{"id":116500,"date":"2025-04-25T10:03:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/25\/u-s-news-ranks-the-best-law-schools-for-getting-federal-clerkships-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T10:03:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:03:03","slug":"u-s-news-ranks-the-best-law-schools-for-getting-federal-clerkships-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/25\/u-s-news-ranks-the-best-law-schools-for-getting-federal-clerkships-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. News Ranks The Best Law Schools For Getting Federal Clerkships (2025)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you like prestige? Of course you do. Is there really a law student who doesn\u2019t? That being said, if you\u2019re like the majority of your colleagues and you\u2019d like to embark upon one of the most prestigious career paths available to recent law school graduates, then you\u2019ll probably want to compete for an elite federal clerkship.<\/p>\n

Some law schools, of course, are better than others when it comes to getting their graduates a leg up on the competition for one of these coveted jobs \u2014 but which ones?<\/p>\n

U.S. News has compiled a\u00a0new ranking for that<\/a>, focusing on the law schools whose graduates are the most likely to obtain full-time, long-term jobs as federal clerks. Only the Top 40 schools (including ties) were included in this ranking, due to the \u201climited share\u201d of federal clerks that each school produces.<\/p>\n

That said, here are the\u00a0Top 10 law schools<\/a>\u00a0with the most graduates working in federal clerkships (and because this is U.S. News, there are multiple ties listed here):<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

1. Chicago: 26%<\/p>\n

2. Yale: 24%<\/p>\n

3. Stanford: 21%<\/p>\n

4. Notre Dame: 18%<\/p>\n

5. Michigan: 14%<\/p>\n

5. UVA: 14%<\/p>\n

7. UT-Austin: 13%<\/p>\n

8. Duke: 11%<\/p>\n

8. Harvard: 11%<\/p>\n

10. Georgia: 10%<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to see the rest of the Top 40 law schools with the most graduates working in federal clerkships.<\/p>\n

Yale \u2014 the law school known for producing federal clerks \u2014 finds itself in second place in this rankings, while Notre Dame finds itself in the Top 5. It sure is helpful having a SCOTUS justice as an alumnus!<\/p>\n

An obvious point to make here is that these rankings don\u2019t distinguish between prestige of clerkship. Were these feeder judges or non-feeder judges, circuit courts or district courts, Article III courts or non-Article III courts? In the land of law, these things are important. Considering how coveted federal clerkships are, we\u2019d absolutely love to see this information. If you have it, please feel free to email us.<\/p>\n

Did your law school make the cut? During these unprecedented times when the very rule of law grows more imperiled by the day, we wish you the best of luck in your search for the perfect clerkship.<\/p>\n

Law Schools With the Most Graduates in Federal Clerkships<\/a> [U.S. News]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post U.S. News Ranks The Best Law Schools For Getting Federal Clerkships (2025)<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you like prestige? Of course you do. Is there really a law student who doesn\u2019t? That being said, if you\u2019re like the majority of your colleagues and you\u2019d like to embark upon one of the most prestigious career paths available to recent law school graduates, then you\u2019ll probably want to compete for an elite federal clerkship.<\/p>\n

Some law schools, of course, are better than others when it comes to getting their graduates a leg up on the competition for one of these coveted jobs \u2014 but which ones?<\/p>\n

U.S. News has compiled a\u00a0new ranking for that<\/a>, focusing on the law schools whose graduates are the most likely to obtain full-time, long-term jobs as federal clerks. Only the Top 40 schools (including ties) were included in this ranking, due to the \u201climited share\u201d of federal clerks that each school produces.<\/p>\n

That said, here are the\u00a0Top 10 law schools<\/a>\u00a0with the most graduates working in federal clerkships (and because this is U.S. News, there are multiple ties listed here):<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

1. Chicago: 26%<\/p>\n

2. Yale: 24%<\/p>\n

3. Stanford: 21%<\/p>\n

4. Notre Dame: 18%<\/p>\n

5. Michigan: 14%<\/p>\n

5. UVA: 14%<\/p>\n

7. UT-Austin: 13%<\/p>\n

8. Duke: 11%<\/p>\n

8. Harvard: 11%<\/p>\n

10. Georgia: 10%<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to see the rest of the Top 40 law schools with the most graduates working in federal clerkships.<\/p>\n

Yale \u2014 the law school known for producing federal clerks \u2014 finds itself in second place in this rankings, while Notre Dame finds itself in the Top 5. It sure is helpful having a SCOTUS justice as an alumnus!<\/p>\n

An obvious point to make here is that these rankings don\u2019t distinguish between prestige of clerkship. Were these feeder judges or non-feeder judges, circuit courts or district courts, Article III courts or non-Article III courts? In the land of law, these things are important. Considering how coveted federal clerkships are, we\u2019d absolutely love to see this information. If you have it, please feel free to email us.<\/p>\n

Did your law school make the cut? During these unprecedented times when the very rule of law grows more imperiled by the day, we wish you the best of luck in your search for the perfect clerkship.<\/p>\n

Law Schools With the Most Graduates in Federal Clerkships<\/a> [U.S. News]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you like prestige? Of course you do. Is there really a law student who doesn\u2019t? That being said, if you\u2019re like the majority of your colleagues and you\u2019d like to embark upon one of the most prestigious career paths available to recent law school graduates, then you\u2019ll probably want to compete for an elite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":116493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Staci-Zaretsky-4AQEmq.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}