Website Connects Future Law Clerks and Judges

Vol. 36, Number 4—April 2004

Website Connects Future Law Clerks
and Judges

For the best, most up-to-date information on federal law clerk vacancies, both judges and law students are heading to the web. On the Federal Law Clerk Information System’s (FLCIS) Internet website, prospective applicants, clerkship advisors and the general public can find information about federal clerkships. The site, at https://lawclerks.ao.uscourts.gov, was launched in October 2000 by the federal Judiciary. Currently, over half of the federal appellate, district, magistrate, and bankruptcy judges use or have used FLCIS to announce available law clerk positions. Through January 2004, the website has seen close to 2 million searches by eager applicants. Statistics show that use swells dramatically in July and continues to increase through the fall months.

FLCIS’ timeliness and ease of access may be major factors in the site’s popularity with both judges and students. According to Elaine Bourne, chair of the Judicial Clerkship Committee of the National Association for Law Placement, today’s law students are a generation that gravitates to the web and, not surprisingly, they go to FLCIS to find information about clerkships.

FLCIS allows 24-hour access to a database of federal law clerkship announcements. It is searchable by location and judge type (appellate, district, magistrate, bankruptcy, claims court, and international trade), by the year the position starts, and by type of clerkship (term, career, or temporary).

Students also can see exactly what judges want in an application packet—and any special criteria they may want in a potential law clerk.

“This is important for students and judges, because the applications received are geared to what the judge needs,” Bourne said.

“The federal judges who have participated in the website,” said Judge Edward R. Becker (3rd Cir.), an early advocate in the development of FLCIS, “have noted significant benefits. Judges who traditionally might not receive a sufficient number of applications, increase their pool of clerkship applicants. And the system is a great asset for new judges who may have been appointed outside the traditional fall law clerk recruiting period, a number of whom have secured clerks through the website notice.”

Plus, it is easy to use. “It takes the judge or a judicial assistant only a few minutes,” said Becker, “to post entries to the FLCIS website on when chambers will be hiring, for what period, and any special requirements.”

Becker also notes that the timely posting of the status of clerkships in judges’ chambers—whether available or filled—eliminates many telephone calls from applicants. He urges all judges to post their clerkship status on the website.

The website is separated, for security purposes, into the public-accessible Internet site and the intranet site accessible only to judges and chambers staff. The intranet site includes a feature that saves time for judges and chambers staff, a database that lists law students who become unavailable for further consideration for a law clerk position.

To access FLCIS on the Judiciary’s website, www.uscourts.gov, go to Employment/Federal Law Clerk Information System. The site has instructions on how to use FLCIS, the duties of federal law clerks, and how to conduct searches, among other information. Instructions for judges and chambers staff wishing to list clerkships are available through the Judiciary’s J-Net on the Judges Corner.