State Court Clerkships - Looking Beyond Oregon

Updated June 19, 2008

It can be hard to leave Portland once you have lived here, but for quite some time there have been upwards of 50 states--plus DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico--all with functioning legal systems in need of judicial clerks. Consider applying for these state court clerkship outside of Oregon. Keep in mind that different state courts hire at different times - some hire as early as fall of your 2L year; some like Oregon hire in the spring of your 2L year; some hire during your final year at the same time as federal court, and others even wait to hire until after graduation or bar results

Lewis and Clark graduates have had good success with the Alaska Supreme Court which hires judicial clerks in the fall, for positions that begin the following fall. A justice from the Court will likely visit Lewis & Clark to conduct on campus interviews this year - keep an eye on the Job Postings Website. In addition, the Alaska Superior Courts also post jobs in the fall for clerkships that begin the following fall.

How do you know when to apply? A great resource is The Guide to State Judicial Clerkships, published by Vermont Law School. The Guide lists the different levels of courts for all 50 states, provides hiring timelines and information, as well as websites for each of the different courts. You can check out The Guide in hardcopy in the Career Services Resource Library or view the information online. (Contact Career Services for the current password - it is not the same one used to access our job postings.)

Also, consider New Jersey or Minnesota. Both states’ courts hire a significant number of students into 1 or 2 year post-grad judicial clerk positions. Before you stop reading this email (and think something along the lines of "who would want to go to New Jersey" or "I hear the mosquitoes in Minnesota get as big as cows!"), consider the following:

For the New Jersey Courts:

• There will be approximately 480 judicial clerkship positions hired for next term.

• The Courts will hire for all different levels: the state Supreme Court, Appellate Division of Superior Court (like Oregon’s Court of Appeals), the Tax Court, Superior Court and Municipal Court

• You don’t need to want to stay in New Jersey long-term to be seriously considered for one of these clerkships. There is no residency requirement and you don’t have to profess to want to settle down in the Garden State to get one of these jobs.

• Membership in the NJ bar is not a requirement for hiring.

There are 2 ways to apply to the New Jersey Courts: to the Human Resources Division (available to 3Ls in the summer and fall and 2Ls in the spring of their 2L year), or directly to the justices and judges, during September of your 3L year.

Complete information will be listed with our online job postings soon. You can also view full details at the NJ Judiciary's web site.

For the Minnesota Courts:

• Both the Court of Appeals (16 openings) and Supreme Court (11 openings) will be hiring clerks.

• The Courts are currently recruiting for one year clerkships that will begin August 2009.

• The deadline for the Supreme Court is July 18, 2008, and the deadline for the Court of Appeals is August 20, 2008

Complete information will be listed with our online job postings soon. You can also view full details can be viewed in pdf files for Appeals and Supreme Courts from the MN courts' web site.

Other States that Typically Hire Clerks in the Fall of Your Final Year

• Alaska

• Arizona

• Delaware

• DC

• Idaho

• Maine

• Massachusetts

• Minnesota

• Mississippi

• New Hampshire

• South Carolina

• South Dakota

• Tennesse

• Texas

As always, if you have any questions about judicial clerkships, feel free to schedule a time to meet with Libby, Ellen, or Bill in Career Services.

Resources

-Online Job Postings
-Guide to State Clerkships(requires password from Career Services)
-NJ Openings
-MN Court of Appeals Openings(pdf)
-MN Supreme Court Openings(pdf)

Dates

-7/18/2008: Central applications due for NJ August distribution to judges

-7/18/2008: Applications due for MN Supreme Court

-8/20/2008: Applications due for MN Court of Appeals

-9/19/2008: Central applications due for NJ October distribution to judges

Back to Articles Index Page