We Write to Share Our Experience with the Clerkship Hiring

September 12, 2017 To Whom It May Concern: We write to share our experience with the clerkship hiring process during the last few years and to endorse the effort to move clerkship hiring to a date after the completion of students’ second year. As you know, the clerkship process now begins immediately after our students’ first year. That change has altered the first-year experience, raised important distributional concerns, and undermined our faculties’ ability to provide judges with the information they need to make wise hiring choices. The shift in the clerkship hiring process has affected the first-year experience. With clerkships looming large, students feel intense pressure in choosing courses, studying for exams, and choosing extracurricular activities. The first year has never been without its stresses. But students worry more than ever before about grades, recommendations, and class rank. The point of the first year is to lay the foundations of a legal education while also encouraging exploration and learning for its own sake. It is more difficult to pursue those goals when clerkship decisions are based solely on the first year. We also worry about the effect of the accelerated hiring schedule on those of our students who are first in their families to go to college, first-generation professionals, or simply in need of some time to master the art of lawyering. Students without professional networks may arrive not knowing what a clerkship is, let alone how to attain one. The sooner hiring occurs, the more likely it is that these students will be disadvantaged. We have also heard anecdotal information that the accelerated hiring schedule has reduced the number of women and students of color in the pool. In addition, students do not learn at the same pace. The accelerated schedule does not give all of our students a chance to shine. Finally, the accelerated hiring process prevents law schools from providing judges with the information they need to make sensible choices about their clerks. Students have fewer grades. Law journals have not made their editorial board selections. Student groups have not chosen their leaders. And faculty have much less information about the students they are recommending. As a result, there is greater risk that we will simply make a mistake -- either in who we are recommending or in who we are not recommending. It is thus very difficult for us to help judges hire students who fit well in their chambers. For all of these reasons, we strongly support a proposal under which judges would not accept clerkship applications or recommendations until after completion of students’ second year. Sincerely, 1 Robert W. Adler Craig M. Boise Dean Dean University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Syracuse University College of Law Law Gregory W. Bowman Gail B. Agrawal Dean Dean West Virginia University College of Law University of Iowa College of Law David A. Brennen Nicholas W. Allard Dean Dean University of Kentucky College of Law Brooklyn Law School Jennifer Gerarda Brown Vikram David Amar Dean Dean Quinnipiac University School of Law University of Illinois College of Law Joan R. M. Bullock S. James Anaya Dean Dean Thomas Jefferson School of Law University of Colorado Law School Marcilynn A. Burke Jerry L. Anderson Dean Dean University of Oregon School of Law Drake University Law School Michael T. Cahill Leonard M. Baynes Co-Dean Dean Rutgers Law School University of Houston Law Center Paul L. Caron Patricia W. Bennett Dean Interim Dean Pepperdine University School of Law Mississippi College School of Law Megan M. Carpenter Jessica Berg Dean Dean University of New Hampshire School of Case Western Reserve University Law School of Law Erwin Chemerinsky Richard A. Bierschbach Dean Dean University of California Berkley School of Wayne State University Law School Law Mary Lu Bilek Ronald K. Chen Dean Co-Dean CUNY School of Law Rutgers Law School 2 Annette E. Clark Susan H. Duncan Dean Dean Seattle University School of Law The University of Mississippi School of Law Jennifer M. Collins Dean Allen K. Easley SMU-Dedman School of Law Dean Western State College of Law Danielle M. Conway Dean David L. Faigman University of Maine School of Law Dean University of California Hastings College of Phyliss Craig-Taylor the Law Dean North Carolina Central University Ward Farnsworth Dean Phyllis L. Crocker The University of Texas School of Law Dean University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Daniel M. Filler Dean Anthony W. Crowell Drexel University Kline School of Law Dean New York Law School