For those of you who covet the intellectual and professional opportunities that come with clerking for a judge, choosing a law school that will enhance your prospects is pretty important. Make no mistake, no school is going to guarantee a clerkship. Nor will attending a school with historically low representation in clerkships automatically nuke your chances. But, a school with a high placement rate reflects the school’s reputation with judges, the influence of its professors, and the strength of its clerkship process advisors.
Bob Morse of U.S. News has released a breakdown of the schools securing the most clerkships. And more importantly, he breaks out the best schools for federal clerkships and state and local clerkships.
So which law school is the best represented? OK, it’s Yale. But who else is at the top of the list?
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Morse gives a deep dive into the clerkship numbers from this year’s U.S. News rankings and provides the top 20 (well, 21 because of a tie) law schools based on the proportion of 2012 grads with federal judicial clerkships. Here are just the top ten:
To see the whole list, check out the full article.
If you’re not in a position to secure one of the rare and prestigious federal clerkships out there, Morse helpfully compiles data on state and local clerkships. Here are the top five:
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Grads of These Law Schools Get the Most Judicial Clerkships [U.S. News & World Report]