Judges and Law Clerk Hiring Information

We would like to assist you in facilitating the clerkship application process, which we know is quite burdensome. (Professor Debra Strauss is a former federal law clerk herself, former director of judicial clerkships at Yale Law School, director and author of the National Judicial Clerkship Study, and author of the definitive book in this field, Behind the Bench: The Guide to Judicial Clerkships.)

The resume posting service located in this web site is available for viewing by judges only. In order to gain access to the student resumes in our databank, please send us an email message with your identifying information [Click here]. We will set up an account for you gratis that will give you access to the resume bank or forward you resumes directly. Please send your message through your court email account, to assist in our verification of your identity (you may confirm your registration by reply email); if you choose to use an alternate email account, please include your identifying information, along with an address and phone number at which you can be reached for independent verification.

To view the Judicial Clerkships Blog, click here. To go to the resume bank, click here. (Note that to view the resumes posted there, you will need to register with us as instructed above.)

So that we may better serve you with additional services in the future, please feel free to give us suggestions by contacting us. For instance, the following types of information would be helpful to us in determining your needs:

• Would you be interested in participating in a forum only for judges?
• Would you be amenable to providing us with general or specific information such as the timing of applications and/or interviews, your requirements for the application package, and the criteria for a law clerk that are most important to you in your selection process? Would you like such information to be posted centrally to reduce student phone calls to chambers?
• Would you consider accepting clerkship applications electronically in the future, so that you will be spared the voluminous paper burden (i.e., if you are a state court judge or one for whom OSCAR is not available)?
• Would you like us to gather information from our student or law school members? If so, what sorts of things would you like us to inquire about on your behalf?

As you can see, the possibilities are limitless!

See also the book by Debra M Strauss, Behind the Bench: The Guide to Judicial Clerkships, which provides valuable information on the courts, the clerkship application process, words of advice from judges, statistics from the National Judicial Clerkship Study, and the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees. NEW Third edition (West Academic Publishing 2023) available now!

Instructions to law students or graduates seeking a judicial clerkship: If you would like to post your resume for viewing by judges, submit your resume here along with information such as your preference of court(s). Keep in mind that posting your resume via this website is not a substitute for applying to individual judges. If you wish to apply for a law clerk position with a particular judge, you should submit your application directly to that judge as well. There is no guarantee that a given judge will participate in the clerkship resume posting service. However, we will make the resumes in this resume bank available to our registered judges. This is just one more way you can pursue possible clerkship opportunities.