Didn't Get That Judicial Clerkship? How About Congressional Law Clerk
A lot of us interview to clerk for a judge after graduating law school. Not all of us get the gig. Did you come up short on that judicial clerkship? Would you want to try to be a congressional law clerk instead?
Oh wait, there is no such thing as a congressional law clerk position for recent law school graduates - even though congress makes laws, and many congressmen were former attorneys.
Though, there may be some movement along the front lines of the congressional law clerkship movement. Last April, a group of legal educators, law students, and politicians gathered in the seedy underbelly of America (Washington, D.C.) to discuss the possibility of creating a congressional law clerkship. The bill was introduced in April by Rep. Dan Lungren of California.
The proposed program would allow fresh-faced, optimistic recent graduates to work in D.C. for a year on creating laws, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Of course, this would probably be for the best. After all, this program would let young lawyers experience the exciting process of getting laws passed without the corruption, side-dealing, and pandering you'd expect in big law firms.
Plus many other branches of government have some sort of temporary clerkship. Like, the judiciary, with its highly sought-after and slightly pretentious judicial clerkships.
Congress, take note - the judiciary is one-upping you! Fight back by creating your own slightly pretentious position for recent law grads.
The proposed program would do just that. Proponents want the new program to be kept small, and would start off with only 12 clerks, reports The Wall Street Journal. The idea is that fierce competition for positions will breed prestige. And, as sad as it is, they're probably right.
For now though, judicial clerkships still seem like the cream of the crop. But soon, being a congressional law clerk might be just as good.
Related Resources:
- New federal bill would create Congressional law clerks; Georgetown starts its own program now (Legal Skills Prof Blog)
- Clerkship Chaos Shows Federal Judges Are All Too Human: What's Wrong with the Current Clerk Selection Process (FindLaw's Writ)
- Yale Law School Applications Drop 16.5% (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)