{"id":148884,"date":"2026-04-15T16:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/04\/15\/conservative-judges-hiring-clerks-before-1l-exams-because-ideology-is-the-only-grade-that-matters\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T16:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:30:09","slug":"conservative-judges-hiring-clerks-before-1l-exams-because-ideology-is-the-only-grade-that-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/04\/15\/conservative-judges-hiring-clerks-before-1l-exams-because-ideology-is-the-only-grade-that-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservative Judges Hiring Clerks Before 1L Exams Because Ideology Is The Only Grade That Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two flavors of federal clerkship have emerged at Harvard Law. One based on accumulating consistent academic success across a couple years worth of legal education, and another based on demonstrating a firm ideological commitment in the student\u2019s 1L year. As the Harvard Crimson reports<\/a>, moderate and liberal judges follow the former path, selecting rising 3Ls based on law school resumes, while America\u2019s most conservative judges are hiring students as early as their first semester based on Federalist Society bona fides and vetting from fellow traveler professors or older students.<\/p>\n

So, in news that isn\u2019t shocking in the least, the same people who complain about \u201cDEI\u201d are the ones hiring based on networking connections without regard to academic merit. It\u2019s the most powerful affirmative action program in education, you just have to be the right<\/em> kind of diverse.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy understanding is that there were students in my section who, through Fed Soc, had clerkships lined up the fall of 1L,\u201d Kaufman said. \u201cThere is no liberal student for whom that\u2019s the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cFall of 1L.\u201d As in, \u201cno exams yet.\u201d But if a student has dutifully done their part to enthusiastically cheer the speaker discussing why America needs fewer minorities<\/a>, you might just earn a coveted clerkship before the class reaches Palsgraf<\/em>. Or, hell, maybe before the class finds the bookstore.<\/p>\n

Judges breaking away from \u201cthe plan\u201d to recruit students earlier in their law school careers isn\u2019t new. Every attempt to reach a mutually agreed upon schedule for clerkship applications has devolved into a free-for-all as some judges defect to secure first dibs on the talent pool. But the ideological divide is new, and reflects shifting priorities as conservative judges increasingly prioritize philosophy and connections over scholarly success.<\/p>\n

And yet\u2026 is anyone surprised? Over the course of two Trump terms, the GOP has deprioritized qualifications and experience. This isn\u2019t to say that all of Trump\u2019s nominees for the bench are unqualified \u2014 many are highly competent \u2014 but as the nominations mounted, the willingness to tab unqualified nominees grew. Now they\u2019re rejecting the ABA\u2019s role in evaluating judicial picks<\/a> and putting up nominees for trial judge who\u2019ve never run a trial<\/a>. In his second term, Trump has favored individuals personally loyal to him<\/a> over any other qualification. <\/p>\n

When the judiciary prioritizes ideology over qualifications, of course the clerkships will follow.<\/p>\n

Mason R. Laney, a Federalist Society member interviewed by the Crimson notes:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe vet each other, because we know each other very well,\u201d Laney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents end up with a lot of power, where judges will reach out, and they\u2019ll say, \u2018Is this person somebody we should reach out to?\u2019\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Those recommendations can shape hiring decisions well before the timeline begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents around will say, \u2018Hey, they\u2019re solid, conservative, they\u2019re very much in Fed Soc,\u2019\u201d Laney said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Federal judges placing clerkship decisions in the hands of 3Ls delivering vibechecks is a damning indictment. It was bad enough when judges hired the nephews of their country club friends, now they\u2019re hiring based on the considered judgment of kids who aren\u2019t old enough to rent a car.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOne of them requires a meritocratic approach and a lot of hard work,\u201d HLS student Jackson S. Faulkner said. \u201cYou have to bank on things way later on in the process that are not available to the other side, which is looking for ideological adherence, and then they will train you to be a clerk.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a generous read, but what \u201ctraining\u201d is happening when the judge doesn\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing either? And even if the judge does have ample experience for their job, what faith can one have in their mentorship \u2014 or judgment \u2014 if they\u2019ve blown off grades to hire a student based on how well they\u2019ve impressed the 3Ls?<\/p>\n

