Clerkship Interviews: 2025-2026

[anon48]

4 minutes ago, Mignonette said:

Call received from FCA.  Good luck everyone. 

Do you mind sharing the relative seniority of the judge?

[anon17]

Does anyone know how late calls could go today?

[JD incoming]

Anyone got a call from the FC yet?

[Scrantonicity2]

I know of someone who got an FC call about 15 mins ago from one of the more junior judges.

[capitalttruth]

Safe to say I'm probably out of the running for this year. Two years in a row now. I'll see if it's worth applying again next year.

[lawstudent1]

If I got an offer from one court and no offer yet from another court, do you guys think it's reasonable to email the clerkship program director at the court I didn't get an offer from to ask what my prospects are? I'm thinking that it's possible there may still be an offer coming from the other court, and I don't want to hold things up at the court I did get an offer from.

[oatsstoat]

Any news from BCCA?

[FCA Clerkship]

36 minutes ago, lawstudent1 said:

If I got an offer from one court and no offer yet from another court, do you guys think it's reasonable to email the clerkship program director at the court I didn't get an offer from to ask what my prospects are? I'm thinking that it's possible there may still be an offer coming from the other court, and I don't want to hold things up at the court I did get an offer from.

Yes. Feel free to contact them.

[neonisblue]

Are offers for FC clerkships with associate judges also going out today? I remember the judge saying it will be May during my interview but that might have been me mishearing due to anxiety

[Byzantine]

18 minutes ago, oatsstoat said:

Any news from BCCA?

I haven’t heard anything. If offers have gone out, hopefully someone can put us out of our misery lol 😂 

[July]

1 minute ago, Byzantine said:

I haven’t heard anything. If offers have gone out, hopefully someone can put us out of our misery lol 😂 

Yes, BCCA calls have at least started. Not sure if they were completed today. 

[oatsstoat]

1 minute ago, July said:

Yes, BCCA calls have at least started. Not sure if they were completed today. 

Did they start recently? 😮 

[July]

5 minutes ago, oatsstoat said:

Did they start recently? 😮 

I heard shortly after 12PST/3EST.

Edited March 8 by July

[gwerfy]

Has anyone heard from the Ontario Superior Courts yet?

[Goblin King]

I got an offer from the Div Court yesterday.

[tiktok]

16 hours ago, JD incoming said:

Anyone got a call from the FC yet?

Got an offer from the FC yesterday. A call first and then an offer confirmation by email. Have until 4 pm today to accept. Waiting to see how I did at the FCA before accepting. 

[lawstudent1]

35 minutes ago, tiktok said:

Got an offer from the FC yesterday. A call first and then an offer confirmation by email. Have until 4 pm today to accept. Waiting to see how I did at the FCA before accepting. 

I wonder if the FC/FCA send out a collective email saying they've concluded recruitment, or if they do so separately. I imagine the FCA recruitment goes faster and it would be helpful to know FCA recruitment has concluded for those of us sitting on FC offers. I'm still considering emailing the FCA and asking where I stand. If anyone has done that in the past and received a helpful response clarifying their position, please let me know. I am just reticent to bother the clerkship program directors as I know they're likely very busy.

Edited March 8 by lawstudent1

[notsocoolcucumber]

You can absolutely call the managers, who understand that this is a very stressful experience for candidates. I know people who have called to see if any offers were coming before they accepted another. Please feel free to do that!

[notsocoolcucumber]

For everyone who does not get a call from the job they wanted, I also just wanted to say that I have been the person who does not get a call (multiple times) and I understand how disappointing that can be. After two years of reapplying, I did end up getting my dream clerkship. I really do encourage everyone to reapply if this is something you really want.

[FCA Clerkship]

38 minutes ago, lawstudent1 said:

I wonder if the FC/FCA send out a collective email saying they've concluded recruitment, or if they do so separately. I imagine the FCA recruitment goes faster and it would be helpful to know FCA recruitment has concluded for those of us sitting on FC offers. I'm still considering emailing the FCA and asking where I stand. If anyone has done that in the past and received a helpful response clarifying their position, please let me know. I am just reticent to bother the clerkship program directors as I know they're likely very busy.

