Post-Clerkship Job Opportunities

[CassieCage]

Hi everyone,

I will be clerking at an appellate level court in the upcoming years and I am wondering what the job opportunities post-clerking look like. I have been told that firms will actively try to recruit clerks, but I'm more interested in understanding whether that applies to smaller boutiques like Henein Hutchinson or Stockwoods. Additionally, what do government job opportunities look like after clerking? 

Thanks in advance for any time you spend responding to this!

[BlockedQuebecois]

In my experience, essentially every firm will bring you in for an interview at a minimum. That includes firms like Stockwoods and Henein Hutchinson. 

I think there was one firm I applied to that didn’t invite me in for an interview, and it was a small shop in a niche area that expressly said it was not hiring on its website.

Government depends on court and whether you’re in the hireback pool or not. 

[Scribbleergosum]

Thanks for starting this thread!  Do firms generally recruit proactively at appellate courts?  And do any offer a clerkship bonus?

[BlockedQuebecois]

1 hour ago, Scribbleergosum said:

Thanks for starting this thread!  Do firms generally recruit proactively at appellate courts?  And do any offer a clerkship bonus?

It depends on the court. Firms don’t proactively recruit at the BCCA, to my understanding, because most BCCA clerks are already tied to a firm in order to complete their articles. There is more of a recruitment at the ONCA and SCC, where most of the clerks are ostensibly free agents. I don’t know the situation at the FCA. 

Essentially no firm in Canada offers a clerkship bonus in the way American firms do, though it is sometimes possible to negotiate (a relatively small) one. 

[July]

Does anyone know how beneficial a trial level clerkship is for someone who hopes to secure an appellate level clerkship in the next application cycle? Thanks. 

[BlockedQuebecois]

2 hours ago, July said:

Does anyone know how beneficial a trial level clerkship is for someone who hopes to secure an appellate level clerkship in the next application cycle? Thanks. 

I don’t think it’s really possible to tell, unless anyone here is secretly an appellate judge.

It wasn’t my experience that former trial clerks were over represented at the CA level, but you’re talking about a relatively small world of people who would: (1) take a trial clerkship, (2) be competitive for appellate clerkships, and (3) apply for those in third year. 

It’s probably a vaguely positive thing, but I doubt it is given much weight. It doesn’t really add much information to the application—if you’re getting an appellate clerkship interview, you obviously had the grades for a trial clerkship, and it’s not like you’ve worked with the judge and gotten a killer reference. All it really says is “hey interview me, I’m not a weirdo who can’t get a job”, which is broadly true of all clerkship applicants in 3L. 

[Bruiser]

On 3/8/2022 at 8:47 AM, CassieCage said:

I have been told that firms will actively try to recruit clerks, but I'm more interested in understanding whether that applies to smaller boutiques like Henein Hutchinson or Stockwoods.

Stockwoods in particularly almost exclusively hires appellate clerks, because they don't have a student program.

[QMT20]

I know of the following firms inviting FCA and FC clerks to apply this year: Lenczner, McCarthy's, Stockwoods, Juristes Power and Belmore Neidrauer. Aside from SCC and ONCA, some of those firms also invited BCCA clerks to apply. 

For FCA and FC you will be considered an internal applicant for DOJ positions for two-years after your clerkship. 

Edited March 10, 2022 by QMT20

[Jaggers]

I clerked at ONCA, and a lot of firms came to us asking us to apply. I interviewed with a bunch. I ended up going back to the firm I summered with, and would have saved a lot of heartache if they would have just fucking made me an offer in January rather than making me do a job search and accept their offer in May. I get the fairness to the other students argument, but I was not one of the other students.

[Fiona Apple]

13 hours ago, Jaggers said:

I clerked at ONCA, and a lot of firms came to us asking us to apply. I interviewed with a bunch. I ended up going back to the firm I summered with, and would have saved a lot of heartache if they would have just fucking made me an offer in January rather than making me do a job search and accept their offer in May. I get the fairness to the other students argument, but I was not one of the other students.

I don't think that's standard practice anymore, at least for the large firms that actively recruit clerks. Much of the clerk hiring happens from January - March for big firms, which is long before internal articling hireback happens.

[Jaggers]

In my group, it was definitely a mixed bag. Some people had firm offers from their firm even before they started, some got them mid-year, and some (like me) were made to wait until hireback day in May. 

But that was a long time ago now, so I wouldn't be surprised if things are different.

[BlockedQuebecois]

3 minutes ago, Jaggers said:

Some people had firm offers from their firm even before they started, some got them mid-year, and some (like me) were made to wait until hireback day in May. 

This was my experience as well. 

[Mbu1]

Any idea if the same generally applies to appellate clerkships in Atlantic Canada (NS and NB) or they are viewed differently from ONCA and others? 

[chilly]

Does anyone have insight into how clerking impacts first year salary at most firms? I saw that BLG starts clerks at a second year call base salary when they're hired back as associates but haven't seen much from anyone else. What's the norm?

[BlockedQuebecois]

I think you may be talking about BLG Vancouver, which pays its clerks as first year associates for their articling term and then bumps them to second year pay if they come back as an associate. That's fairly standard in the Vancouver market, where if you clerk directly after law school you will still need article for five months, because all it really does is put you on the same playing field as your graduating class. 

In general, most firms will put you on a level playing field with your year of call (Ontario) or graduating class (BC). None of the major firms that I know of will put you ahead of your year of call or graduating class. 

If you leave your clerkship into a particularly hot market, as I did, you might be able to negotiate a signing bonus. Emphasis on the word might, because it is unusual and a lot of firms will balk at the idea. If you are able to negotiate a signing bonus, something in the range of 10k to 20k is fair—don't expect the six figure clerkship bonuses that are handed out at some top US firms. 

[chilly]

Thanks, that's helpful. Didn't apply in 2L, currently considering applying in 3L, and was wondering if clerking might result in being set back a year in terms of base salary (didn't seem to make sense, but I wasn't sure). Glad to know that's not the case.

[Jaggers]

Regardless of the impact on your starting salary, I doubt that there's any specific case where clerking at an appellate court will disadvantage you long term.

But it's true that in Canada, other than opening up some opportunities, it probably doesn't get you any $$$.