Congratulations on Obtaining a Clerkship!
Now What?

First, please notify Kay Brown (brown@libra.law.utk.edu) in Career Services and Prof. Penny White (pwhite@libra.law.utk.edu) of the name, court, and location of the judge you will be clerking for and the approximate dates of your clerkship. They use this information to compile a list of our alumni who have served as judicial law clerks. You can also ask Kay for the names of alumni who have clerked for your judge in the past and contact them.

Second, the UT College of Law hosts an informal luncheon for graduating students who are going on to judicial clerkships each year in April. At the luncheon one or two alumni of the College of Law who are former judicial clerks speak on the unwritten "dos and don'ts" of judicial clerkships. This luncheon is your opportunity to ask practical questions about the judicial clerkship experience so that you will approach your first day on the job with a little more confidence. (Unfortunately, as any former law clerk will attest, you won't feel completely confident of what you are doing as a judicial clerk until your last day on the job! A little anxiety at the start is normal.)

Third, Prof. Judy Cornett, a former law clerk on the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, has written some helpful Advice to Judicial Clerks.

Here is more advice from former judicial law clerks.

Finally, for persons who will be entering a federal clerkship, the Pepperdine University School of Law holds a three day national conference called the Judicial Clerkship Institute. The purpose of the Institute is to "give students much of the practical knowledge needed by every law clerk." Students who have attended the Institute in the past have found it to be extremely useful. For more information, the Pepperdine University School of Law or visit their web site at http://www.law.pepperdine.edu.