Law Clerk

Job Description

A lot of legal research and background legwork is involved in complex lawsuits, and judges must do their homework when preparing to preside over trials. Law clerks, or judicial clerks, help judges with this time-consuming legal research. Law clerks work in state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels. Even though "clerk" is in the job title, their work primarily involves research and writing and does not typically involve clerical or secretarial duties. The most prestigious clerkships are with the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. courts of appeals, and competition for these clerkships is fierce. Many people pursuing other careers in criminal justice look at a law clerk position as they would an internship, an opportunity that can give them valuable insight into judicial processes. Others, however, find their niche and become law clerks for the entirety of their career. Some law clerkships, like the four-year law clerk program conducted by the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA), are more like a mixture of a paid apprenticeship and a formal education program, and involve working under the tutelage of attorneys or judges. WSBA’s program qualifies law clerks to take the Bar Exam in the state.

Educational Requirements

Because law clerks must be prepared to conduct in-depth legal research, they generally must have earned not only their bachelor’s degree, but also have completed a portion—and sometimes all—of law school. This is no easy task. To earn acceptance into law school, you must have graduated with a high GPA at the undergraduate level, pass the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) and be accepted into an accredited law school approved by the American Bar Association. Entry into these schools is competitive and many students apply to more than one law school to increase their chances of acceptance. An undergraduate education in criminal justice is often the starting point to build a foundation for law school. A quick search of law clerk job and internship postings revealed that nearly all positions require candidates to have completed at least one year of law school, and a law degree is preferred for clerk positions with U.S. courts of appeals. Most positions prefer a year or two of professional experience as well.

Career Outlook and Salary

The best law clerk jobs and even internships are highly sought-after, so you will need to distinguish yourself by working hard to be in the top 25 percent of your class in law school, especially if you have your sights set on a clerkship in a federal court, which receive hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applications for open law clerk positions. Your pay will vary by who you work for and for how long. The National Center for State Courts has a listing of sample job descriptions for law clerks, all of which include salary information. Salaries from as recently as 2009 ranged from as low as $40,700 to as high as $128,100. Those who had finished their law degree received higher salaries overall. According to online compensation site Payscale.com, entry-level law clerks earn between $10.07 and $15.05 an hour, while those with 1-4 years of experience earn between $11.85 and $16.89. Those with 10-19 years of experience earn between $16.71 and $21.98, according to Payscale.com.