The ABA Journal has this short article on the rising number of federal judicial clerkship applications. It contains the interesting factoid that there was a 66% increase in the number of on-line applications for federal clerkships last hiring season. Apparently the number of applications was so great that some judges simply stopped reading them.
Paul says:
Love seeing that being one of the millions who applied.
January 22, 2010, 4:01 pmBama 1L says:
I’m wondering if this is actually news. OSCAR has let you spam applications for years. I can’t believe that judges or their helpers ever really read every single application. At the very least, there must have been a lot of screening based on school, rank, journal, and date of arrival that no writing sample or recommendation letter could overcome. On the other hand, considering that a great many judges seem to hire solely based on personal recommendations or contacts, there were always many clerkships to which formal application was simply irrelevant.
So, sure, there were a lot of applications this year, and most of them probably didn’t even get a cursory read-through, but I just don’t accept the implication that, before 2009, judges really went over every application that OSCAR sent them.
I suppose I ought to participate the disclosure fad and state that I applied and didn’t get one.
January 22, 2010, 4:14 pmBumpjon says:
I am surprised that it’s only up 66%! I externed with a District Court judge last semester and happened to be in the office on “OSCAR Day” or the first day he was allowed to discuss applications with law students. He informed me that he had received my application and was impressed but that he couldn’t even interview me because he received so many “extremely well qualified applicants.” He said that he normally will receive 70 or so applcations but this year he received around 450 applications. I just assumed that all judges had a similar experience.
January 22, 2010, 5:14 pmAnonsters says:
Can’t imagine why, what with such an opportunity-filled job market.
January 23, 2010, 6:10 amAlex says:
Judge Cassel,
January 23, 2010, 2:13 pmDid you read every application while on the bench? If so, that made you one of the few federal judges to do so. Judges before OSCAR didn’t read every application, so why is it surprising that they aren’t after OSCAR?
A. Zarkov says:
In the spirit of Yogi Berra– “Nobody applies any more; too many applicants.” It actually seems to make sense.
January 23, 2010, 9:27 pmRalf says:
Because surely have a lot of work with so many applications
February 2, 2010, 10:50 am