Judicial Clerkships: A Guide for CUNY Law Students and Graduates

Judicial clerkships have provided excellent postgraduate training. They sharpen research, writing, and analytical skills and provide exposure to a wide variety of legal subject areas and diverse lawyering styles. They are especially formative for recent graduates. For generations of CUNY Law grads, clerking has built a personal network of professional contacts including judges, practicing attorneys, and other clerks. Graduates find that clerkships carry significant resume value. Many important public interest organizations, government agencies, and major law firms look with great favor on clerkship experience when making hiring decisions.

Federal Clerkship Opportunities

Many CUNY Law graduates have clerked in the federal judiciary—either as an “elbow” clerk to a judge or as a staff attorney for a court. Many federal law clerks have outstanding academic records and have a demonstrated ability to do quick, accurate research and to write well. Once you’ve decided that you’re interested in becoming a federal clerk, self-evaluate:

• Do you have outstanding grades?
• Can you get strong recommendations from your professors and employers?
• Do you have an outstanding legal writing sample?

Connect with the Career Planning Office, which coordinates the federal clerkship process, if you need help evaluating. We can also refer you to CUNY alumni who’ve clerked in the federal system. One way to test out your interest and ability is to intern in the federal judiciary in your 1L or 2L year.

State Clerkships and Resources

There are clerkships in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The best publication to review states’ application procedures is the Vermont Law School Guide to State Clerkships. Most graduates have applied for clerkships in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, so check out these pages:

• New York State Court Clerkships
• New Jersey State Court Clerkships
• Connecticut State Court Clerkships

Application Timelines and Deadlines

The following table outlines the general application periods for state-level clerkships based on the school's guidelines:

Applications for these clerkships should be filed for clerkships that start in the fall of the year you graduate. Refer to the Law Clerk Application Information page for details on the application process and exact deadlines.

Insights from CUNY School of Law Alumni

“Clerking is a great experience — it forces you to learn quickly how to be a lawyer, how to write like a lawyer and behave like a lawyer. You do a lot of writing, a lot of motions, and you become a good multi-tasker. It also helps you meet new lawyers and create relationships with judges, which is valuable. It was an amazing experience, and I can’t recommend it enough.” — Flor Martinez-Ijaiya ’19, Judicial Law Clerk.

“Clerking has given me unparalleled ‘behind-the-scenes’ access to the federal legal system, but even more valuable is the mentorship and insight I’ve received from my judge, a brilliant woman who committed her life to public service and broke barrier after barrier in her pursuit of justice.” — Lauren DiMartino ’20, former federal law clerk.