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Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Assessing the judicial clerkship market
As I wind down my August guest stint here, my thoughts begin to turn to what is likely to consume much of my thinking time in September: trying to help my best 3L students obtain judicial clerkships. In prior posts (some of which are linked below), I and others have used this space to explore the impact of clerks and clerking, but I now would like to explore the dynamics of the clerkship market.
As many readers may know, the judicial clerkship market has been going through significant changes of late. Over the last few years, many (most?) federal judges and most (all?) law school have abided by the Law Clerk Hiring Plan, which has changed the demographics of applicants from 2L students to 3L students (and recent grads). And this year, some (many?) federal judges are participating in an internet-based application system (known as OSCAR) which will enable submission of clerkship application materials online.
I have heard anecdotal reports about how these developments might be impacting the clerkship market — e.g., it was suggested recent grads now have a leg up because they can apply for and accept positions before 3Ls are supposed to apply — and I suspect that the overall applicant pool has grown. But I have not seen any efforts to systematically measure or normatively assess these recent "shocks" to the federal judicial clerkship market (and their likely ripple effect on state clerkship application or other aspects of the legal hiring market).
Is anyone out there formally exploring these issues or have suggestions for key research questions in this arena?
Some recent PrawfsBlawg posts on clerking issues:
- Quantifying (very unscientifically) the impact of law clerks
- Clerking and teaching
- Roberts, the cert pool, and sentencing jurisprudence
- Obsequiousness and Former Law Clerks
- More on Greenhouse and Clerking
Posted by Douglas A. Berman on August 30, 2005 at 11:02 AM in Life of Law Schools | Permalink
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Comments
Stephen, you and everyone in New Orleans have my deepest sympathies. I lived in New Orleans for a year -- it is terribly shocking to read reports of neighborhoods where I used to spend time, places I lived, being flooded out and destroyed. I can't imagine what St. Charles will look like without the trees.
The last Times-Picayune report is that the city is under martial law, the levies were breached and they've abandoned their offices. This could be the worst disaster the country's seen in a hundred years. Everyone who can help, should.
Posted by: Paul Gowder | Aug 30, 2005 3:44:29 PM
I apologize for the strong language my previous comment.
Everyone here has understandably been under alot of stress, myself included. We were just told that we'll be able to go back in a few days to get any essential items from our homes but that we won't be able to move back permanently for at least a month. Some people still haven't been able to get in touch with relatives left behind. I don't know why it happened to be your post, Mr. Berman, that set me off like that; I suppose it was the incongruity of your immediate concerns and those of myself, my family, and friends.
Again, I apologize. Feel free to delete it. I was just trying to do something positive other than sitting in front of the TV, reading magazies, or calming down hysterical relatives.
The point remains: if you have the means, please give what you can. Thanks.
Posted by: Stephen Aslett | Aug 30, 2005 3:29:52 PM
Shocks and ripple effects, eh?
A more interesting question is how Katrina will affect the Eastern District of Louisiana and the Fifth Circuit. As a Tulane law student and newly minted refugee, I'd like to know how this will affect our graduations, judicial clerkship hunts, job searches, our journals' publication schedules, and the continued viability of the law school itself. I'm sure my fellow Tulane and Loyola civil law students--especially those not near the top of the class--would also like to know what effect the destruction of New Orleans, where most in-state legal jobs are, will have on the local job market. My guess is that it's not good.
I'm sure the lack of clerkships in the Eastern District and at the Louisiana Supreme Court (also located in New Orleans) will have a bigger "ripple effect" than OSCAR or the Law Clerk Hiring Plan.
How's this for a suggestion? How about you put a goddamned link to the Red Cross on your front page and encourage people to donate some money to help with hurricane relief efforts? I mean, I know what's happened in my hometown isn't as sudden and dramatic as 9/11, but it's quite possible that the death toll will be higher. Already 700 people have been rescued from the roofs of their homes, the water continues to rise, and reports of bodies floating in the water continue to come in.
I'm sure doing this would help those of us who have lost their homes (and law schools) feel much better and not think of lawyers as aloof bastards. :)
For more detailed information than what's available on national stations, check out:
http://www.wwltv.com
http://www.wdsu.com
Posted by: Stephen Aslett | Aug 30, 2005 1:11:34 PM
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