The Hunt for a Federal Law Clerkship Goes On-Line

Finding a law clerk position with a federal judge has often depended on luck and good timing: good timing because vacancies filled swiftly and luck because identifying every judge with an opening was nearly impossible. But the search just got easier. The Federal Law Clerk Information System (FLCIS), a new database accessible through the Internet and launched last month, allows prospective applicants to locate opportunities on-line through the federal Judiciary’s website at www.uscourts.gov.

"Federal judicial law clerk positions are highly coveted," said Administrative Office Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham. "This new web site should meet the needs of both judges and law students since it creates a level playing field by giving all interested parties equal access to the same information. It also opens up the selection process to a potentially broader range of candidates from different law schools and parts of the country." Within days of FLCIS going live, over 300 positions had been entered by federal judges at both the district court and court of appeals levels. To review the law clerk vacancy announcements, potential applicants go to www.uscourts.gov, and click on Federal Law Clerk Information System. No password is needed, and no fee is charged for public, read-only access to the database. Applicants can search for vacancies by location, by specific court, or by the individual judge.

Law schools have been notified of the new FLCIS site, and in recent weeks, all federal judges in the country received detailed instructions on entering their law clerk vacancy information. Some of the information available may include the court’s address, a contact person, how applications should be submitted, and when interviews will take place. Special requirements also may be noted. Judge Fred I. Parker (2nd Cir.) encourages applications from "individuals with life experiences beyond academia." Chief Judge D. Brock Hornby (D-Me.) and Judge Edward W. Nottingham (D. Colo.) are looking for law clerks with "accuracy and attention to detail." Several judges, such as Judge Milton I. Shadur (N.D. Ill.) and Judge Diana E. Murphy (8th Cir.) prefer law clerks with a sense of humor, or at least, notes Judge Michael M. Mihm (C. D. Ill.) "a willingness to laugh at my jokes." Judge Warren J. Ferguson (9th Cir.) would like a law clerk with a "commitment to social justice," and Judge J. Owen Forrester (N.D. Ga.) is in search of law clerks "with independence of thought, broad non-legal work experience, and good interpersonal skills." Judge Myron H. Thompson (M.D. Ala.) simply hopes for someone with "the ability to write and reason."

FLCIS was created at the suggestion of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference and was developed by the AO. FLCIS allows staff in judges’ chambers to post information about upcoming or existing law clerk vacancies and information on judges’ hiring practices that can be accessed by prospective applicants. FLCIS also tells judges which applicants already have accepted other positions or otherwise taken themselves out of consideration for an unfilled clerkship.

Judge Ralph Winter, former chairman of the Executive Committee, said, "This web site should bring some civility to what has been a frantic law clerk hiring season. I believe it will be a tremendously useful tool for both judges and law clerk applicants. I did not have time last fall to do interviewing and therefore postponed hiring for the 2001-2002 term until now. Once I posted the vacancies on the website, I was contacted by a large number of applicants, many of whom were superb candidates."