Judicial Clerkship Nuts and Bolts

1. Judicial Clerkship Nuts and Bolts Office of Career Planning

2. Why Clerk? What does a clerkship offer? Refine your legal research and writing and analytical skills Exposure to diverse substantive areas of the law Do’s and Don’t’s of Practice Networking and mentorship opportunities

3. Clerkship Opportunities Federal Courts • District and Court of Appeals • Bankruptcy courts • Specialty Courts - limited jurisdiction (e.g., Tax, International Trade, Military Appeals) • Magistrate judges as well as Article III judges

4. Clerkship Opportunities state Courts • Highest, intermediate appellate and trial courts • Courts of limited jurisdiction (NJ tax and VT environmental court)

5. Clerkship Opportunities Administrative Law Judges • 31 agencies with 1,300 ALJs, many of whom hire law clerks Samples: EPA, NLRB, DOL, SSA, FTC, OSHA, DOJ’s Executive Office of Immigration Review • State ALJs too.

6. Online Resources Develop a strategy Process is time consuming – plan ahead Significant increase in applications Factors to consider: • Experience desired (trial, appellate, ALJ) • Geography • Credentials • Recommendations • Must meet with me – in person or by phone Get organized – print resources you need, keep details on what you learn and where you are in the process Vermont Guide To State Court Clerkships Symplicity Clerkship Module OSCAR – federal courts only www.lawclerkaddict.com Westlaw and LexisNexis

7. print Resources Timing of applications It depends. Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan Dates • Applications released, Sept. 7, 2010 • Judges can contact applicants, Sept. 10, 2010 • Interviews and offers start, Sept. 16, 2010 Early Federal Judges State courts vary ALJs vary ** Do your research so you don’t miss any opportunities of interest to you. BNA’s Directory of State and Federal Court s, Judges and Clerks Almanac of the Federal Judiciary The American Bench Judicial Yellow Book Federal Yellow Book Debra M. Strauss, Behind the Bench: The Guide To Judicial Clerkships

8. Other Resources Researching Vacancies And tailoring your search While you probably shouldn’t be too picky, consider what you want to do and where do you want to be OCP outreach re state and federal clerkship vacancies (federal and state efforts 2008 and 2009) Have particular practice area interests? SeeABCs of Clerkship Research: Tailor the Search to Maximize Fit, NALP Bulletin, March 2010 (handout) Recent judicial nominations and confirmations. DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy posts background information on each nominee: www.usdoj.gov/olp National Center for State Courts: www.ncsonline.org Federal Judicial Center: www.fjc.gov Individual court websites

9. The Application • How many applications? Personal Strategy • Resume - flawless • Cover letter – why this judge, this court and why should the judge select you – what do you bring to the table? • Transcripts • Writing sample – your best writing

10. Letters of recommendation • Usually need 2-3 • This part of the process you cannot control. • Request letters even if you are not ready to apply – give recommenders time to prepare your letters. Who to ask? • Strongest recommendations come from people who know your work and can attest to your work product and character

11. Letters of recommendation Asking: Consult with possible recommenders about your clerkship aspirations, share with them your latest resume and the judges you are considering applying to Processing: Faculty provide their letters to their Faculty Assistant. Your requests for letters to be produced must be made to Vera Mencer.

12. Letters of recommendationRead material on website carefully. Paper applications: Provide Ms. Mencer with an excel sheet with contact information for all judges you are applying to, name file: “olan.lorri.april6” When you add new requests, provide a new excel sheet with ONLY new judges. Online applications: After you draft new applications in OSCAR, advise Ms. Mencer and recommendation letters will be uploaded into your account.

13. Online System for Clerkship Application and Reviewhttp://oscar.uscourts.gov OSCAR

14. What Is OSCAR? • Serves as the single, centralized resource for notice of available clerkships, clerkship application information, and law clerk employment information. • Accommodates judges who choose to receive electronic • applications, judges who want to continue to receive paper • applications, and judges who wish to advise applicants that • they do not have a clerkship vacancy. • For judges who choose to receive electronic • applications -- allows them to sort, screen, and • review applications on-screen, downloading • and printing only the materials they wish to • see in paper form.

15. OSCAR System Features • Judges post their clerkship positions and application requirements. • For electronic applications, applicant submission consists of applicant profile form, resume, cover letter, gradesheet(s), writing sample, and letters of recommendation. • Separate user interfaces for judges, court administrators, applicants, recommenders, and law schools. • Data release to judges timed to meet requirements of the judiciary’s Clerkship Hiring Plan. • Applications from law school alumni will be available for review at the time of submission. • Applications from law school students complies with the hiring plan.

16. OSCAR Statistics 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total Number of User Accounts Judges 388 624 800 1,273 Applicants 4,902 5,614 5,724 7,556 Recommenders 9,100 15,898 24,391 26,652 Law School Administrators 373 434 494 547 Court Unit Administrators 11 Total Number of Applications 94,693 174,363 180,832 241,529 Total Number of Documents 2.2 million 2.7 million 3.2 million Maximum Website Hits *Daily 3,280,741 4,491,392 1,828,501 1.8 million

17. OSCAR System Interfaces OSCAR Court Admins Law Schools Judges Applicants Recommenders Applicants Law Schools Recommenders

18. Judge Features • Judge Profile: • - Judges maintain a profile that identifies basic judge information. • Position Posting: - Judges post their clerkship positions and application requirements to include application method of electronic or paper applications. • Accepting Electronic Applications: • - Judges see only the applications directed to them. • - Applications can be sorted and screened by: - Law school and/or college - Year of graduation - Class rank - Law review or journal - Geographic location - Publications • - Judges can perform full-text word searches of application documents. • - Judges can flag applications, rank applications, and move them to folders. • - Judges can communicate with applicants via OSCAR email.

19. Applicants • Register for an account and fill out an applicant background form. • Upload application documents to their account—resumes, cover letters, writing samples, and grade sheets. • Identify their faculty and other recommenders. • Search OSCAR for judges hiring for clerkships. • Submit applications in OSCAR to judges accepting online.

20. Recommenders • Receive an Evite email to login into OSCAR. • View recommendation requests • Create recommendation letters in templates for use. • Submit online recommendation letters.

21. Interviews • Prepare yourself: Know your resume and your writing sample • Review clerkship evaluation forms in Symplicity; • Research judges – speak with prior clerks • LexisNexis’s “Courtlink Strategic Profiles” • Westlaw’s “Profiler-WLD” • Timing of interviews

22. Where do I start? • Make an appointment to see me • Sign up for judicial clerkship listserv • Regularly read OCP’s Career Blog over the summer • Speak with potential recommenders sooner rather than later • Forthcoming: timeline for application process, grade sheet tips, and more

23. Handouts – keep for reference Guide to Post-Graduate Judicial Clerkships Nuts and Bolts – The Clerkship Application Process. Includes: • Resources • The rewards of a clerkship • Lexis and Westlaw research tip sheets Olan, Lorri, The ABCs of Clerkship Research: Tailor The Search to Maximize Fit, NALP Bulletin, March 2010