Forwarded on behalf of the Clerkship Committee:
Dear Class of 2020:
The Clerkship Committee anticipates that hiring for post-graduation judicial clerkships for your class will begin in June 2018. That is, we expect the timeline for clerkship hiring for your class to be similar to what it was for the classes of 2018 and 2019. A number of judges have proposed a new plan for hiring clerks that would start the hiring process in June after your 2L year instead of in June after your 1L year. In the past, these hiring plans have been popular with some, but not all judges in the Second and Ninth circuits, and less popular among judges in other circuits. While we are hopeful for the success of the new plan, we are continuing to investigate which judges intend to use the new proposed timeline.
Until we know that the proposed plan has been broadly adopted by the judiciary, we believe that most of you should begin applying as soon as you receive your spring 1L grades. Many judges hire after students have three or more semesters of grades, but the number of available opportunities decreases over time, so we strongly recommend that you be prepared to send out applications over the summer. Since the online platform for submitting clerkship applications, OSCAR, will likely endorse the new plan, you should be prepared to send out paper applications any judge that does not specifically indicate that he or she prefers to receive applications by OSCAR.
To help you strategize and complete applications, the clerkship committee will be hosting a clerkship bootcamp on May 4. We strongly encourage you to attend the bootcamp so please make your travel plans accordingly.
We will keep you informed of any changes to our timeline advice depending on how our friends on the bench respond to the proposed plan.
Sincerely,
The Clerkship Committee