Is being an articling clerk at a court of appeal worth it?

[Diskbaby997]

I'm in 1L and have a job secured this summer in big law and if all goes well I will likely be hired for the summer next year + articling as upper years have told me. But is participating in the law clerk program at the court of appeal worth it? Is it possible? Should I do it even if big law is my end goal. I don't understand how it works. 

[Lawllapalooza]

25 minutes ago, Diskbaby997 said:

I'm in 1L and have a job secured this summer in big law and if all goes well I will likely be hired for the summer next year + articling as upper years have told me. But is participating in the law clerk program at the court of appeal worth it? Is it possible? Should I do it even if big law is my end goal. I don't understand how it works. 

Though I am far from well versed on this topic, I have personally never heard anything but encouragement from firms when their students secure clerkships. I've commonly seen firms hire their former summer students as lawyers, post-clerkship. Landing a clerkship at the court of appeal would be an impressive accomplishment that would help diversify your training. I suppose you could always ask your firm about their views on their students clerking, though I'd be weary to let that guide your decision. In any case it's not something you need to concern yourself with now. Go through the summer, see how you enjoy it, worry about applying to clerkships after. 

[notnotadog]

Think this summer about what you want to do in biglaw. If you want to do biglaw litigation then I think there’s a clear benefit to the experience. If you want to do transactional work I think it may be relatively less valuable for you. Nevertheless, I’ve only heard good things from clerks and I’m sure it wold be enriching in any event.

Hireback after a CoA clerkship seems very likely at most of the big firms. My 1L firm essentially just told everyone clerking for articling to stay in touch but, from what I’ve heard, everyone who wanted to go back has been able to go back. Mind you, these were, in fact, all litigation-focused students, and many of them pivoted to different career options post-clerkship. One benefit to clerking is that it gives you another throw at the dart board. It lets you reflect, after 3 years of school rather than a semester, about where you want to work.
 

Ultimately, I would set up a chat near the end of your summer with whoever your summer student coordinator/head recruiter is to see what the firm thinks about it.

PM me if you want to chat further about it. I did biglaw in 1L/2L and I’m heading into a couple of clerkships.