New York Lawyer
April 4, 2002

Q:
Is it worth pursuing a judicial clerkship if I only want to do corporate/transactional work?

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A:
Absolutely. A clerkship gives a holistic picture of the justice system that is invaluable and will help you every day of your legal life. Even if you wind up doing corporate/transactional work exclusively, you will still have gotten a great overview. And you never know what will happen � maybe you�ll get bitten by the litigation bug one of these days.

One of the problems with private practice is that people tend to get isolated from the big picture. As a young, frustrated lawyer said in a previous column, you can sometimes feel that you�re only figuring out �whether Rich Guy A has to pay Rich Guy B, and if he does, how much.� A clerkship gives an attorney a rare opportunity to see our legal system from society�s standpoint, rather than just through the eyes of an individual client or corporation. Even in private practice, it�s great to ask yourself questions about whether your actions are beneficial to society as a whole, rather than hiding from the broader issues.

Watching a judge try cases or hear appeals, and being able to talk to a judge about how he or she makes decisions, will make all judicial decisions come alive for you. You�ll see that there is a very human side to the whole process. I knew a trial court judge who received opinions from the appellate court and flipped directly to the end to see whether they were affirmed or reversed, pumping his fist and shouting �Yesss!� when a case went his way. While the opinions may have looked to the outside world like a dry, legalistic recitation of liabilities, for him they were a public test of his ego and abilities. Knowing this sort of thing can make you much more sensitive to the realities of the judicial system. You will get a heavy dose of relationship politics, both good and bad, within a legal workplace, which will stand you in good stead in the future.

I clerked for New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Daniel J. O�Hern, who was himself a clerk for the late Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., of the United States Supreme Court. �A clerkship is a very broadening experience,� says O�Hern, now with Newark-based Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione. �It won�t make you a better tax lawyer, but it will make you a better lawyer. Even a specialist needs to understand how the whole system works effectively to deal with that specialty, because sooner or later they�re going to end up in a courtroom or in some way dealing with the general principles of law and burdens of proof.�

So go for that clerkship. It could be the best job you ever have.

Sincerely,
Holly English
Principal Consultant, Values at Work