Applying for a clerkship with D.C. Circuit Judge David Sentelle? A science background may help. Want to clerk for Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith? Don't bother clerking first for a district court judge or working at a law firm.

Sentelle, Smith and four other federal and state appeals judges spoke over the weekend about life on the bench, including what they look for in would-be clerks.

The judges, speaking at the Federalist Society's annual lawyers' convention, revealed a variety of practices and preferences in clerkship hiring. Sentelle, unlike Smith, likes prospective clerks who have worked elsewhere. He said he usually hires at least one clerk with a technical background, given the D.C. Circuit's heavy administrative docket that requires judges to decipher “scientific jargon.”

Another difference from other judges, Sentelle said, was his preference for “variety” in where applicants went to law school. Sentelle said he doesn't prioritize top-ranked schools, noting that he recently hired a clerk from the University of Houston Law Center.

Smith said he prefers clerks to come straight out of law school, still in “academic mode.” He joked that this policy was due in part to his “academic disability” of graduating from Yale Law School.

Ninth Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain believes the clerkship hiring process—which starts so far out that judges sometimes make decisions based on applicants' first-year law school grades—has “gotten so out of hand.” He'd prefer the “starting bell” to begin after Labor Day of law students' third year in school.

The other judges on the panel agreed that the clerkship hiring process started much earlier in law students' careers than it used to. Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski joked that he called dibs on his former clerk and fellow panelist, D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh, at birth. Sentelle countered that he had already put in a request to hire Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's grandchild.

O'Scannlain said he relies heavily on the input of his current law clerks, who interview applicants first by phone. That process, he said, weeds out applicants who “don't feel it's worth their time” to talk to clerks instead of the judge.

Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras said clerkship hiring was more communal in his court. The Minnesota justices decide who to interview by a vote, interview prospective clerks together, and then make selections in a National Football League-style draft, with the more senior judges getting first pick.

It's an intense process, Stras admitted. One candidate was visibly shaking at a recent interview, he said. Stras also interviews and selects clerks outside of the court's process.

'Personal fit'

Kavanaugh said that in addition to the usual factors such as law school grades and writing skills, judges look for a “personal fit” when they interview potential clerks.

“You talk to a lot of people and some people you know probably wouldn't want to work with you after talking with you and vice versa,” Kavanaugh said.

The judges said they valued recommendation letters, but warned law students to be wary of professors who were enthusiastic about many applicants.

Sentelle said there was a professor at Duke Law School who would often tell the judge that he didn't have any students that term who would be a good fit as a clerk. When that professor did recommend a student, it carried more weight, the judge said.

Kozinski's other advice to law students was that if they were interested in becoming a judge in the future, they should take the bar exam even if they planned on going into academia or another field that didn't require it.

When the American Bar Association reviews judicial candidates, he said, it only counts lawyers' experience starting from when they passed the bar.

Kavanaugh's closing advice to wannabe-judges: “Bust your butt, and be cordial and civil to others.”

The Federalist Society posted video of the panel online here.