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Having A Supreme Court Clerkship On Your Résumé Might Be Overrated

Clerkships are nice, but they aren't everything.

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Listen, we all know the Supreme Court clerkship club is one of, if not the, most exclusive clubs in the entirety of the legal profession. And Above the Law has certainly done our part in perpetuating that belief, what with breathlessly reporting on each hiring decision. But what if maybe, just maybe, Supreme Court clerkships weren’t the gold seal of excellence in the legal profession many believe it to be?

Cue the chant.

At an event last week hosted by the National Constitution Center marking 100 years of clerkships on the Supreme Court, former SCOTUS clerks appearing on the panel thought there was too much importance placed on the job. As reported by Big Law Business:

“Do I think Supreme Court clerks are untalented? No. I think that hiring somebody who has worked at the court does give you an inside perspective,” said Rory Little, a visiting professor at Yale Law School. Little is an experienced high court clerk who worked for Justices William Brennan, John Paul Stevens, and Potter Stewart.

“But there is certainly a ton of people who are amazingly talented at whatever they’re doing who didn’t clerk there,” said Little

Little went on to note that the emphasis Biglaw firms place on their SCOTUS clerk hires in their pitch materials to clients is overblown. And Little wasn’t alone in his assessment of clerkships as the golden ticket of lawyering:

John Elwood, head of the appellate and Supreme Court practice at Arnold & Porter in Washington and a clerk for former Justice Anthony Kennedy, agreed.

“I know Supreme Court clerks who are not very good lawyers and who are not very good writers,” Elwood said. “And I know people who have never clerked on the Supreme Court who are vastly more talented.”

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So remember, while having a clerkship on your résumé might be a nice feather in your cap, it is far from the only thing that makes a great lawyer.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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