Audience: JD Students

We urge you to share the good news of clerkship success as follows.

If you accept a clerkship (or another conflicting job), then in theory you should withdraw your applications to other judges so that they do not waste time further considering you. However, the cost/benefit breakdown can vary depending on the situation as explained below.

If you do not know already, ask your judge what, if any, policy he or she has regarding your contacts with potential future employers. Be careful not to create a conflict of interest for your judge, either in fact or in appearance.

Judges’ law clerks are subject to official and unofficial rules restricting their conduct. While some of the rules are obvious (e.g., don’t accept bribes), others may require more conscious attention (e.g., don’t contribute to political candidates or causes). The resources below introduce the applicable rules for federal clerks. Similar rules apply for state clerks. Use […]

This page contains lists of HLS clerks organized by the start year of the clerkship (lists cover 1998 and later). Some of them have completed evaluation forms in the Clerkships part of Career Services Manager with comments about their experiences and their email addresses for any follow-up questions you may have. Others may not have completed evaluation forms but still be willing to talk on an individual basis about their experiences.

People outside Harvard Law School may not be accustomed to writing recommendations, particularly clerkship recommendations. Therefore, try to be proactive in anticipating their questions and making the process as easy as possible for them.

Your cover letters should be addressed individually to each judge. The most efficient way to produce this result is to download an Excel file of judges' addresses from Career Services Manager (CSM Symplicity) and perform a mail merge in Word to input this data into a generic letter and then possibly customize further from there. Focus first on drafting the generic letter (or multiple generic letters for various groups of judges, if appropriate).

Judges always require your law school transcript as part of clerkship applications, and some judges want your undergraduate and other graduate school transcripts as well. (For federal judges, refer to OSCAR to determine individual judges' preferences for application materials.) Below are tips about accessing and submitting your transcripts.

Global Practice Profile Name: Tomoo Nishikawa Firm Name/City: Sidley Austin Nishikawa Foreign Law Joint Enterprise/Tokyo, Japan Position in Firm: Managing Partner Law School/Year: Harvard Law School/1979 (LL.M.) Practice Area: Regulatory, structured finance, cross-border litigation Date: June 10, 2008   International Practice Overview Describe your practice area. Regulatory (including privatization work), Structured Finance, Cross-border Litigation What […]

Global Practice Profile Name: Barry Levenfeld Firm Name/City: Yigal Arnon & Co., Jerusalem, Israel Position in Firm: Partner Law School/Year: Harvard Law School, 1979 Practice Area: M&A, Private Equity, IP Transactions Date: May 27, 2008 International Practice Overview Describe your practice area. Although we sit in Jerusalem, Israel, our practice is very much a Silicon […]

Global Practice Profile Name: Brian L. Zimbler Firm Name/City: Dewey & LeBoeuf, Moscow, Russia Position in Firm: Managing Partner of Moscow Office Law School/Year: 1986 Practice Area: Corporate/M&A Date: May 26, 2008   International Practice Overview Describe your practice area. Advising foreign multinationals, private investment funds, and Russian companies in connection with their international investments, […]

Global Practice Profile Name: Douglas Nordlinger Firm Name/City: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, United Kingdom Position in Firm: Partner Law School/Year: J.D., Harvard Law School, 1981 Practice Area: International Energy Transactions Date: June 3, 2008 International Practice Overview Describe your practice area. The practice area represents clients in a broad array of corporate, commercial […]

Global Practice Profile Name: Howard M. Liebman Firm Name/City: Jones Day, Brussels, Belgium Position in Firm: Partner Law School/Year: Harvard Law School, 1977 Practice Area: International Tax and Corporate Date: May 26, 2008 International Practice Overview Describe your practice area. I specialize in international tax and corporate structuring, which means that there is also a […]

Global Practice Profile  Name: John Livingstone Firm & Position at Firm: Associate, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, Tokyo, Japan Law School/Year: Emory University School of Law, 2001 Practice Area: Intellectual Property Date: June 19, 2008 Personal Background How and when did you begin practicing in this area/specialization? Having a technical background, I entered […]

Global Practice Profile Name: Louise Roman Bernstein Firm & Position at Firm: Partner Law School/Year: Harvard Law School, 1985 Practice Area: International Capital Markets/Emerging Markets Date: 16 June 2008 Personal Background How and when did you begin practicing in this area/specialization? I began specializing in capital markets with a focus on emerging markets in 1994 […]

Global Practice Profile Name: Robert Chu Firm Name/City: Sullivan & Cromwell LLP / Beijing Position in Firm: Partner Law School/Year: Harvard Law School / 1993 Practice Area: Corporate Date: June 20, 2008 International Practice Overview Describe your practice area. My practice consists of a combination of (i) mergers and acquisitions, (ii) private equity transactions and […]

Clerks have much the same experience across the various types of courts, but there are some distinguishing features by type of court as described below.

Information about clerkship salaries, law firm bonuses, and loans.

Discussion of three types of judges: Chief judges, Senior judges, and new judges.

International students without U.S. citizenship have various clerkship options. First, it is helpful to understand the main restriction.  Noncitizens are prohibited from being paid as U.S. government employees in the continental United States, unless you qualify under an exception, as explained on a U.S. Courts webpage.