Clerkships

Rejection Letter Potpourri: It’s Not You, It’s Me, And How Many Awesome People Want To Work For Me

Federal judges still know how to send rejection letters -- letters that say you are just not good enough...

CHIEF JUDGE FRANK H. EASTERBROOK — REJECTION LETTER TO CLERKSHIP APPLICANTS

I must inform you that I have selected my clerks for 2013-2014. The task of attempting to choose from among so many people with excellent credentials has led me in the last few years to ask the Clerkship Committee of the University of Chicago, where I still teach, to make recommendations with the expectation that two outstanding people who pass that Committee’s scrutiny will do well with me. The Committee this year recommended two outstanding students and I hired them.

This method has an arbitrary consequence for many, but there is an arbitrary quality about the whole clerkship selection process. My way of choosing clerks closes the doors to many excellent candidates, but the places my two clerks do not occupy will still be open in other chambers. You have my best wishes in finding a position with one of the many judges who have yet to choose.

Sincerely,

Frank H. Easterbrook

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