Clerkships, Law Schools, Rankings

The Best Law Schools For Getting Federal Clerkships

Twenty-four law schools were ranked. Did yours make the cut?

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gavel money cash clerk clerkship bonus bonusesLet’s face it: if you’re a law student, it’s likely that you’re sitting on a seemingly insurmountable pile of debt that will mock you on a daily basis until it’s paid off. Fortunately, you’ve got some options. If your grades are high and your personality is outstanding, a great way to add to your savings is by vying for, securing, and completing a federal clerkship. While the salaries for these positions aren’t very high, Biglaw firms are willing to pay cold, hard cash to former federal law clerks in the form of signing bonuses — in amounts up to $50,000, and in some cases, even more.

But which law schools will help you the most when it comes to landing one of these prestigious positions? Thankfully, there’s a ranking for that. Business Insider sorted through data from the American Bar Association to determine which schools funneled the highest percentage of graduates into federal clerkships. These are the top 10 schools:

10. Vanderbilt Law: 10 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
9. Michigan Law: 10 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
8. UC Berkeley Law: 11 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
7. Penn Law: 11 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
6. UC Irvine Law: 13 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
5. Chicago Law: 15 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
4. UVA Law: 16 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
3. Harvard Law: 19 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
2. Stanford Law: 26 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships
1. Yale Law: 34 percent of graduates secured federal clerkships

Here’s an interesting factoid for you: Business Insider ranked 24 law schools for this list, and every single law school in the U.S. News Top 14 appears somewhere here — except for Cornell Law and Georgetown Law. Ouch. Are graduates from these law schools being outshined by their colleagues from more elite law schools during interview season?

If you attend one of these law schools, we’d wish you the best of luck in your upcoming clerkship interviews, but it seems like you’ve already got a leg up on the competition!

The 24 best law schools for securing federal clerkships [Business Insider]

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Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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