The FCA does send out an email once the entire process is over (i.e. all of the judges have found clerks). 

[capitalttruth]

1 hour ago, notsocoolcucumber said:

For everyone who does not get a call from the job they wanted, I also just wanted to say that I have been the person who does not get a call (multiple times) and I understand how disappointing that can be. After two years of reapplying, I did end up getting my dream clerkship. I really do encourage everyone to reapply if this is something you really want.

How did you improve your application the subsequent times you applied? I'm a little lost on what I can do at this point to improve my application, aside from perhaps improving my French.

[notsocoolcucumber]

I personally worked very hard on my cover letter. In a sense, it is your most important writing sample. Focus on why the courts would be lucky to have you, but also add some personality somehow. Try weaving in things about you while you tell them about your experience. What makes you unique? Try grouping your experience into themes. Instead of reciting your CV, discuss the skills (research, writing, interpersonal, ect) in broader strokes that you would bring to the courts.

If you want Federal Courts tell them why you want to work in administrative law or IP! If you want FCA, why appellate work? why their jurisdiction? (e.g. FCA does not do a lot of immigration, for example, while the FC does a ton! Both courts do aboriginal law, but it is quite different at each court in light of their different jurisdiction) Give the judges a sense that you know about their courts and want to work for them.  

If your cover letter is good, the next thing to focus on is the writing samples. Judges need good writers. Make sure your writing is clear and to the point (clear thesis, every paragraph has a topic sentence, etc). The substance and length of the sample is not really important, as long as it is clear that you can write well. Also, do not submit two samples in one language. The second sample is really just for the second language. No one is reading two samples in one language.

If you are applying as a bilingual candidate, the most important thing you can do is demonstrate french writing skills. Your second writing sample should be in french. Your cover letter should be reproduced in both languages in one document. Bonus points if you can submit your CV in both languages too. If you apply as a french candidate, most judges will ask you a question in french. They will be interviewing people whose first language is french too. Your french does not need to be perfect, but they do need to be convinced that you can understand and work in that language. In my experience, judges are very weary of candidates who overstate their proficiency in french. It is unfortunately very common and the easiest way to tank a candidacy. If you don't have a french writing sample, apply as a unilingual candidate. (This way you are not competing with people who really are very bilingual). While clerking, I saw dozens of really good candidates who applied as bilingual, without any proof of their language abilities, not even get interviewed.

To improve french, I would listen/watch french podcasts/ radio/ TV on a regular basis. If you can, take classes in french or perhaps find a group of friends who can speak with you. 

Edited March 8 by notsocoolcucumber

[lawstudent392]

Has anyone received an offer from the FC today?

[justsomeguy]

9 hours ago, gwerfy said:

Has anyone heard from the Ontario Superior Courts yet?

Haven't heard anything yet, neither has a friend of mine. If I'm remembering correctly, they said at the end of the interview either that they would send out responses OR that they would likely come to a decision by the end of the week (this was Monday of this week). Unfortunately can't remember exactly which one it is.

Also, curious for anyone that's done SCJ prior - do they message when the offers are all sent out to let you know that it's finished? Haven't gotten any rejection emails yet, so hoping that's a good sign for now.

[ElleWoods2024]

43 minutes ago, justsomeguy said:

Haven't heard anything yet, neither has a friend of mine. If I'm remembering correctly, they said at the end of the interview either that they would send out responses OR that they would likely come to a decision by the end of the week (this was Monday of this week). Unfortunately can't remember exactly which one it is.

Also, curious for anyone that's done SCJ prior - do they message when the offers are all sent out to let you know that it's finished? Haven't gotten any rejection emails yet, so hoping that's a good sign for now.

I received a call this morning for ONSC. It was around 9:00 am so calls were likely going out throughout the whole day. However, I'm not sure if all the spots are filled because I haven't seen any emails saying they're done making offers. 

Edited March 9 by ElleWoods2024