on the first Monday following Labor Day, federal judges may start to schedule interviews to be held following the close of the Reading Period.
September 19, 2007
Conduct Interviews/Extend Offers:
Beginning on the third Thursday following Labor Day, federal judges may conduct interviews and extend offers.
A cover letter, resume, writing sample, and one or two reference letters should be sent to every judge. Refer to the Federal Law Clerk Information System and OSCAR for more information on whether individual judges are hiring and their specific requirements. After judges have reviewed these application materials, they will typically schedule a personal interview with a select group of potential clerks. The judge likely will make his or her decision shortly after the interview.
When to Apply – State and Other Courts
1. State Supreme and Appellate Courts
State clerkship hiring generally runs a little later in the year than the Federal clerkships. Thus, applications for the higher state courts generally can be mailed in the winter of your second to last year. Make sure to check with judge’s chambers (or clerks of the courts) to determine deadlines. In addition, the CSO maintains a guide to Illinois Appellate clerkships that sets forth appropriate deadlines. Finally, through EASElaw, you can access the “Guide to State Judicial Clerkships”, which provides application information and deadlines for most state courts.
2. Court of Claims and Miscellaneous Federal Courts
The application process varies from year to year, and from judge to judge. Generally, students can send out applications the winter of second year (Third year for evening students). Some judges, like many on the Court of Claims, some bankruptcy and tax court judges, and some administrative law judges, do not hire on any set schedule. Instead, they retain law clerks for as long as the clerks are interested in staying on board. As a result, an opening for a position may arise at anytime.
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Clerkship Application Materials
There are five essential elements for the clerkship application: a cover letter, a resume, your most recent transcript, two or three letters of recommendation, and a writing sample.
Cover Letter
It is not uncommon for a judge to receive numerous clerkship applications and to delegate the initial screening to someone on the staff . . . often a current law clerk. Basic rule: brevity is of the essence. Your cover letter should be no more than one page long. It will be scanned, not studied.
The introductory paragraph should be a short two- or three-sentence paragraph that states your case and includes anything sure to capture the reader’s attention – such as identifying a connection with a particular judge or geographic area (e.g., John Marshal Law alum, same hometown, etc.). Be sure to specify the year(s) for which you are applying! The remainder of the letter should be somewhat similar to the format set forth in the CSO’s “Cover Letter & Employer Correspondence Guide”” – the second paragraph should demonstrate your understanding of the judge to whom you are applying; the third paragraph should concisely state your interest and qualifications for the position. The closing paragraph should identify the requested materials that you have enclosed, and if and when you are available for an interview. You might communicate that you can plan to be in the area, or even that you already have a trip to the area arranged at a particular time. Don’t try too hard selling yourself; it usually backfires. Also, be sure to address the judge correctly, using the term “Judge” or “Justice,” as appropriate.
Resume
While the resume should champion your candidacy, it should not be overly self-serving or excessively long. Be conservative – as the legal field dictates – but do not exclude any information that could be useful such as publications, community service, interests or activities. Stop by the Career Services Office for specific resume advice and/or resume review.
Transcripts
Obtain a transcript from the Registrar’s Office and include it with your cover letter and resume.
Letters of Recommendation
Two or three letters are needed. A powerful recommendation letter is an invaluable asset. Although most judges prefer letters from professors, letters from employers with whom you have had substantial legal work experience also can be very helpful. Judges know that you will ask those who think well of you to write letters. Since most letters are overwhelmingly positive, some judges do not take them seriously, but if they know the writer, the picture changes. You should ask your recommender if he or she knows the judge(s) to whom you are applying. But you should choose your recommenders on the basis of how well they know you and your work, and only secondarily on whether they know the judge. A specific letter from someone who knows you is more valuable than an abstract letter from someone who knows the judge.
Be strategic in determining whom to ask for letters of recommendation. As a rule of thumb, you want to make sure that among your letters, at least one letter speaks of you analytical skills, one speaks of your researching and writing skills, and one speaks of your ability to apply your legal knowledge in a practical setting.
Many students ask faculty to send numerous letters of recommendation. As such, please allow as much time as possible for faculty to process your letter. There will be a tremendous demand over the summer between your second and third year and some delays should be expected. We recommend that you contact faculty members prior to the start of Spring exams and no later than June 1 (please also consult the Judicial Clerkship Application Plan, as described below, when it is made available in April). Even though the faculty members cannot provide letters of recommendation for federal clerkships until the Tuesday after Labor Day, they will have plenty of advance notice and time to prepare a thoughtful and personalized letter on your behalf.
If you want to use recommendation letters from people who are not at John Marshall, you should contact these people far ahead of application deadlines as well.
Providing anyone writing a letter of recommendation with a mail merge of all the judges to whom you are applying can ease the burden on the letter preparers, and in fact, may be required by John Marshall faculty.
Finally, the federal clerkship plan encourages submission of all documents at the same time, and therefore, any letters of recommendation should generally be “sealed”, in other words, enclosed in a separate envelope, and submitted along with your application materials.
Writing Samples
Some judges require writing samples; others do not. Even if none is required, it is advisable to offer in your cover letter to provide one upon request. Indeed, if you are applying for a relatively competitive clerkship and are not a member of law review, you might consider submitting a writing sample with your application whether required or not. In any event, you are likely to need a writing sample.
Invest time in developing a good writing sample. Get other people to look it over and suggest ways to improve it. Make sure your writing sample is legible, grammatically sound and that its spelling is flawless (do not rely on Spell-Check!). It should be a clean copy on regular paper, not bond.
Make clear the purpose for which the piece was written. You can send a law review article, a moot court brief, a course paper, or a memorandum from a summer clerkship. Any legal piece will do so long as it shows you know how you write, attack a problem, and think logically. You might consider sending two writing samples: one short memo or pretrial brief and a longer appellate brief or law review article. This way, you can usually please any judge’s preferences. (If you wish to use a document that you wrote for an employer, you must first obtain permission from the employer and delete all names and other confidential information. If you have worked as a judicial extern, you may not use any work you prepared for your judge unless you receive permission from the judge. Even if the judge gives you permission, you should indicate that what you are submitting is a draft of what you submitted to the judge. That way, you are not representing that you wrote an opinion.)
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John Marshall's Federal Judicial Clerkship Application Plan
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Action Item:
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June 30 |
Deadline to submit Faculty Recommendation Letter Request Form
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Now/August 17 |
Start compiling federal clerkship application materials, including cover letter, resume, writing sample, transcripts, etc.
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July 27 |
Deadline for faculty to submit recommendation letters (in electronic form) to CSO
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July 27 |
Deadlines:
- Submit Excel spreadsheet to CSO containing names of all judges you’re applying to, with a designation of OSCAR/non-OSCAR for each judge
- Open applications for each individual judge in OSCAR.
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August 17 |
Deadline to deliver to CSO completed application packets containing: Cover letters, resumes, writing samples, transcripts and any other requested application materials
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August 31 |
Applications mailed to judges
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September 4 |
OSCAR applications released to judges
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September 11 |
Judges may begin scheduling interviews
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September 19 |
Judges may begin conducting interviews |
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Last Updated On: 6/26/07
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