Clerkships

Can Clerks Come Home Again? It Depends at WilmerHale.

By

Wilmer Hale logo.JPGThere has been a lot going on at WilmerHale recently. Summer associates are coming, regular associates are “transitioning.” The uncertainty has made some WilmerHale alumni who are currently clerking wonder if they can return to the firm when their clerkships end.
Above the Law has received reports from current clerks who were expecting to be hired back by WilmerHale after their clerkships are over. Some tipsters report that WilmerHale has decided not to rehire any of its former associates who took a year off to clerk. We know that many clerks are worried about being in a similar situation, so we asked WilmerHale clarify its position on rehiring clerks. The firm gave us this response:

All former summer associates who received an offer and then went on to clerk after graduation from law school have been invited to join the firm as associates. The firm, however, does not tell associates who leave for a clerkship that they can return after their clerkships are complete; rather, former associates must reapply to the firm, and we have not historically given offers of employment to all former associates at the conclusion of their clerkships. This year, we extended offers to some but not all of the former associates who inquired about returning; in addition, we have hired a small number of very promising judicial clerks who had not previously been with the firm.

So, if you clerk before you start at the firm, you are golden. But if you worked for a couple of years and then decided to clerk, best of luck.
Despite the difficulties clerks are facing when trying to get back into the Biglaw market, there are still many people who want to cool their heels as a clerk. One deferred incoming WilmerHale associate was so happy to receive a clerkship that the firm posted his gushing thanks on its internal website.
More details after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Can Clerks Come Home Again? It Depends at WilmerHale.”

77 Comments

Clerks: Can’t Go Home Again?
(Or: An open thread about post-clerkship job prospects.)

By

clerks screwed in recession.jpgOn that ill-fated Thursday last month — aka the Valentine’s Day massacre, in which hundreds of law firm employees lost their jobs — a federal judicial clerk quipped: “I know the budget is set, but this almost makes me want to chain myself to my desk so they can’t make me leave. People at firms must be quaking in their Manolos.”

Well, law clerks are quaking in their Keds. Many of them have requested coverage of the plight of clerks in this economy — similar to the post we did back in February 2008, when the job market for clerks was already starting to soften. So here you go.

Once upon a time, clerks were a hot commodity, wooed by major law firms with constantly increasing clerkship bonuses. The market-rate clerkship bonus rose to $50,000 for one clerkship, $70,000 for two clerkships, and $250,000 for Supreme Court clerks. But times have changed since 2007 — and clerks, despite their general orientation towards the somewhat more recession-proof field of litigation, are not immune.

Back in February 2008, we wrote about firms no longer welcoming back former associates who left their firms to clerk, contrary to past practice. We also covered the trend of firms imposing freezes on hiring clerks who didn’t summer there.

The bad news continues to roll in. More recently, we’ve heard reports of firms cold-offering clerks holding offers to return. Now we’re hearing reports — anecdotal, admittedly — of firms outright rescinding offers to current clerks:

I know one friend, who is clerking for a federal judge, who had her offer from a large law firm formally revoked recently. My fellow clerks and I have not been allowed to accept our offers yet and are afraid they may be revoked as well.

Also, we are not sure if the firms will pay out the typical clerkship bonuses in this market. The bonus is obviously the least of our worries, but nonetheless it definitely factored into our decision to take clerkships in the first place.

More discussion, including a Latham & Watkins case study, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Clerks: Can’t Go Home Again?
(Or: An open thread about post-clerkship job prospects.)”

41 Comments

Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: A First for Seton Hall

By

Supreme Court hallway Above the Law Above the Law Above the Law.JPGWe take back what we previously wrote about Justice Samuel Alito being “a bit secretive about his clerk hiring.” Presumably Justice Alito signed off on this press release issued by Seton Hall Law School, announcing the hiring of Lucas Townsend (Seton Hall 2004 / Ackerman (D.N.J.) / Trump Barry) as an Alito clerk for October Term 2009.

