Will clerking for a judge or serving as a staff attorney for a federal court help or hurt my career?
Asked by mauricecano
These jobs require mainly research. I want to go into private practice (solo or for a firm) in a few years, so I don't know if these 2 yr appointments to clerk/staff attorney will help or hurt my job prospects in the future. I graduated from law school a yr ago, and was a solo practitioner for about 6 months. I want to switch for now.

Best Answer:
I'm not familiar as serving as a staff attorney with a federal court. However, clerkships can be great for your career - especially a federal clerkship. In fact, if you have an opportunity for a federal clerkship, jump on it, because it's considered very prestigious and will open a lot of doors. If it's not a federal clerkship, it can still be beneficial. If you clerk at the court in the jurisdiction where you want to practice, you will meet many attorneys and it's a great way to network. If you want to specialize in something like bankruptcy, you can gain a lot of knowledge by clerking for a bankruptcy judge. Any clerkship will obviously help your research and writing skills, so if you want to practice in an area that requires a lot of research and writing (like appellate work), it can be good experience.