NALP STATEMENT ON THE FEDERAL LAW CLERK HIRING PLAN

August 1, 2012

NALP supports policies and procedures that strive to create a level playing field in the legal hiring arena, and programs that support equal access to all legal jobs. The Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan created by the federal judges’ Ad Hoc Committee on Law Clerk Hiring provides a practical way for students from all law schools to compete fairly for consideration for some of the most highly sought post-graduate legal employment opportunities in the United States. A growing number of federal judges have chosen not to participate in the voluntary plan. As a result, some law schools have elected to facilitate the applications of students applying to off-plan judges. NALP understands that each law school must apply its own policies and rules for assuring that the recruiting activities involving its own students are as fair as possible.

NALP supports the idea of a hiring plan for federal judicial clerkships that ensures an equal opportunity for all eligible law students to compete fairly for available opportunities. NALP believes that the OSCAR system and the federal judiciary’s OSCAR Working Group can and should continue to play an important role in ensuring that all law students have access to the available information about federal clerkship hiring, and NALP encourages all federal judges to continue to use OSCAR as their primary tool for communicating with potential clerkship applicants and for collecting clerkship applications and related materials.

Email Sent from OSCAR Support

From: oscar-support@ao.uscourts.gov [mailto:oscar-support@ao.uscourts.gov]
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 10:45 AM

Subject: Notice - Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan Date Change

Good morning,

This is to inform you of a change in the 2013 Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan (Hiring Plan). The OSCAR Working Group judges decided to advance the first date when applications may be received from third-year applicants from August 19, 2013 to June 28, 2013 and revert to a single date to receive applications, schedule and conduct interviews, and make clerkship offers. The OSCAR system will release all online third-year law school student applications on June 28, 2013 at 12:00 pm Noon (EDT).

After considering comments from judges and a dozen law school deans, the OSCAR Working Group decided to choose a date when the majority of the law schools' grades for second-year students would be final. In the event that some grades are not yet final by June 28, OSCAR Version 7 will allow those applicants to update their grade information even after they have finalized their online applications.

Please keep in mind that the Hiring Plan does not cover applicants who have graduated from law school. Judges may accept applications, interview, and hire law school graduates at any time.

For further information, please contact the OSCAR Program Office at 1-866-666-2120 or send an email to oscar-support@ao.uscourts.gov.

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For more information on the Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan, go to the OSCAR website https://oscar.uscourts.gov, locate the Quick Links section on the lower right side of the home page, and click on the Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan link.