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March 30, 2007
Moot Court Judge Panel Inspires Future Clerkship Applicants
The Honorable Deanell R. Tacha, Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, a ’71 University of Michigan Law School alum and Hon. Gerald Tjoflat of the US Court of Appeals 11th Circuit spoke about the clerkship experience and application process on March 29. Both justices were in town to judge the Campbell Moot Court Competition. Below is a summary of some of the points made during their presentation.
Why Clerk:
*Law clerking is like a fourth year of law school—it adds a great deal to your legal skill set
*You will be much sought after by employers
What Judges Look For in applicants:
*Top grades and editorial positions in law school journals (law review and others) are objective top cut items
*Students with broad based interests beyond the law. She does not like people to have tunnel vision and only focus on the law
*Team Players—have to function well in a team to have a successful clerkship. Arrogant and self-centered students will not thrive in a clerkship
*Students without any political or other agendas. Students must simply have a passion and commitment to confronting legal problems and helping solve them. No room for political and other ideological agendas
*Judges look for growth patterns in law school grades. For Judge Tacha, second year first semester grades matter the most. Don’t be discouraged by your first year grades
How to select Judges to apply to:
*Absolute best method is to talk to past clerks about their experiences
*Find out about professional background of judges, e.g. whether they were litigators, transactional lawyers, etc.
*Do not apply to a Judge whom you never intend to really work for. Nothing makes a Judge more angry then to make an offer of clerkship and have it turned down by a student who never intended to clerk there
*Don’t feel like you must clerk in the geographic area where you expect to practice. Clerkships are invaluable wherever you practice
Application Materials
*Plain vanilla cover letters. Let the attachments speak for themselves—Judges are used to looking through the records
*Letters of recommendation should come from faculty members who actually know/remember you
*Letters of recommendation from previous employers and the like are helpful
*Un-edited writing samples such as redacted memoranda from firm jobs, law review notes, etc.
Posted by hafeezt at March 30, 2007 04:08 PM