TEN REASONS WHY EVERY LAW STUDENT (WHO CAN) SHOULD SERVE AS A JUDICIAL LAW CLERK Fellow students of law: Clerk for a judge if you possibly can. In Texas, the state supreme court, federal appellate and trial courts, and federal magistrates and bankruptcy courts hire clerks. Federal administrative law and immigration courts also hire clerks. Across the country, federal and state courts (including many state trial courts) together hire thousands of clerks each year. The typical trial judge’s clerk researches and writes for the judge, assists during oral argument or trial, and helps with case management. An appellate judge’s clerk will read the briefs, prepare a bench memo recommending a decision, and in many cases write the first draft of the opinion. A clerk’s term usually lasts one or two years. Any graduate can serve as a clerk (few judges require their clerks to have passed a bar exam), but many judges interview and extend offers to 2Ls and 3Ls, who then wait until after graduation to begin work. Eleven of us clerked with judges on a U.S. Court of Appeals. Seven of us clerked for federal district courts. One of us clerked for the U.S. Tax Court. Nine of us clerked for state appellate or trial courts. Aside from teaching and certain pro bono representations, working for a judge was the most satisfying and worthwhile thing we have done with our legal education since graduation. The benefits of clerking are many: First, the judicial law clerk generally apprentices with an excellent lawyer. Most judges are excellent lawyers. No better way exists to learn about lawyering than to spend a year working cases with a great lawyer. Second, and relatedly, the clerk works with the decision-maker. The clerk sees how attorneys try to persuade the judge; the clerk sees what works and what does not. A clerk might assist the judge in changing the course of a case and, perhaps, the law. Third, clerks gain confidence. New attorneys fear failure. Cautious ones take too long with assignments; incautious ones finish too soon. The clerk learns by experience when enough is enough, because the clerk watches a judge say daily what is enough. Besides clerking, only years in practice can so educate an attorney. Fourth, the job builds skills. Our work had to be correct, clear, and concise because, when the judge had finished his or her editing, what had begun as our work became the judge’s opinion. In reading briefs, we learned how to write (and how not to write) a brief. Later, in practice, senior attorneys would ask us for advice and for our work because we had experience they lacked. Our co-clerks were also excellent writers and editors.
TEN REASONS WHY EVERY LAW STUDENT (WHO CAN) SHOULD SERVE AS A JUDICIAL LAW CLERK
Jul 05, 2023
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