Judicial Clerkship Information
Judicial clerkships provide an excellent transition from law school to legal practice. Judicial clerks work within the court system, typically for a one to two-year term after graduation. Many former clerks regard their clerkships as the highlight of their professional careers. Although the selection process is competitive, opportunities to clerk exist in the federal and state trial and appellate courts, in administrative courts, and in some international courts and tribunals. In recent years, many Haub Law graduates have obtained post-graduate clerkships. In the graduating class of 2022, 28 Haub Law graduates obtained clerkships.
Students interested in clerking can gain practical experience through Haub Law’s competitive year-long Federal Judicial Honors program. Students may be selected for this program typically in their second year of law school. The State Judicial Externship program offered through John Jay Legal Services also provides students with the opportunity to work in the courts. Students also intern in various courts during the summer. In the summer of 2023, students interned in a wide variety of courts, including federal district and bankruptcy courts, as well as New Jersey and New York state courts.
There are a variety of types of judicial clerkships. A post-graduate judicial clerk might serve as an "elbow clerk" — one of usually one to three law clerks assigned to work exclusively with an individual judge (such as a law clerk to a State of New Jersey Superior Court Family Law Division Judge, to a state court appellate judge such as the Chief Judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court, or to a federal magistrate or district judge in any United States District Court)—or as a "pool" clerk, as part of a group of clerks who handle the work of several judges sitting in a particular court (such as a law clerk for the Connecticut Superior Court Judicial Branch or with the New York State Appellate Division, 3rd Department Legal Research Staff).