Things You'll Need:
- J.D. degree
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Step 1
Attend law school. This is essential to getting judicial clerkship jobs. You can not be hired as a judicial clerk unless you have been to law school and graduated.
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Step 2
Study hard and make good grades. The higher your grades in law school, the more appealing you will be as a judicial clerk candidate. There are a lot of other recent graduates competing for these positions, so you will want to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
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Step 3
Be active in student law organizations. The more involved you are in the legal community in law school, the better you will look as a judicial clerk candidate.
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Step 4
Develop relationships in the law community while you are still in school. Often, the best judicial clerkship jobs come through referrals. If you are able to forge relationships with attorneys and judges in the courts in which you'd like to clerk, your chances of landing a clerkship will be much greater.
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Step 1
Decide what kind of court you want to work in. You can choose federal, state or local courts. Typically, the higher the level of court, the more prestige is associated with the clerkship. However, higher courts also have more stringent hiring requirements for clerks than lower courts.
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Step 2
Get help from the job placement office at your law school. This office is an invaluable resource for pointing you toward available clerkship jobs. Your school's job placement office will also be able to assist you in applying for these clerkships.
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Step 3
Use your contacts. If you have worked or volunteered for an attorney or judge during your time in law school, ask that person to help you find an open clerkship job. Legal professionals who are established in their careers will almost invariably have valuable contacts that benefit you in your job search.
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Step 4
Write to the judges you're interested in clerking for. Recent graduates often have certain judges they particularly admire. Writing to these judges and asking for a clerkship is one way to potentially secure such a job. Be sure to include your resume and play up your academic and extracurricular achievements.
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Step 5
Check the website of the Federal Law Clerk Information Center for current and upcoming openings of judicial clerkship positions in the Federal court system (see Resources below).
