7 Rising Star Judges You Want To Clerk For

Based on data and analysis from Ravel, the emerging legal research company, here are 7 new judges who are quickly winning the respect and acclaim of their peers.

A judicial clerkship can be a major launching pad for your career in the law. By clerking for the right judge, you can build expertise, win a prestigious, high-paying job afterwards, and also develop a life-long mentor who can help you along. But not all clerkships will provide the same experience, so it’s important to do your research. How do you find judges who will check all of those boxes? And, once you’ve found them, how do you win one of their highly competitive clerkships?

Many top students and young associates are competing for a limited number of “known” or “Supreme Court track” clerkships. Great grades, a strong writing sample, and a well-placed recommendation help set you apart. But here is a tip on how to take a different approach altogether: identify judges who are not yet “known,” but are on the cusp of success and acclaim. By setting your sights on rising stars, you may just land the clerkship of your dreams.

To identify rising-star judges, we’ve taken advantage of the data and analysis provided by the legal technology team at Ravel, an emerging legal research and analytics company. To spot standout judges in the federal district courts who have been appointed in the past 5 years, we analyzed the case-to-case citation patterns of all current federal judges and factored in new judges’ length of service. Through this, it becomes clear that a select group of new judges are quickly winning the respect and acclaim of their peers. Who could be more qualified to judge other judges than judges?

Here are the seven rocket-ship judges who can launch your career. These judges are already on fire or have mega-potential:

7. Edward Chen (N.D. Cal.)

Appointed: 2011.
A favorite case: Cousins v. Lockyer.
Judge they look to: William Rehnquist.
Notable fact: Controversial nomination due to past role at ACLU.

6. John Gerrard (D. Neb.)

Appointed: 2012.
A favorite case: United States v. Booker.
Judge they look to: William Rehnquist.
Notable fact: Youngest ever appointee to Nebraska Supreme Court.

5. Rudolph Contreras (D.D.C.)

Appointed: 2012.
A favorite case: Czekalski v. Peters.
Judge they look to: Ricardo Urbina.
Notable fact: Worked at Jones Day and then USAO’s office for D.C.

4. Sharon Coleman (N.D. Ill.)

Appointed: 2010.
A favorite case: Abdullahi v. City of Madison.
Judge they look to: Kenneth Ripple.
Notable fact: Skipped several grades and enrolled in law school at 21.

3. Ketanji Jackson (D.D.C.)

Appointed: 2013.

A favorite case: Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. Border Patrol.
Judge they look to: Paul Friedman.
Notable fact: Held three clerkships herself, including one for Stephen Breyer.

2. Lucy Koh (N.D. Cal.)

Appointed: 2010.
A favorite case: Carvalho v. Equifax Information Services.
Judge they look to: Betty Fletcher

Notable fact: Oversees mega tech cases in Silicon Valley.

1. James Boasberg (D.D.C.)

Appointed: 2011.
A favorite case: Holcomb v. Powell.
Judge they look to: Byron White.
Notable fact: Appointed to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2014.

Ravel’s innovative visualization and analytics platform for legal research is free for law students and legal academics. Try it out and look up those favorite cases!