A judicial law clerk assists a judge in their most important duties: preparing to supervise an oral argument, drafting opinions, and preparing jury instructions. With direct contact from the arbiters of the law, the value of a judicial clerkship cannot be matched. Not only will a judicial clerk’s writing, reading, and analytical skills vastly improve, their network among members of the Bar, other clerks, and judges will also expand.

The Choice to Clerk

For prospective litigation attorneys, the value of a clerkship is undisputed. You have access into the judge’s thought process. You can observe a variety of lawyering styles, skills, and abilities. It brings prestige to yourself and your employer. Finally, it is a credential that will follow you throughout your career.

Future transactional attorneys can also derive invaluable experience from a clerkship. They can see how courts interpret their work product. Many in-house lawyers eventually oversee litigation. Clerkships with certain courts (Chancery Court, the Tax Court, Court of International Trade, and state commerce litigation) will have a direct connection to transactional practice. Finally, clerkship experience will confer skills that will be useful if they want to be a litigator later in their career.

GPA and Qualifications

The data for Boston College Law School tends to show:

• Top 5 – 10%: May be competitive for a federal appellate clerkship. Will be competitive for a federal district court clerkship and state appellate clerkship
• Top 30%: May be competitive for a federal district court clerkship. Will be competitive for a state appellate clerkship
• Top 40% and below: May be competitive for state appellate and trial court clerkships

What Do Judges Like to See?

Data can bear out generalizations, but every applicant’s situation is unique. Judges often look for qualities beyond an excellent GPA: intelligence, a strong work ethic, curiosity, capacity to accept and grow from criticism, being a self-starter, creativity, or resilience. Judges hire applicants with a variety of backgrounds and career goals, including Biglaw, small and mid-sized firms, government, and public interest. Nevertheless, judges generally like seeing resumes which demonstrate strong research, writing, and analytical skills.

Specialty courts like to see passion for the field. For example, Massachusetts state courts include the Land Court, Probate and Family Court, Juvenile Court, and Housing Court. Applicants who demonstrate enthusiasm for certain interests or topics can help make them stand out and potentially compensate for any deficiencies in other parts of their application.

How to Apply

OSCAR (Online System for Clerkship Application and Review)

Law students may register for OSCAR beginning in January of their 2L year. However, for the class of 2026, judges will not seek or accept formal or informal applications until June 9, 2025.

OSCAR lists every federal judge, but each judge is free to decide if and how they use the platform. There are judges who don’t use OSCAR at all. Many judges will use OSCAR to post available clerkship positions and their preferred application method. If a judge has not provided any information on their OSCAR page, it is standard to call the judge’s chambers to gather more information.

For state court judges, there is no similar centralized portal. There is the Vermont guide (Guide to State Judicial clerkship procedures), which provides information about state clerkships, including when they hire, how many they’re hiring, and compensation rates. However, the Vermont Guide can only be relied on for general guidance. A court’s website may have their own page dedicated to updating clerkship openings (like the Mass SJC). BC Law’s Career Services Office (CSO) may also have specific information and contacts helpful for the application process.

Finding Judges to Apply to

CSO boasts a wealth of resources that can be beneficial for applicants. These include a list of BC Law alumni who have completed clerkships, a database of student experiences with clerkship interviews with various judges, and a list of faculty members who have clerked.

Current students seeking access to these resources can find them on Canvas through this link. BC Law alumni who are interested in the same materials can request access from Christopher Teague or fill out this access request form.

Concluding Thoughts

Every student with a serious desire to clerk should apply. Do not feel discouraged if you don’t have the perfect resume. Remember: every application is individual and every judge is particular. If you are interested in clerking or have any questions about the clerkship application process, please contact CSO Senior Associate Director Christopher Teague or Professor Cheryl Bratt, co-chairs on the BC Law Clerkship Committee. 

---

Alex Mostaghimi is a second-year student at BC Law. Contact him at mostagha@bc.edu.