Lee Fisher Dean Scott DeVito Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Dean Florida Coastal School of Law Timothy Fisher Dean Darby Dickerson University of Connecticut School of Law Dean The John Marshall Law School Cynthia L. Fountaine Dean Matthew Diller Southern Illinois University Dean School of Law Fordham University School of Law Royal Furgeson John DiPippa Dean Dean UNT Dallas College of Law William H. Bowen School of Law Heather K. Gerken Davison M. Douglas Dean Dean Yale Law School William & Mary Law School Thomas Geu Dean University of South Dakota Law School 3 Jennifer J. Johnson Gary S. Gildin Dean Dean Lewis and Clark Law School Pennsylvania State University Dickinson Law School William P. Johnson Dean Risa L. Goluboff Saint Louis University School of Law Dean University of Virginia School of Law Andrew R. Klein Dean Mark C. Gordon Indiana University Robert H. McKinney Dean School of Law Mitchell Hamline School of Law Jane B. Korn Donald J. Guter Dean Dean Gonzaga University School of Law South Texas College of Law Houston Harold J. Krent Chris Guthrie Dean Dean Chicago-Kent College of Law Vanderbilt University Law School Anita K. Krug Andrew T. Guzman Interim Dean Dean University of Washington School of Law University of Southern California Gould School of Law Maureen Lally-Green Dean Michael V. Hernandez Duquesne University School of Law Dean Regent University School of Law J. Rich Leonard Dean James B. Hughes, Jr. Campbell Law School Interim Dean Emory University School of Law Melanie Leslie Dean Garry W. Jenkins Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Dean University of Minnesota Law School Gillian Lester Dean Christian A. Johnson Columbia Law School Dean Widener University Commonwealth Law Peter V. Letsou School Dean Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law 4 David F. Levi Trevor W. Morrison Dean Dean Duke University School of Law New York University School of Law Lyrissa Lidsky Nell J. Newton Dean Dean University of Missouri School of Law Notre Dame Law School Andrea D. Lyon Maureen A. O’Rourke Dean Dean Valparaiso University School of Law Boston University School of Law Gregory N. Mandel Hari M. Osofsky Dean Dean Temple University, Beasley School of Law Penn State Law John F. Manning Sergio Pareja Dean Dean Harvard Law School UNM School of Law Alfred Dennis Mathewson Austen L. Parrish Dean Dean University of New Mexico School of Law Indiana University Maurer School of Law David D. Meyer Jeremy Paul Dean Dean Tulane University Law School Northeastern University School of Law Marc L. Miller Eduardo M. Peñalver Dean Dean James E. Rogers College of Law Cornell Law School The University of Arizona Wendy Perdue Thomas W. Mitchell Dean Interim Dean University of Richmond School of Law Texas A&M University School of Law Christopher J. Peters Jennifer L. Mnookin Dean Dean The University of Akron School of Law UCLA School of Law Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz Richard Moberly Dean Dean Stetson University College of Law University of Nebraska College of Law 5 Susan Westerberg Prager Avi Soifer Dean Dean Southwestern Law School William S. Richardson School of Law University of Hawaii Margaret Raymond Dean Jeffrey A. Standen University of Wisconsin Law School Dean Northern Kentucky University L. Song Richardson Chase College of Law Interim Dean University of California Irvine School of Nancy Staudt Law Dean Washington University School of Law Daniel B. Rodriguez Dean Andrew Strauss Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Dean University of Dayton School of Law Laura Ann Rosenbury Dean Douglas J. Sylvester University of Florida Dean Fredric G. Levin College of Law Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Arizona State University Vincent D. Rougeau Dean Donald B. Tobin Boston College Law School Dean University of Maryland Theodore W. Ruger Francis King Carey School of Law Dean University of Pennsylvania Law School John Trasviña Dean Michael Scharf University of San Francisco School of Law Dean Case Western Reserve University William Treanor School of Law Dean Georgetown Law Michael Hunter Schwartz Dean Robert K. Vischer McGeorge School of Law Dean University of the Pacific University of St. Thomas School of Law Michael A. Simons Michael Waterstone Dean Dean St. John's University School of Law Loyola Law School 6 Mark D. West Dean University of Michigan Law School Patricia D. White Dean University of Miami School of Law Verna Williams Interim Dean University of Cincinnati College of Law Melanie D. Wilson Dean The University of Tennessee College of Law 7 .

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