Congratulations to Townsend and to Seton Hall, which has placed its first graduate into a SCOTUS clerkship. From a tipster:

We just got this email [a slightly tweaked version of the press release] from the dean. Not bad for a school that most of the elitists on ATL would consider a TTT. Although SHU will never sniff the T-14, the school has been steadily climbing the U.S. News rankings, and I think this alum’s accomplishment might help that cause.

We also had the best showing of New York Vault 100 placement ever by this year’s 2L class. Things are looking good on this side of the Hudson.

Additional Supreme Court clerk hiring news, plus updated lists of Supreme Court clerks for OT 2009 and OT 2010, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: A First for Seton Hall”

85 Comments

A Winter of Discontent for Clerks:
Wiley Rein ‘Cold Offers’ Judicial Clerks

By

clerks snowball earth.JPGIn late October, we received this question from a federal clerk:

To date, I’ve seen at least six posts in a series ATL has been doing about firms rescinding unaccepted summer associate offers to 2L’s due to oversubscription of the summer class. I would be interested to know whether firms are actually, or at least contemplating, rescinding unaccepted offers for full-time associate positions that were being held open for former summer associates that are doing judicial clerkships this year?

I have an offer from a biglaw firm and was assured (albeit almost one year ago) that my offer would be held open until I had completed my clerkship and could formally accept. Needless to say, I am getting more than a bit nervous about whether my job will still be waiting for me come September ’09.

At the time, we told the questioner that we hadn’t heard anything like that from any major law firm during this recruiting cycle. Nobody’s going to rescind offers to clerks!

We thought.

We hoped.

Yesterday, we had a couple of interesting conversations with folks over at Wiley Rein. We now believe that the chair of Wiley Rein’s recruiting committee placed a number of phone calls over the weekend to current judicial clerks. The recruiting coordinator was careful to say that Wiley was not “rescinding” offers, but that the clerks should seriously consider looking at other options for full-time employment when their clerkships are up.

More details after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “A Winter of Discontent for Clerks:
Wiley Rein ‘Cold Offers’ Judicial Clerks”

89 Comments

Harvard Has Early Lead Among Federal Clerk Placements

By

law clerk judicial clerkship Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgComing into this week, Harvard Law School had placed 58 federal clerks, leading all law schools. That is not altogether surprising, given the Cretaceous size of HLS classes. Yale is only clocking in with 14 (9th place) clerks. But it’s early yet. It’s just important that Eli-the-bulldog doesn’t drop his bone in the river trying to grab another one.

The real news from the Federal Appellate Judicial Clerks 2009 blog is that the University of Michigan Law School is currently tied for second (with Stanford).

Way to go, wolverines. We told you that stealing cell phones and sandwiches wasn’t going to adversely affect the school’s reputation when it came to anything important.

But look at how difficult it is to get a clerkship coming from a school outside of the top 14:

* T14: 71.3%

* Others: 28.7%

Those numbers are worst than last year for those outside the top 14.

At least if you are still in the top tier you have a fighting chance to get a clerkship. The path to clerking is all but blocked for those outside tier 1:

* T1: 94.2%

* T2: 3.6%

* T3: 1.4%

* T4: 0.8%

The lesson, as always, get into the best school you can and don’t look back.

Federal Appellate Judicial Clerks 2009

97 Comments

Obvious Important News For New Clerks

By

law clerk judicial clerkship Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgSome of you might remember that there is a presidential election going on. Turnout is expected to be high and many voters will be participating for the first time.

However, if you are a federal clerk you had better keep your political opinions to yourself. Free speech does not exist for you. One of our readers pointed out:

I just accepted a position as a federal law clerk for the 2009-10 term. I also have an Obama sticker on my bumper and an Obama sign in my yard. According to Ethics for Federal Judicial Law Clerks (p.20), I would be violating Canon 5 of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees if I were currently clerking.

Pretty much. The scope of political activity is curtailed not just by the canons of judicial ethics, but also by the Hatch Act. As a clerk, you are discouraged from giving money, attending events, you’re not even allowed to wear a campaign button to work.

