Qualifications

1. To qualify for the position of law clerk on the personal staff of a federal judge, a person must be a law school graduate (or be certified as having completed all law school studies and requirements and merely awaiting conferment of degree) from a law school of recognized standing, and have one or more of the following attributes:

• Standing within the upper third of the law school class from a law school on the approved list of either the American Bar Association or the Association of American Law Schools;
• Experience on the editorial board of a law review of such a school;
• Graduation from such a school with an LLM degree; or
• Demonstrated proficiency in legal studies which in the opinion of the judge is the equivalent of one of the above.

Some examples of criteria which are considered to be acceptable as equivalent include:

• Publication of a noteworthy article in a law school student publication or other scholarly publication;
• Special high-level honors for academic excellence in law school, such as election to the Order of the Coif;
• Winning of a moot court competition or membership on a moot court team that represents the law school in competition with other law schools;
• Participation in the legal aid or other law school clinical program sanctioned by the law school;* or
• Summer experience as a law clerk to a state or local judge or law clerk experience on a continuing basis in a private firm while attending school (i.e., working one's way through college).*

* In order to receive credit, participation and experience could not have been for academic credit.

This list is not all-inclusive; the determination of an acceptable equivalence rests with the appointing judge.

1 The table below shows the number of years of legal work experience required to qualify for appointment as a law clerk at the applicable Judiciary Salary Plan (JSP) grade levels. Please note that appointment to JSP-12 or above requires that the candidate be a member of the bar of a state, territory, or federal court of general jurisdiction.

** Two years of federal chambers law clerk, staff attorney, pro se law clerk, bankruptcy appellate panel law clerk, or death penalty law clerk experience is required in order to be appointed at or promoted to JSP-14. Note: no judge may increase to more than one the number of chambers law clerks at JSP-14 or above.

Legal Work Experience

Legal work experience is progressively responsible experience in the practice of law, in legal research, legal administration, or equivalent experience received after graduation from law school. Major or substantial legal activities while on military duty may be credited, on a monthfor- month basis whether before or after graduation, but not to exceed one year if before graduation from law school.

Due to the nature of the work of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, other professional work experience in a field of the court’s jurisdiction such as engineering, science, or technology, may be substituted for the required legal work experience (whether pre- or post-Juris Doctor) on a year-for-year basis, at the appointing judge’s discretion. This experience may not, however, be substituted for the prior federal clerkship experience required for appointment or promotion to the JSP-14.