Morse Code: Inside the College Rankings

Which Law School Grads Get the Most Judicial Clerkships?

April 28, 2011 RSS Feed Print

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Judges at both the federal and state level say that their clerks play a very important role in their chambers. Judicial clerkships are highly coveted since they have such important career implications. Federal clerkships are the hardest to get, but can be very rewarding for one's legal career. Some law schools have a culture that greatly encourages students to get a clerkship at either the federal or state level.

With that in mind, U.S. News has just published its third annual ranking of law schools that send the largest proportions of their graduates on to judicial clerkships for federal judges. The ranking is sorted by the percentage of the 2009 J.D. graduating class that was employed as clerks by federal judges. Yale Law School, not surprisingly, came out No. 1, Stanford University finished No. 2, Harvard University No. 3, and the University of Washington came in very close behind at No. 4. The following table highlights the top 10 schools:

Law School	% Employed in All Judicial Clerkships	% Employed in a Judicial Clerkship by an Article III Federal Judge
Yale University	30.6	27
Stanford University	26	24
Harvard University	20.6	18.1
University of Washington	22.8	18
University of Arizona (Rogers)	21	12.3
Duke University	17	12
University of Georgia	14	11
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor	13.6	11
University of Virginia	13	11
University of Pennsylvania	15	10.4

[See the complete judicial clerkship rankings.]

An article for the American Bar Association, "When Opportunity Knocks: The Benefits of Judicial Clerkships 101" by Krisi L. Bergemann, cites a few key reasons why it's a good career move to obtain a clerkship—especially in this highly competitive legal market where high-paying jobs at the "Biglaw" firms are still very hard to get. These clerkship benefits include improved research and writing skills, legal education, courtroom experience, behind-the-scenes learning, and enhanced networking.

Becoming a U.S. Supreme Court clerk remains the most difficult and competitive to obtain. Clerking for the U.S. Supreme Court is viewed by many law school graduates as the ultimate achievement, and it can be the catalyst for a successful legal career.

[See our Best Law Schools rankings.]

As part of our clerkship table, we are also publishing the percentage of the 2009 graduating class that was employed as a clerk by a judge at any level of the judiciary—federal, state, or local. The data, which U.S. News collected directly from each law school in fall 2010 and early 2011, show that some law schools have a culture of sending a relatively large percentage of their graduates to clerkships.

The data also show that some law schools, such as Seton Hall University, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey—Camden, University of Hawaii—Manoa (Richardson), Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey—Newark, University of Idaho, University of Montana, University of South Dakota, and University of Baltimore concentrate on state and local clerkships and put little, if any, emphasis on federal clerks.

Searching for a law school? Get our complete rankings of Best Law Schools.

Tags:: courts,; law,; law school,; rankings,; Supreme Court

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Dear Mr Morse,
I just read the masterful article by David Segal in which i asked whether or not USN&WR should include the number or percent of law students lose their 'merit' (read bait and switch) scholarships each year. You responded, "This is not meant to be sarcastic, but these students are going to law school, they need to learn to read the fine print." I will grant you the benefit of a doubt when I say that you had not thought the issue through clearly enough when you made this unfortunate statement. As a professional who advises some very bright and ambitious students at the University of Wisconsin and an historian and economist, I hope you have come around to the conclusion that what we are talking about is market manipulation very close to fraud. These students have every right to feel cheated because, frankly, they have. The truth of the matter is that you have unknowingly aided this manipulation, or in my view, fraud. What is before you now is an opportunity to either make it harder to commit this fraud, or be complicit with it. You now know and your decisions now become willing ones. This is a stalking horse of mine, I must admit. I believe that we are now suffering through a period in our history as a nation and as a society in which lies become the default position. That the legal profession, like you say, all sarcasm aside, is giving its first year law students a shockingly immoral first lesson means that we have arrived at a high water mark for mendacity. Markets work best when they are transparent; up to now I know you have prided yourselves on being a force for transparency. Now you have been made vividly aware how your rankings are being used to obfuscate. What you will do about it, and whether you remain relevant in ranking law schools is entirely up to you.

Ricardo Galliano Court of WI 9:54PM May 01, 2011

The post says the data were collected in 2010-11 for the class of 2009. Is this data about class of '09 grads who clerked immediately after graduation in 2009-10, who were clerking when the data were gathered in 2010-11, both, or up to the school as to what to report? If 2010-11 rather than 2009-10, what is the explanation for counting clerkships in the second rather than first year post-graduation when the more common situation is to clerk in the first year?

Sarah of CT 12:53PM April 29, 2011