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applying state law brought in diversity jurisdiction. Each federal district court judge generally hires
two to three law clerks. Most hire for one-year clerkships, but an increasing number require a two-
year commitment, and a few hire permanent or career clerks.
As you apply to district court judges, do not discount or ignore those who have taken what is called
“senior status.” Often a judge will take senior status when available not because he or she is looking
to reduce their workload, but because doing so allows another judge to be appointed to that court,
thereby adding additional resources to the court as a whole. Many senior status judges still have
active dockets and can provide some of the best clerkship experiences. You can research recent
cases of a particular senior judge to determine how active his or her docket remains. Also note
that as a senior judge’s docket is reduced, the number of clerks he or she has is also reduced
accordingly, with the end result that the workload of the clerk of a senior judge may be just as
robust as that of a non-senior status judge.
In recent years, most Georgetown students who have secured district court clerkships have had
GPAs in the range of 3.5 to 4.0. The difficulty of securing a federal district court clerkship depends
upon the reputation of the judge and the location. While well-known judges generally receive
more applications than those who are less visible, a well-respected district court judge in
Kalamazoo, MI will still receive many fewer applications than the typical judge in New York,
Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Chicago (the Big Five cities). Many Georgetown
students – like students at other top law schools – tend to want to clerk for judges in these larger
cities. However, these are more difficult markets to break into – especially the Southern District
of New York and the District of D.C. The Eastern District of Virginia, known for its “rocket
docket” (a system of moving cases through the court quickly), is also a competitive district.
You most likely have a better chance of obtaining a clerkship if you apply to judges in smaller
cities or even to larger cities outside the Big Five (for example, Georgetown students have recently
had good luck securing clerkships in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Houston,
Memphis, New Orleans, and Phoenix). The District of Maryland (particularly Greenbelt) also has
a good record for hiring Georgetown students. Again, applying to clerkships in your home state or
the state in which you attended college is also a good strategy. That said, you can certainly still
apply to clerk for judges in more competitive districts, but if you really want a clerkship, we
strongly recommend that you include other geographic locations in your clerkship search.
b. United States District Courts – Magistrate Judges
District courts consist not only of district court judges but also magistrate judges, who perform a
variety of judicial tasks upon the referral of district court judges and subject to their supervision.
Magistrate judges commonly conduct bail hearings, hold preliminary examinations, review search
and arrest warrants, and decide pre-trial motions. They also commonly have significant civil
responsibilities such as conducting settlement conferences, managing pre-trial matters in complex
cases, holding hearings, issuing reports and recommendations and supervising discovery.
Magistrate judges may also conduct trials. The amount and type of responsibilities accorded to
magistrate judges will differ significantly by jurisdiction. Most magistrate judges hire one to two
clerks.