Clerkship Cover Letters

[bamboo1983]

Any suggestions on what to write, and how they should differ from cover letters written for law firms??

[kilroy55]

Short, sweet and to the point.  The judge, or rather their clerks, don't give a crap about how much you learned at your internship with the DA or X law firm.  They want to know if you are interested in clerking.  The rest will come from your resume. 

[jacy85]

Agreed - keep it short.

Also, be absolutely sure to include any small facts that may interest the judge about you (like if you're from their hometown, or something like that).

And of course, be absolutely sure that it is perfect, along with the rest of your application.  The judge's current clerks like to weed out as many applications as possible as quickly as possible, and a glaring typo on a cover letter is a good way to end up in the reject pile.

[fireplace]

I sent out probably 8 letters to judges and got 3 interviews. I don't know if my cover letter had any impact, positive or negative, but the format was basically:

Please consider my application for a clerkship in your chambers, beginning in 2008.

Short paragraph (3 sentences) on why I want the clerkship, including interests specific to the court if possible.

Short paragraph on why I'm competitive - one sentence citing some stuff in list form from my resume which I think is applicable to being a good clerk (i.e. I interned with a judge before, etc) and another sentence again with a list of academic highlights (I'm in the top X%, on Blah Blah Review). 

Short logistical paragraph -- inlcuded with this letter you should find X; our career services should send you Y.   

Final Thanks and request for interview.