Judicial clerkships are one of the most prestigious opportunities for law students that can make an impact through their entire career. During Gould’s Clerkship Week, current students and recent alumni offer their advice and what inspired them to pursue a clerkship.
Jeni Griffin, JD ’24
The Honorable Michael Mosman, United States District Court for the District of Oregon
Jenny highlights the importance of mentorship and encourages others to consider clerkships for career advancement:
“Beyond these practical skills that I know I’ll learn from a clerkship, I can already tell that my judge will be a mentor to me, and I know that mentorship will be invaluable to me as I advance throughout my career. So if you haven’t already thought about it, consider learning more about clerkships and applying to them.”
Sophia Harrison, 3L
The Honorable R. Gary Klausner, United States District Court for the Central District of California
Sophia shares her insights on motivation and persistence when applying for clerkships:
“Something I wish I knew before applying to clerkships was to not be afraid to put yourself out there and also to never give up. You might have to send out 50 or a hundred applications before you even get an interview but don’t be discouraged and be confident in yourself and your abilities and the Trojan Network is definitely here to help you.”
Jordan Al-Rawi, JD ’24
Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2025-2026 Term) & Judge Robert S. Huie, United States District Court for the Southern District of California (2026-2027 Term)
Jordan Al-Rawi encourages students to pursue clerkships by highlighting their benefits:
“It is the only job where you get to work in chambers side by side with a judge who is an incredibly well respected and experienced member of the legal community. You get to see how the cases that you read about and study in law school are decided. You get to see good lawyering, bad lawyering, the motions or the appeals process, as well as oral advocacy. For anyone who is interested in clerking, I highly recommend that you reach out to the careers office or to alumni such as myself to discuss the application process or what clerking looks like.”
Graham Smith, JD ’24
The Honorable Annemarie Axon, United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Graham shares advice on making targeted applications for clerkship positions:
“Now these sound inconsistent, but in my experience, they’re both true. You’re going to want to find as many judges that you have a specific connection to and make targeted applications to them before broadening it out and applying to as many judges as possible. So definitely cast a wide net, but take every opportunity to make specific targeted applications.”
Noah Kim, 3L
The Honorable Kea Riggs, United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
Noah shares his reasons for pursuing a clerkship, emphasizing the unanimous positive feedback from previous clerks and the value of diverse perspectives:
“I really wanted to do a clerkship for a couple of reasons, but the main reasons were all the lawyers that I had talked to who had done one pretty much unanimously said it’s the best legal job that they’ve had in their career and they would highly recommend doing one. And lastly, I really wanted to do a clerkship because I fully believe in gathering as many different perspectives as you can and I really want to experience litigation through the eyes of the court.”
Previous Article
