University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

The urban public law school with a small liberal arts feel

Judicial Clerkships   2008 OSCAR/Federal Judge Clerkship Hiring Plan GUIDELINES FOR LAW STUDENTS AND GRADUATES Graduating law students and law school alumni are urged to abide by the principles set forth in the 2006-07 Plan. Any questions should be directed to the career services office. 1.    Clerkship applications should be limited to graduating law students and law school graduates. 2.    Graduating Law Students a.     Clerkship applications from graduating law students should be postmarked no earlier than the Tuesday following Labor Day, except for vacancies in the current calendar year that must be filled promptly. b.    Although graduating law students may make requests before Labor Day, they should specify that no transcripts, letters or recommendation, or telephone references be submitted to judges on their behalf before the Tuesday following Labor Day, except for vacancies in the current calendar year that must be filled promptly. c.     Graduating law students should not seek clerkship interviews before noon on the second Thursday after Labor Day, nor participate in clerkship interviews before the third Thursday after Labor Day. d.    https://oscar.symplicity.com/index.php?_tab=signin UMKC School of Law Faculty: Previous Judicial Clerks The New Face of Fall Hiring: The Effects of the New Judicial Clerkship Hiring Plan on Other Hiring Practices (PDF) Fellowships & Clerkships? Planning Issues in the New Regime (PDF) Preparing for Judicial Clerkships: Tips for Students Spending Their Summers in the Private Sector (PDF) 2005 NALP Guidelines for Clerkship Hiring Plan Implementation Judicial Clerkship Reading List The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) The Federal Law Clerk Information System The Missouri Judiciary The Kansas Judiciary Introducing OSCAR: The On-line System for Clerkship Application and Review (OSCAR) is a pilot project funded by a grant through the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The On-line System for Clerkship Application and Review (OSCAR) offers an internet based application system permitting you to file your federal clerkship application materials online and designate those judges to whom you wish to apply. Federal judges and chambers staff will be able to read, sort, and manage your applications on-screen; they will also be able to download and print your application. New users may register at https://oscar.symplicity.com/index.php?_tab=register Judges participating in OSCAR may or may not be listed in the Federal Law Clerk Information System and some judges that are listed in FLCIS may not indicate current clerkships. Participation in both systems is voluntary. Every effort was made to get the judges listed in FLCIS to update their announcements. All the judges listed in OSCAR have at least one vacancy with a few minor exceptions. These include two or three judges that signed up for OSCAR and were loaded into the system, but later indicated that they do not have an open position for this hiring cycle. Theses clerkships will be designated as closed in OSCAR. DOJ The Department of Justice Attorney General's Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program (SLIP). We are very excited about this year’s programs – there are several new offices participating. New Honors Program participants include the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, the Office of Justice Programs, and the U.S. Attorneys for the Western District of Texas and the Southern District of California. New Summer Program participants include the Office of Justice Programs and the Professional Responsibility Advisory Office. Our Honors Program eligibility now includes law school graduates serving in Presidential Management Fellowships (PMF). We now consider PMFs under the same rules that we consider judicial law clerks. Applicants can access the application through the Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management (OARM) web page (www.usdoj.gov/oarm) by selecting "Opportunities for Attorneys and Law Students", then selecting the Program they are interested in. This year, applicants can apply to four participating components. Our web page features links to each participating component with information about their missions and practice areas. We strongly recommend that applicants review the application checklists before starting the application to ensure that they have all the information they need before they sign on to the application web page. We are again using our unified application for both the Honors Program and the SLIP. This permits third year law students to apply to the Honors Program (for positions as an entry-level attorney following graduation) and judicial clerkships at the same time. Applicants who accept a judicial clerkship prior to the completion of the DOJ hiring process can re-enter their application, withdraw from the Honors Program, and transfer to the Summer Law Intern Program to compete for a summer internship between law school graduation and the commencement of the judicial clerkship. This, in effect, extends their deadline several weeks. Applicants and law school career services offices again will be able to independently access our system over the Internet to check on the status of applications. Applicants can get current updates using their personal ID and password they created at the time they applied. We will be sending detailed information on how to get status updates, along with user identification and passwords, to each law school career service office in mid-September. Please note that applicants can elect to withhold their names from status updates provided to the career services offices. Thank you, Department of Justice. Lewis & Clark Law School has links to the state judicial branches. The Vermont Judiciary has a trial court law clerk program for third year students and graduates.  The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa   NALP: Courting Clerkships - Historical Data