Why do people rave so much about clerkships? Where do you begin to answer that question—Is it the nature of the work? The power to help decide issues? The challenge of acting as a neutral rather than advocate? The list goes on. But I want to focus on the last one today. As a law clerk, your judge will likely ask your opinion as to how the judge should rule. The ultimate decision, of course, belongs to the judge. But your opinion will help guide the judge’s final choice. Guess what—you have received very little hands-on training in serving as a neutral. If you worked at a firm in the summer or externed at a non-profit or participated in a school clinic, you were advocating for a party. You generally knew which result you preferred, and your job was to craft the best argument to support that conclusion. Well, throw that bias away. As a clerk, your job is to help determine the correct result, unconstrained by client preferences. This is far more challenging than it sounds and is one of the first obstacles a new clerk encounters. I cannot think of another position that provides this unique opportunity. This challenge can be quite intimidating in the beginning, but you and your co-clerks will learn to master this challenge during your time in chambers, developing an unspoken understanding of what you have accomplished.
