If you don’t land a clerkship straight out of law school, the world has clearly ended and you may as well prepare for Armageddon.
Ha, I kid, I kid. Calm down. Breathe. Everything will be fine. Not all clerkships are as amazing as your law school makes them out to be. I’ve had many friends who have clerked for judges or on benches they have not loved. And many who thought the experience was useful but not magical. (I absolutely loved my clerkship, but I also got very lucky with landing a judge who was a great fit for me. That’s not always the case.)
So, what happens if you don’t get a clerkship?
Well first, that means that you probably have a year or more of law school left, depending on what bench you applied for. If a federal court, that’s probably the case. If state court, you likely have another semester or semester and a half. Regardless, you have a TON of time to find the right civil rights job for you.
As you may have read in an earlier post, many civil rights jobs do not hire far in advance. So not getting that clerkship actually landed you in the perfect spot to start putting feelers out there, researching the opportunities available in various geographic locations, and prepare your resume and cover letter for a whole different type of job.
YOU ARE NOT BEHIND. You’re right on time, if not early.
And get this, more and more judges are looking to hire clerks with post-law-school legal experience. So who knows, a few years down the line you may find yourself in the perfect position to apply again. A friend of mine did just that, and he’s currently clerking on a federal district court after spending four years as a litigator. So do not worry, you can still go after a clerkship after getting your feet wet in the legal world.