state trial court clerkships

[FileCabinet]

Hi, I'm a 3L and I'm interested in going back to Virginia to practice -- how exactly do state trial court clerkships work?  do i blindly contact every state judicial circuit to see if they are in fact hiring?  am i too late?  any advice would be greatly appreciated.  thx.

[Thistle]

youre very late for 2009 class....call chambers and ask if they are still accepting applications.

[Changed Name]

Not to hijack or anything, but I was wondering if someone could explain the difference of work when it comes to working for a state trial court as opposed to one of the appellate courts.  Is it less research?  More docket work?  I have no clue.  I think a trial court would be more interesting, but what do I know, I'm a 1L!

[vap]

tag

[antwan]

I'm clerking for an app judge now. Its very laid back, very research and writing intensive. Absolutely no contact with attorneys or litigants. In trial court, you will be much much busier, less research and writing than an app clerk would do but more hustle and bustle and busy work and you will make more contacts with attorneys. Also, you will be able to observe court proceedings and get a better feel for the actual practice of law. Job prospects are definetly better coming off an app clerkship though since firms are somewhat obsessed with app clerks, at least in my area.

[Naked Promise]

So I have a question. Say I want to get involved in politics in my home state (after a few years of practice/experience). Would a state supreme court clerkship be better than a federal district clerkship within the state? Obviously there are probably pros and cons for both and that's what I want to hear...so chime in!

[Changed Name]

So I have a question. Say I want to get involved in politics in my home state (after a few years of practice/experience). Would a state supreme court clerkship be better than a federal district clerkship within the state? Obviously there are probably pros and cons for both and that's what I want to hear...so chime in!

I'm a 1L, but I'll tell you what I've heard and postulate on what that means for your future political career.

As far as Federal v. State:  In general, Federal is considered more prestigious but when compared to a State's Supreme Court, it depends largely on the State.  California, New York and Texas are states in which you may want to choose the State Supreme Court over the Federal District Court of Appeals.  But you wouldn't want to choose say North Dakota Supreme Court over a Federal District C.O.A.

As far as politics go:  I'm not entirely sure if any would have a specific advantage over the other directly in terms of benefits for a career in politics.  I would imagine that there's a residual benefit in choosing the "right" clerkship because after clerking, you will open up doors for your career.  Your career will help catapult you into politics.  I would look at some politicians (in the area you're interested in) and see what they did to get there.  See what type of jobs they had before entering the political arena and what kinds of things they were involved in.  Then, I would weigh the clerkships in terms of what is most likely to get me on that path.

This is all conjecture, but it's fun nonetheless.

Let's just aim to do well so that, hopefully, we may have such a difficult choice!

[pd112aux]

So I have a question. Say I want to get involved in politics in my home state (after a few years of practice/experience). Would a state supreme court clerkship be better than a federal district clerkship within the state? Obviously there are probably pros and cons for both and that's what I want to hear...so chime in!

I'm a 1L, but I'll tell you what I've heard and postulate on what that means for your future political career.

As far as Federal v. State:  In general, Federal is considered more prestigious but when compared to a State's Supreme Court, it depends largely on the State.  California, New York and Texas are states in which you may want to choose the State Supreme Court over the Federal District Court of Appeals.  But you wouldn't want to choose say North Dakota Supreme Court over a Federal District C.O.A.

You might want to clarify your response re the bolded; the Circuit Courts of Appeals are not the district courts.  As for your suggestions, I think you have them backwards.  CA and NY (and to a lesser extent, TX) are very prestige-oriented jurisdictions that attract a lot of outside competition; you will want the federal district court clerkship over the state court of last resort if you can/want to do only one.  For less hectic places like ND, the state courts of last resort may play a bigger role, though the local federal judges are unlikely to be any less connected, because they are usually homegrown.

[Changed Name]

So I have a question. Say I want to get involved in politics in my home state (after a few years of practice/experience). Would a state supreme court clerkship be better than a federal district clerkship within the state? Obviously there are probably pros and cons for both and that's what I want to hear...so chime in!

I'm a 1L, but I'll tell you what I've heard and postulate on what that means for your future political career.

As far as Federal v. State:  In general, Federal is considered more prestigious but when compared to a State's Supreme Court, it depends largely on the State.  California, New York and Texas are states in which you may want to choose the State Supreme Court over the Federal District Court of Appeals.  But you wouldn't want to choose say North Dakota Supreme Court over a Federal District C.O.A.

You might want to clarify your response re the bolded; the Circuit Courts of Appeals are not the district courts.  As for your suggestions, I think you have them backwards.  CA and NY (and to a lesser extent, TX) are very prestige-oriented jurisdictions that attract a lot of outside competition; you will want the federal district court clerkship over the state court of last resort if you can/want to do only one.  For less hectic places like ND, the state courts of last resort may play a bigger role, though the local federal judges are unlikely to be any less connected, because they are usually homegrown.

Apologies.  I meant the Circuit Courts, not the district courts.

[vap]

So I have a question. Say I want to get involved in politics in my home state (after a few years of practice/experience). Would a state supreme court clerkship be better than a federal district clerkship within the state? Obviously there are probably pros and cons for both and that's what I want to hear...so chime in!

I'm a 1L, but I'll tell you what I've heard and postulate on what that means for your future political career.

As far as Federal v. State:  In general, Federal is considered more prestigious but when compared to a State's Supreme Court, it depends largely on the State.  California, New York and Texas are states in which you may want to choose the State Supreme Court over the Federal District Court of Appeals.  But you wouldn't want to choose say North Dakota Supreme Court over a Federal District C.O.A.

You might want to clarify your response re the bolded; the Circuit Courts of Appeals are not the district courts.  As for your suggestions, I think you have them backwards.  CA and NY (and to a lesser extent, TX) are very prestige-oriented jurisdictions that attract a lot of outside competition; you will want the federal district court clerkship over the state court of last resort if you can/want to do only one.  For less hectic places like ND, the state courts of last resort may play a bigger role, though the local federal judges are unlikely to be any less connected, because they are usually homegrown.

Apologies.  I meant the Circuit Courts, not the district courts.

Then no. No. No.

USCOA > state supreme court