Worse, this is a cycle likely to compound upon itself as tomorrow\u2019s judges are picked from today\u2019s clerks. In some cases literally, like when Trump was elevating clerks to the federal bench only a term removed from their clerkship<\/a>. When he was the dean of NYU, John Sexton would tell the story that after clerking for Warren Burger, the Chief Justice would quip about needing to always have one \u201ccommunist clerk.\u201d But when judges start to view the clerkship process as less about untangling thorny legal issues \u2014 AI can do all the disingenuous originalist reverse engineering anyway<\/a> \u2014 and more about building out the conservative legal network, they don\u2019t need to be challenged in chambers. Clerks don\u2019t need to be academic superstars, as long as they can be reliably groomed into future branches of the judge\u2019s \u201ccoaching tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no easy way to do this, but law school rankings (and, more to the point, prospective students) really should try to take this two-tiered approach into account. There are definitely institutions spamming right-wing clerkships like this and using those numbers to artificially fluff their rankings. If a law school takes a significant jump in the rankings along with a sizable bump in its clerkship figures, take a long, hard look at WHICH judges are driving that boom. If it\u2019s a bunch of Fifth Circuit judges hiring clerks in their first year of school, be very leery of that resume.<\/p>\n

This is also why the employers who haven\u2019t already upped their scrutiny of past clerkships need a reality check. When federal judges ranked not qualified are \u201ctraining\u201d clerks they picked up before first semester exams, that\u2019s not the same signal of future success that the industry relied upon for decades. A clerkship simply isn\u2019t enough anymore, and employers need to develop their own two-track system for evaluating the quality of the clerkship experience.<\/p>\n

Until there\u2019s more transparency about this, networking with conservatives remains a law school cheat code. Who needs meritocracy when you can get beers with FedSoc 3Ls?<\/p>\n

Conservative Judges\u2019 Early Hiring Fuels Two-Track Clerkship System at Harvard Law<\/a> [Harvard Crimson]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Donald Trump\u2019s Devaluation Of The Federal Clerkship<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Conservative Judges Hiring Clerks Before 1L Exams Because Ideology Is The Only Grade That Matters<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two flavors of federal clerkship have emerged at Harvard Law. One based on accumulating consistent academic success across a couple years worth of legal education, and another based on demonstrating a firm ideological commitment in the student\u2019s 1L year. As the Harvard Crimson reports<\/a>, moderate and liberal judges follow the former path, selecting rising 3Ls based on law school resumes, while America\u2019s most conservative judges are hiring students as early as their first semester based on Federalist Society bona fides and vetting from fellow traveler professors or older students.<\/p>\n

So, in news that isn\u2019t shocking in the least, the same people who complain about \u201cDEI\u201d are the ones hiring based on networking connections without regard to academic merit. It\u2019s the most powerful affirmative action program in education, you just have to be the right<\/em> kind of diverse.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy understanding is that there were students in my section who, through Fed Soc, had clerkships lined up the fall of 1L,\u201d Kaufman said. \u201cThere is no liberal student for whom that\u2019s the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cFall of 1L.\u201d As in, \u201cno exams yet.\u201d But if a student has dutifully done their part to enthusiastically cheer the speaker discussing why America needs fewer minorities<\/a>, you might just earn a coveted clerkship before the class reaches Palsgraf<\/em>. Or, hell, maybe before the class finds the bookstore.<\/p>\n

Judges breaking away from \u201cthe plan\u201d to recruit students earlier in their law school careers isn\u2019t new. Every attempt to reach a mutually agreed upon schedule for clerkship applications has devolved into a free-for-all as some judges defect to secure first dibs on the talent pool. But the ideological divide is new, and reflects shifting priorities as conservative judges increasingly prioritize philosophy and connections over scholarly success.<\/p>\n

And yet\u2026 is anyone surprised? Over the course of two Trump terms, the GOP has deprioritized qualifications and experience. This isn\u2019t to say that all of Trump\u2019s nominees for the bench are unqualified \u2014 many are highly competent \u2014 but as the nominations mounted, the willingness to tab unqualified nominees grew. Now they\u2019re rejecting the ABA\u2019s role in evaluating judicial picks<\/a> and putting up nominees for trial judge who\u2019ve never run a trial<\/a>. In his second term, Trump has favored individuals personally loyal to him<\/a> over any other qualification. <\/p>\n