We’re all for judicial impartiality, but making clerks say “I don’t know nothin about birthin’ no babies” seems a bit undemocratic (small “d”) to us. Federal clerks participate in some of the most important decisions about how we live, and we expect them to be able to weigh both sides without passion or prejudice. But a bumper sticker removes the veil of ignorance and reduces clerks to partisan hacks? A legal fiction is one thing, this is a legal farce.

Luckily for new clerks like our reader, this is not a problem for 2009-2010 clerks. They can go nuts until they are “official” federal employees. But current clerks can attest to the exact moment where free speech falls to the illusion of impartiality.

Update: If you’re interested in learning more about clerkships, and if you’ll be in Washington on Saturday, October, 4, this free event may be of interest to you.

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of clerkships

76 Comments

Open Thread: Your Clerkship Offer Is Coming

By

law clerk judicial clerkship Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgLet us turn our attention to judges and the law students who do all their work. Monday marks the first day where judges can schedule interviews with clerkship applicants. ATL will be right there with the applicants, poring over the Clerkship Notification Blog.

The plan is simple, according to the 2008 Law Clerk Hiring Plan.

But just like last year the best laid plans sometimes go awry. According to a tipster:

The hiring plan seems to be falling apart. I knew it was already unraveling in ‘flyover country’ because judges there thought it worked to their disadvantage, but people here are talking about judges even in major markets (DC, NY, CA) who purport to follow the plan are at least calling early, if not offering early too.

How are applicants coping with the last weekend before the official hiring season? And who is already sitting on secret offers? Discuss, vent, or gloat below.

Earlier: Clerkship Hiring: Today’s the Day

165 Comments

Clerkship Bonus Watch: Jones Day to $50K

By

Jones Day Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgWe probably won’t cover judicial clerkship bonuses quite as closely as we used to, now that Justin Bernold has put together this handy table of clerkship bonus info. But we did want to bring your attention to one development, since several of you emailed us about it. This message is representative:

Just to let you know, JD has just changed their website to reflect a $50K clerkship bonus. Despite all the bad things said about JD on ATL, they are at least keeping pace with clerkship bonuses. Hope this spurs some positive commentary….

Thanks for providing a great service to lawyers everywhere!

For ATL’s table of clerkship bonuses, which has been corrected to reflect the JD information, click here.
P.S. For the record, we don’t think the Jones Day buzz here has been that bad. Sure, there have been some negative comments, but that’s true of almost every firm under the sun. And we’ve heard from Jones Day defenders as well.
Jones Day – Careers – Compensation [Jones Day]

33 Comments

Featured Job Survey: Hiring Clerks?

By

There have been some rumblings on this blog of a slowdown in judicial clerk hiring, even as firms raise clerkship bonuses to $50K.
Today’s ATL / Lateral Link survey digs a little deeper into who is (or isn’t) hiring judicial clerks, and what their bonuses look like.
Update: This survey is now closed. Click here or here for the results.
–
Justin Bernold is a Director at Lateral Link, the sponsor of this survey.

29 Comments

Clerkship Bonus Watch: Gibson Dunn

By

Gibson Dunn Crutcher LLP GDC gdclaw Above the Law blog.JPGWe have confirmed, with a reliable source at the firm, the rumor that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher now pays a $50,000 clerkship bonus, as of January 1 of this year. We don’t know the firm’s policy for multiple clerkships of years of clerking; if you happen to know, email us, and we’ll update this post with the information once it’s confirmed.
Over the weekend, there was some discussion about a possible slowdown in terms of law firms hiring law clerks. Could sizable clerkship bonuses be contributing to this, by making law clerks more expensive for firms to hire?
Update: Two pieces of additional information. First, the $50,000 bonus is “flat”; it does not increase for multiple clerkships or years of clerking. Second:

I love Gibson Dunn, but don’t be fooled. They just eliminated the bar stipend amount ($15,000), and then tell you that you are getting a $50,000 bonus for clerking. You can get $15,000 in the summer before you start your clerkship (like all of the other new associates) to help pay for the bar, but then your bonus really is only $35,000. So, they didn’t really up their bonus, they just called your bar stipend something different.

34 Comments
Page 12 of 221...8910111213141516...22