Judicial clerkships are boots-on-the-ground training in the courthouse that can boost law school graduates’ chances of landing full-time employment as attorneys at law firms and elsewhere.
Clerkships are essentially court apprenticeships for law school graduates. It’s important that students prepare themselves to compete for clerkships well before they walk across the stage to receive their law degrees, experts say.
“You get to law school,” says Judge Heather A. Welch, chair of the American Bar Association Judicial Division. “You kind of need to decide, particularly if you’re going to clerk for a state or federal appellate court, in advance, because they hire those positions a year or two in advance.”
Here are five steps experts recommend law school students take to improve their chances of landing a clerkship.
Develop Strong Writing Skills
Good grades help clerkship candidates compete for judicial clerkship gigs, but knowing how to write and showing proof of it are also important, experts say. Strong research and writing skills are required of clerks, says Jennifer Pollard, director of judicial clerkships for the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law.
“You’re working for a judge, either writing draft opinions or memos to the judge, doing research and writing in the trial court,” she says. “You’re helping with the day-to-day operations of the court, whether you’re in the courtroom with the judge you’re back in chambers … responding to motions.”
[Before Law School, Learn to Read, Write Like a Law Student]
One way to gain experience is writing for a legal journal or law review. Every law school has a law review for which students petition — or compete — to write, typically at the end of the first year of law school, Pollard says.
“So really focus on your writing, making sure you’re taking writing courses outside of just the required writing courses.”
Get Moot Court or Mock Trial Experience
Moot court is a competition involving a simulated appellate case in which law students are given an issue they must research, write briefs and argue before judges. Judges making clerkship decisions like to see candidates’ moot court experience partly because it showcases research and writing skills, Welch says.
Like moot court, mock trial teaches students legal briefing, legal strategizing and argumentation, and adds “all the procedural and evidentiary protocols they would experience in a trial court,” according to Lewis & Clark Law School’s website.
“We’ve argued in front of real judges and are scored by practicing attorneys,” in simulated trials, the Yale Mock Trial Association’s website says, adding, “In trial, we have to persuade the jury of our argument while disproving the other team’s. And then we have to flip sides and argue the opposing side of the case.”
For 25 years, the American Bar Association has sponsored the Judicial Clerkship Program, a three-day annual event that partners law students from across the U.S. with judges and law clerks for research exercises.
“Most moot court competitions and teams are important because they really teach the students some oral argument skills,” says Welch, who is also an adjunct professor at Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law. “That gives them a better understanding of when they’re in the courtroom listening to these arguments by attorneys, what their arguments are and how the court will want to respond to those.”
[Where Supreme Court Justices Earned Law Degrees]
Speak Up
Introductory law school classes are taught using the Socratic method, meaning professors call on students to verbally answer a series of questions about a case study to work through the analysis in front of their classmates.
Some students find this intimidating and try to avoid participating as much as possible, which is a mistake, Pollard says. Professors are more likely to write clerkship recommendation letters for students whom they know, so it’s important that students distinguish themselves and their abilities, she says.
“I would recommend going to office hours (of professors), participating in classroom discussions after you take your exam,” Pollard says. “If you have questions on your exam, go to your professor and talk about your exam, because the more you engage with the professor, the more likely they are to write a recommendation letter for you.”
Also, get to know people off campus, says Welch, who also suggests joining a local bar association to network with judges. Local bar associations often have student divisions or associate memberships
“And, so, I think that if you’re going to be part of that legal community once you get out of law school, if you start meeting people now, it’s helpful,” Welch says. “And most bar associations really encourage and welcome law students.”
Use the Career Office
While not every law school has a faculty or staff member focused solely on helping students win judicial clerkships, all law schools have career offices with staff that provide general advising, Pollard says.
Career office professionals can advise students on available clerkships, their competitiveness level for certain positions and how to find roles that make sense for them, she says.
“At the bare minimum, they should have somebody in the career office review their cover letter and resume, and somebody in their writing center review their writing sample.”
[Read: How to Prepare for a Judicial Career in Law School]
Many law school graduates who enter clerkships take the traditional route of starting the positions shortly after graduation, but students are increasingly opting to apply for clerkships that begin a year or more after graduation, notes the office of Judicial Careers at Columbia Law School in New York.
“And many judges now require clerks to have post-law school work experience,” according to the law school’s website.
Talking to a career adviser can help with exploring options about when to apply for a clerkship.
Consider Location
Clerkships exist in various types of court, but graduates of higher-ranked law schools secure the largest share of federal clerkships, Pollard points out.
Federal clerkships pay more, at least in the Mid-Atlantic region, but clerkships in general are not high-paying jobs compared to other law jobs, she says.
However, most people who take on clerkships don’t do so for the money, Pollard says.
“You do them for the prestige and the access that they can kind of get you with the next job,” she says, adding that some large law firms give clerkship bonuses to new hires.
Among employed 2024 graduates of law school, 10% were working in judicial clerkships and the median salary for those positions was $70,000 as of March 17, 2025, according to a July report from The National Association for Law Placement in Washington, D.C. But the majority of the employed 2024 law school graduates, 58.9%, were working in private practice, where the median salary was $160,000, per the report.
More from U.S. News
How to Choose a Law School Where Faculty Are Great Teachers
Advice on How to Prepare for Law School
How to Survive and Thrive Your First Year of Law School
How Law School Applicants Can Boost Odds of a Judicial Clerkship originally appeared on usnews.com