When the judiciary prioritizes ideology over qualifications, of course the clerkships will follow.<\/p>\n

Mason R. Laney, a Federalist Society member interviewed by the Crimson notes:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe vet each other, because we know each other very well,\u201d Laney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents end up with a lot of power, where judges will reach out, and they\u2019ll say, \u2018Is this person somebody we should reach out to?\u2019\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Those recommendations can shape hiring decisions well before the timeline begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents around will say, \u2018Hey, they\u2019re solid, conservative, they\u2019re very much in Fed Soc,\u2019\u201d Laney said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Federal judges placing clerkship decisions in the hands of 3Ls delivering vibechecks is a damning indictment. It was bad enough when judges hired the nephews of their country club friends, now they\u2019re hiring based on the considered judgment of kids who aren\u2019t old enough to rent a car.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOne of them requires a meritocratic approach and a lot of hard work,\u201d HLS student Jackson S. Faulkner said. \u201cYou have to bank on things way later on in the process that are not available to the other side, which is looking for ideological adherence, and then they will train you to be a clerk.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a generous read, but what \u201ctraining\u201d is happening when the judge doesn\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing either? And even if the judge does have ample experience for their job, what faith can one have in their mentorship \u2014 or judgment \u2014 if they\u2019ve blown off grades to hire a student based on how well they\u2019ve impressed the 3Ls?<\/p>\n

Worse, this is a cycle likely to compound upon itself as tomorrow\u2019s judges are picked from today\u2019s clerks. In some cases literally, like when Trump was elevating clerks to the federal bench only a term removed from their clerkship<\/a>. When he was the dean of NYU, John Sexton would tell the story that after clerking for Warren Burger, the Chief Justice would quip about needing to always have one \u201ccommunist clerk.\u201d But when judges start to view the clerkship process as less about untangling thorny legal issues \u2014 AI can do all the disingenuous originalist reverse engineering anyway<\/a> \u2014 and more about building out the conservative legal network, they don\u2019t need to be challenged in chambers. Clerks don\u2019t need to be academic superstars, as long as they can be reliably groomed into future branches of the judge\u2019s \u201ccoaching tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no easy way to do this, but law school rankings (and, more to the point, prospective students) really should try to take this two-tiered approach into account. There are definitely institutions spamming right-wing clerkships like this and using those numbers to artificially fluff their rankings. If a law school takes a significant jump in the rankings along with a sizable bump in its clerkship figures, take a long, hard look at WHICH judges are driving that boom. If it\u2019s a bunch of Fifth Circuit judges hiring clerks in their first year of school, be very leery of that resume.<\/p>\n

This is also why the employers who haven\u2019t already upped their scrutiny of past clerkships need a reality check. When federal judges ranked not qualified are \u201ctraining\u201d clerks they picked up before first semester exams, that\u2019s not the same signal of future success that the industry relied upon for decades. A clerkship simply isn\u2019t enough anymore, and employers need to develop their own two-track system for evaluating the quality of the clerkship experience.<\/p>\n

Until there\u2019s more transparency about this, networking with conservatives remains a law school cheat code. Who needs meritocracy when you can get beers with FedSoc 3Ls?<\/p>\n

Conservative Judges\u2019 Early Hiring Fuels Two-Track Clerkship System at Harvard Law<\/a> [Harvard Crimson]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Donald Trump\u2019s Devaluation Of The Federal Clerkship<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Conservative Judges Hiring Clerks Before 1L Exams Because Ideology Is The Only Grade That Matters<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two flavors of federal clerkship have emerged at Harvard Law. One based on accumulating consistent academic success across a couple years worth of legal education, and another based on demonstrating a firm ideological commitment in the student\u2019s 1L year. As the Harvard Crimson reports, moderate and liberal judges follow the former path, selecting rising 3Ls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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-148884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148884","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=148884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}